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LE Hoang Anh Thu
Department Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University College of Asia Pacific Studies Position Associate Professor |
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| Language | English |
| Publication Date | 2017/02/19 |
| Type | Research paper (Academic/Professional Journal) |
| Peer Review | Peer reviewed |
| Title | Techniques of Death: Buddhist Practice, Femininity and Self-Cultivation at the Last Stage of Life in Vietnam |
| Contribution Type | Single Work |
| Journal | The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology (The Australian National University) |
| Journal Type | Another Country |
| Publisher | The Australian National University |
| Volume, Issue, Page | 18(2),pp.149-164 |
| Total page number | 16 |
| Author and coauthor | LE Hoang Anh Thu |
| Details | This article explores how death is conceptualized by elderly lay Buddhist women in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). It explores the traits of a ‘good death’ which elderly laywomen wish to experience, and their dedicated practice of Buddhism to prepare themselves for a peaceful end stage of life.
This article contends that, in fact, women’s perceptions of death speak to their desires to live a life with dignity. It shows that Vietnamese elderly women wish to retain their full personhood and nurturing femininity which they have embodied throughout their adult lives even until their last moments. They pursue devotional practices to train their body and mind in order to prepare themselves for the critical moment of dying. They believe that these self-cultivating practices will enable them to transcend physical suffering and mental confusion of dying, and immediately move on to the next, better life. |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2016.1269832 |
| ISBN | 1740-9314 |
| ISSN | 1444-2213 |