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Flirtation with the other: an examination of the processes of othering in the Pali Vinaya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Claire Maes
Claire Maes*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Belgium
*
claire.maes@ugent.be
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Abstract

This article identifies and examines processes of othering in an early Indian Buddhist ascetic text, the Pali Vinaya of the Theravādins. By means of: (1) a critical discussion of the fact that the Pali Vinaya holds several terms for the early Buddhists' ascetic others; and (2) a close reading and analysis of a small group of – easily overlooked – Pali Vinaya passages with explicit references to supposed practices of the early Buddhists' ascetic others, I make explicit two aspects of the processes of othering of the early Buddhist ascetic community. I show how through processes of othering Buddhist bhikkhus, or at the very least the monk-editors of the Pali Vinaya, both negotiated a collective identity notion, and reflected on the significance of their own practices and values in direct relation to those of their ascetic others, whether real or imagined.

Keywords

Early BuddhismTheravādaPali VinayaBuddhist identityOtheringTitthiya (Skt. tīrthika)
Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 535 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2016 

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