Papers by Sarah Shaw
Asian Traditions of Meditation, edited by Halvor Eifring, pages 122–144 , 2016
What makes a meditation object? This essay explores Pāli Buddhist accounts of objects used in Sou... more What makes a meditation object? This essay explores Pāli Buddhist accounts of objects used in Southern or Pali Buddhism. Their very variety reflects this tradition's stress on a graduated path, where different stages and individuals require different teaching approaches, at different times. This paper shows the emphasis on how objects are given and used. Dhammapada narratives in particular, describing a graduated path, a movement between internal and external, 'shocks' in chance occurrences in the world, and skilled interventions by friends and teachers, demonstrate a pedagogy striking for its stress on individual need rather than rigid imposition and structure.
The Companion to Buddhist Philosophy, pp 462–465, 2013
A popular protective chant in SouthEast Asia and Sri Lanka salutes eight arahats, companions of G... more A popular protective chant in SouthEast Asia and Sri Lanka salutes eight arahats, companions of Gotama Buddha, thought to guard the four directions and their median points (Skilling 2000; Shaw 2009, 134-8). Their stories are described in the earliest Buddhist texts and would be well known to Southern Buddhists, told such narratives from childhood. This article explores the way the diversity of arhats enacts the variety of possible approaches to enlightenment and the very varied ways people are described attaining the path..
Oxford Handbook of Meditation , 2021
(2021) ‘Theravada Buddhism and Meditation’, proof of article for The Oxford Handbook of Meditatio... more (2021) ‘Theravada Buddhism and Meditation’, proof of article for The Oxford Handbook of Meditation (Oxford: Oxford University Press). This summarises some key trends in Theravada meditative practice and theory
Buddhist literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature. New York: State of New York Press., 2020
This article (on pages 61–84 of Rafal Stepien ed. Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Phi... more This article (on pages 61–84 of Rafal Stepien ed. Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature), examines the way Abhidhamma becomes a creative and vital influence in the evolution of Buddhist Jātakas. It shows Abhidhamma used as a living philosophy enacted in Jātaka narrative, apparently intended as applicable to everyone. The article highlights the compassionate and practical ethical teachings of the sangha, who told and developed the stories.
In the Footsteps of the Masters: Footprints, Feet and Shoes as Objects of Veneration in Asian, Islamic and Mediterranean Art (Studies in Asian Art and Culture, SAAC) , 2020
This paper explores the iconography, symbology, composition, and ritual meaning of the Buddha's f... more This paper explores the iconography, symbology, composition, and ritual meaning of the Buddha's feet in the large reclining statue at Wat Pho, Bangkok. It examines the nature of the footprint as a symbol at the heart of Southeast Asian Buddhist praxis.
It appears in a volume edited by Professor Julia Hegewald, of Bonn University and is based on a conference she held in Bonn in 2017
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2013
Simple literary analysis is often neglected as a tool for understanding Pāli Buddhist texts. This... more Simple literary analysis is often neglected as a tool for understanding Pāli Buddhist texts. This article examines authorship and transmission, using traditional literary criticism as a means of understanding the composition and style of Pāli canon and commentary. By examining Pāli texts from different periods, it demonstrates the craft and literary construction involved throughout. The article argues that the adaptations and additions of members of the saṅgha, who are often berated for their editorship of Pāli texts, offer essential features of Buddhist transmissions. All Buddhas have a saṅgha; all Buddhas need the refractions of their understandings and creative expression of the teaching. Through an exploration of the 'authorship' involved in three different genres, at different periods, the great sophistication of early Pāli texts becomes evident.
Journal Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2017
With the death of Lance Cousins we have lost a man whose life was devoted to both the study and t... more With the death of Lance Cousins we have lost a man whose life was devoted to both the study and the practice of Buddhist meditation and theory. He will be deeply missed, and the effects of his life’s work are long-lasting.
Contemporary Buddhism, 2018
Theravāda Buddhism has travelled. This article gives some history of the practice of samatha brea... more Theravāda Buddhism has travelled. This article gives some history of the practice of samatha breathing mindfulness, in the Theravāda tradition, in the UK. It first gives some background in Britain to the arrival of the meditation in the 1960s, then summarises the life of Nai Boonman Poonyathiro, who introduced this method into the UK, a story that is not generally known. The paper describes some aspects of the development of the Samatha Trust in the UK, attempting to show ways a system that was popular in Thailand when it arrived in a new region has prospered, even while becoming markedly less prominent in its own regions. As I am a practitioner in this tradition, before the conclusion I make some personal comment. To conclude, I speculate about features which appear to characterise Buddhist groups in general in the UK, before considering ways that this specialised tradition has adapted in a new setting.
Life Writing, 2019
This paper examines two issues. The first is the apparent lack of auto/biographical composition w... more This paper examines two issues. The first is the apparent lack of auto/biographical composition within Southern Buddhism. Various reasons are suggested for this absence, such as monastic rulings, recent customs on public declaration of mental state and attainment, and the lack of the formal lineage transmissions that characterise some other forms of Buddhist practice. The paper then explores a new tradition of auto/biographical composition, found in the works of practitioners within the Forest Tradition of Northeast Thailand. As various Anglophone compositions/ translations of this monastic tradition of practice demonstrate, certain literary qualities emerge that both define and embody the meditative style for which Northeast Thai monasticism has become famous. As this movement has moved now to global recognition, the media involved in life story composition have become more varied. Now several generations of life writing, often placing strong emphasis on the extended forest walk, have described the particularities of the Forest Tradition monastic ethos. Despite great differences in location, authorial style, and the inclusion of digital material, these new forms of auto/ biographical composition share, it is argued, features that in some way embody and define the lineage to an Anglophone audience.
Numen, Apr 1, 2024
Recital was, and is, an essential part of Buddhist textual transmission. Recently, the role of re... more Recital was, and is, an essential part of Buddhist textual transmission. Recently, the role of repetition as a literary feature has been discussed as a key element in the construction and final composition of the texts. This article contributes to the discussion through a literary analysis of the role of repetition and recital in two suttas of the Dīghanikāya. With examination of two key repeat passages and the way each is presented, it demonstrates that repetition in each sutta discussed forms a key function, crucially dependent on what one might term a literary, or an experiential, effect. The suttas were intended to be heard; long suttas were, and often still are, performative, listened to over sometimes several hours, embedded in rituals designed to highlight their efficacy. This article shows that the recital of key repeat passages within the long suttas is linked to specific and often distinctive literary and meditative effects, particularly adapted for oral performance. It suggests that such passages should not be marginalized but rather seen as central indicators of meaning.
Buddhist Studies Review, 2018
This paper discusses the role of the Buddha’s wife, Yasodhar?/R?hulam?t?, in P?li J?takas. Noting... more This paper discusses the role of the Buddha’s wife, Yasodhar?/R?hulam?t?, in P?li J?takas. Noting her continued popularity in South and Southeast Asian Buddhism, it considers her path to liberation seen as a composite whole, through many lifetimes, and considers some of the literary implications of this multiple depiction. The intention of this paper is to initiate more discussion about this figure as a sympathetic and central presence in Southern Buddhist text and practice.
Journal of the Oxford Centre For Buddhist Studies, Nov 13, 2012
A focus of recent debate in Buddhist Studies has been the extent to which the early Buddhists wer... more A focus of recent debate in Buddhist Studies has been the extent to which the early Buddhists were involved in maritime activity. is paper takes this discussion as a starting point to explore the use of boats in early Pāli texts. It notes the rarity of nautical imagery in extant Indian literature of the period, and contrasts this with the frequent use of the boat as a simile and metaphor in the nikāyas. ese early texts, however, exhibit little interest in maritime travel or its imagery. e Jātakas, however, select an underlying maritime metaphor for their articulation of the Bodhisatta vow, and include a number of maritime stories that involve the achievements of the Bodhisatta as mariner and hero, as well as other, oen unsuccessful, outcomes of voyages undertaken by those who do not follow basic Buddhist principles. is paper examines the few Jātaka stories in which the image of the sea voyage is used to demonstrate the nature of the Bodhisatta path and the search for the perfections. ese stories, rich in their depiction of sea travel, anticipate the peculiarly Southern Buddhist interest in the image of the boat. is image subsequently features in many forms in the thought, art, practice and narrative of these oen coastal and river-based regions. One of the famous poems of the Pāli canon, dating from the earliest strata of the texts, describes the teaching of the Buddha as like a good boat, an image that recurs throughout the Pāli canon. See DP II: , nāvā.
In many Southern Buddhist regions, the Jātakas offered ethical codes, an informal rule of law, an... more In many Southern Buddhist regions, the Jātakas offered ethical codes, an informal rule of law, and, indeed, in some areas such as Myanmar/ Burma, a narrative means of communicating a code that could establish precedent in courts of law (Shaw 2006). Can they contribute now to the growing international discussion on secular ethics? Describing the Bodhisatta exercise of both sīla and the deep resourcefulness in Jātakas, that results in great adeptness at skill in means in variously described situations, Charles Hallisey coins the term ‘moral creativity’ with regard to these tales (Hallisey 2010). It covers, as he notes, not just the ability the Bodhisatta demonstrates in the five precepts, but also, through enactment in narrative, a means of demonstrating great resourcefulness in ensuring benefit – not only for himself but others too. Such moral creativity, he suggests, is crucial to a more nuanced understanding of Buddhist ethics as they are enacted in Jātakas. Citing commentarial sto...
The Journal of Oriental Studies, The Institute of Oriental Philosophy, 26: 1–20. , 2016
This paper discusses the poetic richness of the nuns' verses discussing their value as the earlie... more This paper discusses the poetic richness of the nuns' verses discussing their value as the earliest female contributions to the spiritual literature of the world. The emphasis on trust and friendship in these oral compositions emerge as crucial elements in their individual paths to awakening.
Books by Sarah Shaw
Extract from Buddhist Meditation: an Anthology of Texts from the Pāli canon, 2006
Meditative practice lies at the heart of the Buddhist tradition. This introductory anthology give... more Meditative practice lies at the heart of the Buddhist tradition. This introductory anthology gives a representative sample of the various kinds of meditations described in the earliest body of Buddhist scripture, the Pali canon. It provides a broad introduction to their traditional context and practice and supplies explanation, context and doctrinal background to the subject of meditation. The main themes of the book are the diversity and flexibility of the way that the Buddha teaches meditation from the evidence of the canon. Covering fundamental features of Buddhist practice such as posture, lay meditation and meditative technique it provides comments both from the principal early commentators on Buddhist practice, Upatissa and Buddhaghosa, as well as from reputable modern meditation teachers in a number of Theravadin traditions. This is the first general book on Pali Buddhism which introduces the reader to the wide range of meditative advice in the canon. It demonstrates that the Buddha's meditative tradition still offers a path of practice as mysterious, awe-inspiring yet as freshly accessible as it was centuries ago and should be of interest to students and scholars of Buddhism as well as Buddhist practitioners. Sarah Shaw read Greek and English at Manchester University, where she took a doctorate in English. She studied Pali at Oxford and is on the steering committee of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. She is a mother, teacher and writer. She practises with the Samatha Association of Britain.
Book Reviews by Sarah Shaw
Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 2017
] bedeutet: dreiundsechzig oder auch mehr als diese; diese aber sind durch den nicht[s] Verwirren... more ] bedeutet: dreiundsechzig oder auch mehr als diese; diese aber sind durch den nicht[s] Verwirrenden(?) (oder: ohne Verwirrung?) detailliert in der Saṃyuttasuttaṭīkā 24 dargelegt. Insofern muß man sie gemäß der dort genannten Methode verstehen". Es ist anzunehmen, daß das asammosānantaradhānasuttaṭīkāyaṃ (var. asammohantaradhāna°u nd °antaramāna°) der Sv-pṭ und das asammohantena saṃyuttasuttaṭīkāya (singhalesische Variante: asammosānantaradhāna sūtraṭīkāvehi) der Vism-mhṭ auf denselben Text verweisen, der demnach vor der Vism-mhṭ geschrieben worden sein muß und entsprechend nicht die Mp-pṭ sein kann. Tatsächlich findet sich in der Mp-pṭ, und nur in dieser, ein weiterer Verweis auf eine Suttaṭīkā, nämlich in Mp-pṭ 64,13-14. Dieser Satz fehlt in der Mp-ṭ (siehe Anm. 6 dort) und ist auch in keiner der anderen, im Übrigen wörtlich übereinstimmenden Purāṇaṭīkās 25 enthalten. Mp-pṭ 64,13-14: niddhāranā ca tesaṃ mūlaparaṃ (zu konjizieren: mūlapadaṃ) yāya(?) suttaṭīkāyaṃ vuttanayānusārena veditabbā "Die Definitionen aber muß man kennen in Übereinstimmung mit der Methode, welche in der Suttaṭīkā gemäß dieser(?) 26 für(?) deren (?) Grund-Wort genannt ist". Der einzige frühere Text, in dem Ausführungen zu den niddhāraṇā enthalten sind, ist die ebenfalls Dhammapāla zugeschriebene Netti-pṭ B e 127, allerdings nicht in der Sektion, die auch als "Sutta" (Thread) bezeichnet wird, was die Bezeichnung als Suttaṭīkā rechtfertigen würde.
Buddhist Studies Review, 2024
Buddhist Studies Review, 41(1-2), 263–268.
Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 2021
Book review
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2021
Buddhist Studies Review, Dec 4, 2023
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Papers by Sarah Shaw
It appears in a volume edited by Professor Julia Hegewald, of Bonn University and is based on a conference she held in Bonn in 2017
Books by Sarah Shaw
Book Reviews by Sarah Shaw