“The Power of Rituals to Harm or to Heal”
Presented by Paula Arai, Assistant Professor of Religion, Asian Studies, Carleton College.
Date: Wednesday October 4, 2006
Time: 12:00 – 1:15 PM
Place: Institute of Asian Research, C.K. Choi Building Room 120, 1855 West Mall
Exploring the multi-valent dynamics of ritualized behavior illuminates the worldviews, moral orientations, and aims of a society, family, or individual. Rituals are a potent force in human interaction for they enact values as they draw upon their historical, cultural, political, and religious contexts. The capacity of rituals to resonate viscerally is the source of their power. East Asian civilizations share a ritual vocabulary and aesthetic that continuously transforms, yet connects current events and people to their larger historical and cultural milieu. Rituals give access to different modes of being and help to navigate the ever-changing relationships between the living and the dead––from public state rituals of honoring the war dead, to private ancestor rites of respect, to intimate expressions of gratitude for deceased family members recognized as “personal Buddhas”––by which each participant hopes to avoid harm and promote healing. My ethnographic study of contemporary Japanese Buddhist women focuses a lens on Buddhist assumptions of human nature and cosmology that are embedded in rituals practiced in their homes and communities. My theory of their Buddhist healing paradigm is based upon extensive field research that highlights the significance of understanding ritualized actions in contemporary society.
Paula Arai is a candidate for The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Chair in Buddhism and Contemporary Society.
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