The Making of a Buddhist Heretic : A Case Study of Sky-Blue Sect

Kawanami, Hiroko (2020) The Making of a Buddhist Heretic : A Case Study of Sky-Blue Sect. Journal of Buddhism, Law & Society, 6 (2020-2). ISSN 2475-9279

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Abstract

I examine Mòpyar Gaing: a new Buddhist sect that came to prominence in Myanmar in the 1980s and its founder monk; U Nyanar, who was arrested in the early 1980s for propagating the concept of ‘this-worldly karma’, which posed a major challenge to traditional beliefs in karmic causality and rebirth in the conservative Theravada tradition. The article examines how his re-interpretation of Buddhist doctrine brought against him charges of heresy and eventually led to lengthy prison terms until his release in 2016.