Dhamma detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) community. Merit- making, colon-cleansing, and excrement
Dhamma detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) community. Merit- making, colon-cleansing, and excrement
In Thailand there is a Buddhist movement called Santi Asok. In recent years one of its lay communities has developed a five-day bodily detoxification course for the good of the Thai public as a form of merit making. Participants who refrain from eating food and drink other than the intake of herbal tonics, undergo various forms of detoxification procedure and particularly colon cleansing. The course culminates in the inspection of the participants’ stools followed by a lavish vegetarian meal. This paper analyzes the detox course as a ritual of the body constructed within the anti-materialist and merit-making moral values of the Asok Buddhist community. In this ritual human excrement becomes a symbol revealing the unhealthy polluting demerits of modern consumer society. It concludes that “shit” is a powerful and even dangerous “natural symbol” to moralize with.
complementary and alternative medicine, colon cleansing, Asok Buddhist community, THailand, ritual
453 - 466
Sithhikriengkrai, Malee
b1a46997-d177-4e82-8a7a-aa6cdc1b30de
Porath, Nathan
3ec6e51c-ceb8-46e2-8fd0-71a416f0f095
2018
Sithhikriengkrai, Malee
b1a46997-d177-4e82-8a7a-aa6cdc1b30de
Porath, Nathan
3ec6e51c-ceb8-46e2-8fd0-71a416f0f095
Sithhikriengkrai, Malee and Porath, Nathan
(2018)
Dhamma detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) community. Merit- making, colon-cleansing, and excrement.
Anthropos, 113 (2), .
(doi:10.5771/0257-9774-2018-2-453).
Abstract
In Thailand there is a Buddhist movement called Santi Asok. In recent years one of its lay communities has developed a five-day bodily detoxification course for the good of the Thai public as a form of merit making. Participants who refrain from eating food and drink other than the intake of herbal tonics, undergo various forms of detoxification procedure and particularly colon cleansing. The course culminates in the inspection of the participants’ stools followed by a lavish vegetarian meal. This paper analyzes the detox course as a ritual of the body constructed within the anti-materialist and merit-making moral values of the Asok Buddhist community. In this ritual human excrement becomes a symbol revealing the unhealthy polluting demerits of modern consumer society. It concludes that “shit” is a powerful and even dangerous “natural symbol” to moralize with.
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Published date: 2018
Keywords:
complementary and alternative medicine, colon cleansing, Asok Buddhist community, THailand, ritual
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Local EPrints ID: 439313
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/439313
PURE UUID: c5c99223-96f5-4270-a01b-9379d20ed895
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Date deposited: 08 Apr 2020 16:32
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:26
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Author:
Malee Sithhikriengkrai
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