Contemporary dynamics in religious practices: Community multiple embeddedness and conflicting encounters between Buddhist monks and the laity in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Informed by the concept of discourse community (DC), this empirical research involving 759 participants critically explores the conflicting encounters between Buddhist monks (monks) and the laity in Sri Lanka owing to unorthodox discursive practices emerging from community multiple embeddedness (multiple embeddedness). A DC consists of a group of people who pursue specific goals and engage in practices (discursive practices) common to them; multiple embeddedness occurs when members of such a community share common goals and practices unique to different discourse communities. What is new in this research is that it unravels the root causes of unorthodox practices of monks which pose challenges to traditionalist discourses relating to Buddhism. A wealth of evidence derived from the qualitative data reveals that monks can no longer adhere to their ordination practices in pristine reality since they are being subjected to new social dynamics in tune with a variety of imperatives; hence, the boundary between monkhood and worldliness is increasingly becoming blurred engendering conflicts instead of peace. Public Significance StatementThis study explores socially unacceptable practices of Buddhist monks as a result of their active interactions with two discourse communities: university students and politicians in Sri Lanka. Most laypersons are disillusioned with these relatively new behavior patterns of monks as opposed to the teachings of the Buddha. Hence, conflicting encounters between monks and laypersons are not uncommon. In these contexts, the need for reconciliation and peace initiatives is strongly felt.