Benedicte Brac de la Perriere Guillaume Rozenberg Alicia Marie Turner
Hidden at the margins of Burmese Buddhism and culture, the cults of the weikzaweikza in relation to the Vipassana insight meditation movement and conventional Buddhist practices, as well as the contemporary rise of Buddhist fundamentalism. Featuring research based on fieldwork only possible in recent years, paired with reflective essays by senior Buddhist studies scholars, this book...
Hidden at the margins of Burmese Buddhism and culture, the cults of the weikza
In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza--humans with extraordinary powers, including immortality. Key figures in Burmese Buddhism, weikza do not die but live on in an invisible realm. From there they re-enter the world through possession to care for people's temporal and spiritual needs while protecting and propagating Buddhism. A cult quickly formed around the young peasant, the chosen medium for four weikza ranging in age from 150 to 1000 years. In addition, these weikza appeared regularly in the flesh. The Immortals plunges us into...
In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza--humans with extraordinary powers, including immorta...
In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza--humans with extraordinary powers, including immortality. Key figures in Burmese Buddhism, weikza do not die but live on in an invisible realm. From there they re-enter the world through possession to care for people's temporal and spiritual needs while protecting and propagating Buddhism. A cult quickly formed around the young peasant, the chosen medium for four weikza ranging in age from 150 to 1000 years. In addition, these weikza appeared regularly in the flesh. The Immortals plunges us into...
In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza--humans with extraordinary powers, including immorta...