Buddhism and Waste: The Excess, Discard, and Afterlife of Buddhist Consumption

Description

In what ways do Buddhists recognize, define, and sort waste from non-waste? What happens to Buddhist-related waste? How do new practices of Buddhist consumption result in new forms of waste and consequently new ways of dealing with waste? This book explores these questions in a close examination of a religion that is often portrayed as anti-materialist and non-economic. It provides insight into the complexity of Buddhist consumption, conceptions of waste, and waste care. Examples include scripture that has been torn and cannot be read, or an amulet that has disintegrated, as well as garbage left behind on a pilgrimage, or the offerings of food and prayer scarves that create ecological contamination. Chapters cover mass-production and over-consumption, the wastefulness of consumerism, the by-products of Buddhist practices like rituals and festivals, and the impact of increased Buddhist consumption on religious practices and social relations. The book also looks at waste in terms of what is discarded, exploring issues of when and why particular objects and practices are sorted and handled as sacred and disposable. Contributors address how sacred materiality is destined to wear and decay, as well as ideas about redistribution, regeneration or recycling, and the idea of waste as afterlife. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Figures Acknowledgments Note on Sanskrit Diacritics Introduction: A Framework for Studying Buddhism and Waste What is Waste? A Framework for Studying Buddhism and Waste Waste as Excess Waste as Discard Waste as Afterlife Rethinking Waste About this Book Chapter 1: Generosity’s Limits: Buddhist Excess and Waste in Northeast Tibet Tibetan Buddhism as Wasteful Moralizing Consumption Articulating a Moral Economy Conspicuous Generosity Conclusion Chapter 2: Modern Minimalism and the Magical Buddhist Art of Disposal Making Minimalism Buddhist Marketing Minimalism Key Values of Modern Minimalism The Diagnosis: Wanton Attachment The Treatment: Disposal The Goal: Abundance Conclusion Chapter 3: The Afterlives of Butsudan: Ambivalence and the Disposal of Home Altars in the United States and Canada Closets Full of Altars What are Butsudan? Journey to the West: Butsudan beyond Japan Why Are Butsudan Abandoned? How Do Temples React? New Homes for Old Butsudan The Ultimate Fate of Unwanted Butsudan How Do Temples Contribute to the Loss of Butsudan Practices? Shifting Social Patterns and the Loss of Butsudan Traditions Conclusion Chapter 4: The Great Heisei Doll Massacre: Disposal and the Production of Ignorance in Contemporary Japan The Picture That Never Was The Production of Ignorance Le Grand Escamotage What Is Held in Place by the Ritual The Extermination of the Future Conclusion: Sacralizing Disposal and Consumption Chapter 5: Reincarnating Sacred Objects: The Recycling of Generative Efficacy and the Question of Waste in Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist Material Cultures Jinlap: How Sacred Objects Become Living and Generative Reincarnating Generative Efficacy: What to Do with Decaying Sacred Objects The Problem of Pollution Yang: Countering Pollution, Generating Positive Forces Conclusion Chapter 6: Zombie Rubbish and Mummy Materiality: The Undead and the Fate of Mongolian Buddhist Waste Undead Waste The Morality of Waste Animate Materials Mummy Materiality Enduring Materiality Conclusion Chapter 7: Something Rotten in Shangri-La: Green Buddhism, Brown Buddhism, and the Problem of Waste in Ladakh, India Green and Brown Buddhism Buddhist-Generated Waste Conclusion Contributors Index