Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement — (2007)

Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power

By Ingrid Jordt

“Jordt has provided the reader with insights into a Burmese theory of power relations which foreign observers rarely take into account.”

The Irrawaddy

“Ingrid Jordt presents an insightful account of Burmese Buddhism, lay meditation and the construction of political legitimacy. Her analysis shows the complex ways in which Burmese culture mediates popular beliefs concerning power and millennial expectations. This book will be required reading for students of Buddhism, anthropology, religion, political science, and those with geographic interests in Southeast Asia, and particularly Burma.”

Juliane Schober — Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University

“A subtle, sympathetic, and astute examination of lay piety in Burma and its political implications. Jordt combines an insider’s comprehension of Buddhist meditation with a capacity to stand back and take a wider view. The result is a book rich in illuminating insights.”

James Scott — Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology at Yale University

Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power describes a transformation in Buddhist practice in contemporary Burma. This revitalization movement has had real consequences for how the oppressive military junta, in power since the early 1960s, governs the country.

Drawing on more than ten years of extensive fieldwork in Burma, Ingrid Jordt explains how vipassanā meditation has brought about a change of worldview for millions of individuals, enabling them to think and act independently of the totalitarian regime. She addresses human rights as well as the relationship between politics and religion in a country in which neither the government nor the people clearly separates the two. Jordt explains how the movement has been successful in its challenge to the Burmese military dictatorship where democratically inspired resistance movements have failed.

Jordt's unsurpassed access to the centers of political and religious power in Burma becomes the reader's opportunity to witness the political workings of one of the world's most secretive and tyrannically ruled countries. Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement is a valuable contribution to Buddhist studies as well as anthropology, religious studies, and political science.