High Religion

An internationally recognized anthropologist analyzes the findings of the first celibate Buddhist monasteries in Nepal during the early 20th century. This religious development was a significant departure from traditional or popular Buddhism. Sherry Ortner was the first to combine historical and social scientific modes of analysis in a study on the Sherpa monastery monasteries. She is also one of very few people to attempt to account for Buddhist monasteries elsewhere. She uses ethnographic and oral historical methods to examine the interaction of cultural and political factors that led to the final findings. Her research is a significant advance in both our understanding of Sherpa Buddhist Buddhism and the integration of historical and anthropological modes of analysis. The book is a theoretical contribution to a theory of practice, which explains the relationship between human intentions/actions and the structures of culture and society that arise from those actions and interactions. This book will be of interest to not only the growing number of anthropologists who are working on similar issues but also historians eager to learn what anthropology can offer historical analysis. It will also be of great interest to anyone interested in Nepal, Tibet or Buddhism.