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Sutra recital and Buddhist identities Buddhist practice in vietnam, being nonprescriptive, can take a number of forms. however, the various options for practice are interpreted as leading to different ends and are given very different values, depending on perspectives. There is no systematic or authoritative stipulation regarding which activities are mandatory for a Buddhist, which activities are beneficial but not essential, and which are superfluous or even undesirable from a Buddhist perspective. There is also no authoritative consensus or social pressure regarding what the goals and intended outcomes for particular practices ought to be. Consequently, vietnamese Buddhists take part to a greater or lesser extent in Buddhist activities, choosing some and avoiding others, based more on personal preference than on any other reason. even those Buddhists who can be viewed as authoritative view the variations as acceptable. as a result, there are many potential ways to become involved in Buddhism , ways that are broadly informed by dynamic gender structures that draw on understandings of masculinity and femininity that shift in accent with age. as we have seen, the most common form of engagement with Buddhism is through the practices associated with lộc; this is particularly women’s practice , and usually is the only form of engagement for young women. many older women, however, participate in other Buddhist activities with a pronounced religious zeal. The religious practice of women frequently intensifies as they age, and they supplement the usual supplication with additional activities at a time that coincides with the decrease in family responsibilities as their children become adults (hoàng Bá Thịnh 2002b, 198). The people who chant sutras are typified by a self-conscious commitment and faith in the efficacy of their practice that is not present in those who engage in only the practices that surround lộc. Those who chant sutras are devoted Buddhists and describe themselves specifically as “Buddhist” (phật tử). This, of course, does not mean that they are necessarily exclusively Buddhist because all have additional religious practices that they recognize as not Buddhist. full Buddhist engagement means a greater commitment to a specific activity (such as attending sutra recitals four times a month), to a specific group of people, and 6 sutra recital and Buddhist identities • 119 usually to a specific pagoda. none of the people i met at these sutra recitals ever expressed skepticism or hedged their devotion by saying that they chant sutras “just in case,” as did those who came to pagodas only to make offerings and wishes. The participation of Buddhist devotees who engage in chanting sutras takes up a much larger part of their time and energy and is more central to their identity than it is for those who only make offerings. mrs. Bình is a good example of a devoted Buddhist who recites sutras. she was in her late fifties when i met her in 1997. she worked in the office of the Research Journal of Buddhist Studies, published at Quán sứ pagoda. she habitually wore a brown smocklike shirt that was reminiscent of monastic clothing. although her family was poor and her home had only two rooms, the smaller of these rooms was given over to a large altar for the buddhas. she chanted sutras twice a day at this altar; on several days a month a few Buddhist women in the neighborhood would join her. such devout women form the core of their pagoda communities, and are active in ensuring its maintenance and cleanliness, feeding the monastics, participating in the performance of rituals, and donating money. They also form a fairly cohesive, but informal, pagoda association. many are friends that also spend time together outside of the pagoda. They form a bond and have a sense of belonging and identity that is grounded in their Buddhist participation. While some men take part in these activities, they usually distinguish their practice from that of women and, in effect, form a group distinct from the women. (i will discuss these men in Chapters 8 and 9.) This chapter will look at the motivations for increasing participation in the activities of this group of women, and the importance of their practice and their inclusion in the group for their identity. intensification of religious practice: age and religiosity The greater time commitment that is required to be a more active Buddhist means that this level of engagement is not open to all people.1 involvement in the Buddhist group that gathers to recite sutras...

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