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Southern Esoteric Buddhism and Borān kammaṭṭhāna ('former practices') are terms used to refer to certain esoteric practices, views and texts within Theravada Buddhism. It is sometimes referred to as Esoteric Theravada or Tantric Theravada due to its parallel with tantric traditions (although it makes no reference to tantras); or as Traditional Theravada Meditation.
L.S. Cousins defines it as "a type of Southern Buddhism which links magical and, ritual practices to a theoretical systematisation of the Buddhist path itself".[1][2] One specific kind of Southern Esoteric Buddhism is termed the Yogāvacara tradition. It is most widely practiced today in Cambodia and Laos and in the pre-modern era was a major Buddhist current in Southeast Asia.
In the 19th century, Southern Esoteric Buddhism has declined due to several reform movements, such as the establishment of Dhammayuttika Nikaya by Rama IV that emphasized the use of the Pali Canon as the main authority for monastic practices and also attempted to remove all superstitious and folk religious elements;[3] the textual tradition of the Sri Lankan Mahavihara school (a part of the 12th century reforms) which took the works of the 5th century scholar Buddhagosa as representing the orthodox interpretation;[4] and the rule of the French colonial empire in Cambodia that suppressed pre-reform Cambodian Buddhism.
In the west, the study of Southern Esoteric Buddhism was pioneered by professor François Bizot and his colleagues at the École française d'Extrême-Orient with a particular focus on the material found at Angkor.[4]
- ^ Cousins, L.S. (1997), "Aspects of Southern Esoteric Buddhism Archived 2015-05-21 at the Wayback Machine", in Peter Connolly and Sue Hamilton (eds.), Indian Insights: Buddhism, Brahmanism and Bhakd Papers from the Annual Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, Luzac Oriental, London: 185-207, 410. ISBN 1-898942-153
- ^ Cousins LS, 1997a ‘Buddhism’ pp.369–444 in JR Hinnells (ed.) A New Handbook of Living Religions Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, cited in Mackenzie, Rory (2007), New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 0-203-96646-5
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Crosby, Kate (2000). Tantric Theravada: A Bibliographic Essay on the Writings of Francois Bizot and others on the Yogavacara-Tradition, Contemporary Buddhism 1 (2), 141-198