I found this book online while i was searching any anthropology studies on Buddhism. he book is a critical introduction to the social anthropology of religion, focusing one more recent classical ethnography. It covers all the major religions traditions that have been studied concretely by anthropologists- shamanism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and its relations to African and Melanesian religions and contemporary Neopaganism. Eschewing a thematic approach and treating religion as a social institution and not simply as an ideology or symbolic system. I mainly focused on the Buddhism chapters as this is what I am mainly interested in at the moment.
"Nibbanic and Kammatic Buddhism. This is associated with monks and worlds-renunciation, and seeks salvation though meditation; the other, undertaken by ordinary Buddhist, is concerned with accumulating merits by gift giving and their by gaining a better rebirth to facilitate ones future salvation" page 61
The quote above tell you of two kinds of Buddhism. The book also mentions that Buddhist in Thailand, are not concerned with renunciation and obtaining salvation but only with a 'Happy Rebirth'. I mention this because the temple I will be visiting is a Taiwanese Buddhist temple.
This book is relevant to my project because it has given me more insight to the Buddhist religion as I did not know their were different way a Buddhist believes in rebirth and salvation. I also did not know what renunciation in Buddhism means but after research it I found this:
Renunciation can be understood as a letting go of whatever binds us to ignorance and suffering. The Buddha taught that genuine renunciation requires thoroughly perceiving how we make ourselves unhappy by grasping and greediness. When we do, renunciation naturally follows, and it is a positive and liberating act, not a punishment.
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