Reexamining Ascetic Practice in Indian Buddhism Based on a Literary Anthropology of the Vinaya

Abstract

In this paper, I will argue that there was a subculture of ascetic practice in the institutionalized Indian Buddhist monastery of the so-called “middle period.” I will focus on two types of practice, which may be grouped under the category of śmaśāna, or cemetery, asceticism. The first is pāṃśukūlika, a practice which, in this case, involves retrieving material for one’s monastic robes from corpses. The second is aśubha-bhāvanā, or corpse meditation.