The wheel-turning king and the lucky lottery: perspectives new and old on wealth and merriment within Buddhism

Abstract

By placing a contemporary pilgrimage of Myanmar Buddhists to Bodh Gaya in India in conversation with early Buddhist doctrine and practice, this article argues that wealth, its redistribution and celebration, have provided, and continue to provide, non-peripheral avenues for advancement within Buddhist societies. Through lavish gift-giving and merrymaking, the group of pilgrims that we encountered, led by a weikza-lam practitioner or wizard, bolstered their esteem in relation to authoritative institutions and individuals. Money -and the plentiful conviviality that it enabled-was crucial to the successful outcome of the pilgrimage. This article contextualises the donations and merriment of the group within the multi-layered context of a Vihār (resting place for pilgrims) in Bodh Gaya, with its religious hierarchies, local material inequalities, and historical context. By looking at the multiple directions in which money and merit were transferred, this article argues that demonstrations of wealth and revelry during pilgrimage can facilitate, rather than be a hindrance to, advancement within Buddhist praxis.