Material Interests and Morality in the Trade of Thai Talismans

Abstract

Ethnographic data comprising interview's with Thai monks, religious specialists, & laiety (N unspecified) in Singapore & Thailand, & fieldwork in Buddhist enterprises in Singapore, 1989-1991, are used to examine the material & economic interests associated with talismans produced by Thai monks. The religious objects associated with Thai Buddhism, the differences between Thai & Chinese talismans, & their authenticity are discussed. The trade of these talismans is connected to the worship of Thai monks, & the three components in the charismatization of Thai monks - opposition to rational bureaucracy, mythologization of their voluntary suffering, & psychic power - are also analyzed, in addition to the relationship between religion & capitalism. 7 Plates, C. Haywood.