"In this chapter, we have looked at how Buddhism and orality have been translated into film in Bhutan. We have argued, that cinema operates as a secondary oral medium, through the various rituals of production, distribution and consumption and, most significantly, at the level of story construction.
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Although Bhutan has a remarkably strong oral legacy, cinema and electronic media have undeniably changed its traditional narrative structure, re-mediating it and, in the process, creating new storytelling forms." (Conclusion, page 170)
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"In this thesis, I introduce and focus on the term “mobile mindfulness,” arguing that David McMahan’s elements of Buddhist modernism are intensified when practicing religion on the smartphone. These “mobile mindfulness” characteristics include the creation of transient experimental places
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of “play,” religious gamification, and increased individualization. After presenting examples of how Buddhist websites, virtual realities and smartphone apps intensify specific aspects of Buddhist modernism, I define what I mean by the term “mobile mindfulness,” through the analysis of two specific meditation apps, buddhify and ReWire. In these case studies, I show how digital religion on the smartphone is changing how users practice – and view – meditation in modernity." (Abstract)
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"Digital Religion offers a critical and systematic survey of the study of religion and new media. It covers religious engagement with a wide range of new media forms and highlights examples of new media engagement in all five of the major world religions. From cell phones and video games to blogs an
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d Second Life, the book provides a detailed review of major topics; includes a series of case studies to illustrate and elucidate the thematic explorations; considers the theoretical, ethical and theological issues raised." (Publisher description)
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"Many modern new religions in Japan, by using the mass media in their missionary work, managed to increase their influence on society in a very short time. With time, their use of media has also diversified, now covering all available formats: newspapers and journals, radio and TV, CS and video, the
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Internet and even smart phones. One of the characteristics of modern new religions is that they are associations composed of people bound by a common purpose rather than by shared blood or territory on which the traditional religions of Shrine Shinto and Sectarian Buddhism were established. It is this new principle of association that allowed new religions such as Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai, Reiyukai, Tenrikyo and Shinnyoen to quickly gain more than a million followers." (Abstract)
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"This issue of Australian Religion Studies Review examines the intersection of religion and celebrity, both major discourses in the modern world. The six articles examine the imbrication of celebrity with: three traditional religions, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism; the new religion of Candomblé;
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and contemporary spiritual trends such as spiritual tourism, secular equivalents of religion like the Olympic Games, and the veneration of sports stars by fans. The study of the impact of celebrity on religion is still in its infancy, and the contributions to this special issue of Australian Religion Studies Review demonstrate both the rich results that such studies can yield, and the range and diversity of subjects that would repay future research." (Page 227)
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"In the case of contemporary Buddhism, we have seen how fundamentalism and democracy are connected to each other, and also how the public sphere, mediated by the new technology of the internet, has a role to play in these relations. We have seen how groups such as the 'Santi Asoke' are succeeding de
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spite the absence of any support from the political authorities, and how this has made the traditional Buddhist establishment feel insecure. According to Marty and Appleby, fundamentalism is understood as an attempt to divide 'us' from 'them' through shared traditions and beliefs. In the case of Thailand, this divisive attitude is a modern phenomenon arising from dissatisfaction with the contemporary economy and with globalisation, which appear threatening to the most conservative members of the Sangha. In this sense, it is ironic that the austere and anti-capitalist Sanrti Asoke is less fundamentalist than the traditional Buddhist establishment." (Conclusion, page 233-234)
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"Dieser Beitrag vermittelt einen Einblick in das mediale Leben des Dalai Lama und zeichnet die Entwicklung vom einfachen Bauernjungen zur heutigen "Marke" Dalai Lama nach. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt auf seinen Auslandsreisen, die ihn in Kontakt mit sowohl religiösen Anhängern als auch hochrangigen
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Politikern bringen, aber auch auf seinen öffentlichen Auftritten und sozialen Aufgaben. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt einerseits auf der Selbstinszenierung und Vermarktung seiner eigenen Person und andererseits auf seiner Darstellung in den Medien, vorwiegend Printmedien und in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung. Abschließend wird ein kurzer Ausblick gegeben, welche Veränderungen die Medialisierung eines religiösen Spezialisten wie dem Dalai Lama in der Wahrnehmung seiner Religion zur Folge haben können." (Seite 231-233)
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"This book contains the presentations of a Roundtable of invited scholars organized by the FABC-Office of Social Communication (FABC-OSC) October 3-7, 2005 at Assumption University Huamak campus in Bangkok, in cooperation with the Graduate School of Philisophy and Religion of Assumption University a
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nd the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication (ARC) at St. John's University, Bangkok. The concern of the roundtable with some 20 participants was a deeper understanding of Social Communication in Religious Traditions of Asia. Social Communication defined as the communication of and in human society is part and parcel of every religion. The question was: How is this seen and practiced in the different religious traditions of Asia? With the publication of this volume, we would like to make people, especially communication scholars and theologians, more aware of the communication dimenstion of religions in Asia. Communication is not just the use of technical means and instruments like the mass media. It is a dimension of human and spiritual life which should be essential for any religious thinking and practice. It is also because of this that we purposely maintained and use the Vatican II expression 'Social Communication' which refers to all communicative processes and practices in human society." (Publisher description)
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"The Sri Lankan villager favours an indirect method to put across his message. This indirectness, inculcated mainly through the religio-social inheritance has made the population more “sympathetic responders to communicated messages.” Communicators, If they are willing to adopt modern concepts t
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hat do not run counter to Buddhist culture, will find it possible to reach their target audience who are receptive to change, proving that not only Buddhist society but “the communication environment itself must necessarily be in a state of flux." (Abstract)
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