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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Stoic Monastic: Taiwanese Buddhism And The Problem Of Emotions, Hillary Crane
The Stoic Monastic: Taiwanese Buddhism And The Problem Of Emotions, Hillary Crane
Faculty Publications
This paper explores the stoicism of Taiwanese monastics and argues that, in this context, emotions are believed to be dangerous in part because they interfere with spiritual cultivation. A stoic exterior further represents an inner state of calm and a lack of emotionality. Since women are believed to have more emotional problems than men, nuns in particular seek to control their emotions, in part by studying the example of monks. Women’s emotions are contrasted with the trait of compassion, which is associated with men and thought to be selfless. Cultivating compassion is the focus of much of their spiritual practice …
Resisting Marriage And Renouncing Womanhood: The Choice Of Taiwanese Buddhist Nuns, Hillary Crane
Resisting Marriage And Renouncing Womanhood: The Choice Of Taiwanese Buddhist Nuns, Hillary Crane
Faculty Publications
The traditional Chinese perception of Buddhist monastics is that they choose to renounce the world out of desperation — after failing in the world such that their only options are suicide or the monastery. That this perception of the monastic life persists in Taiwan today is evident in monastics’ own descriptions of their families’ responses to their choice as well as in several recent scandals related to monastic life. Despite the widespread negative perception of monastics, increasing numbers of women are choosing this life. Drawing on extensive fieldwork with relatively new monastics, the author explores the choice Buddhist nuns make …