A Study of Religious Communality Focusing on the Concept of "En": A case study of Tibetan Bon religion

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K21449
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology; Area studies
• Research Institution: Kyoto University (2022); Kanazawa Seiryo University (2016-2021)
• Principal Investigator: Konishi Kengo 京都大学, 人と社会の未来研究院, 特定講師 (80725276)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 宗教 / 縁 / 共同性 / チベット / ボン教 / ポン教

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to clarify the community formed among people who practice the religion by focusing on the concept of "en”, through a case study of Tibetan Bon religion which has been globalized since late 20th century. Throughout the research period, this study has been conducted both literature study and field research to examine the concept of "en" in the Tibetan Bon religion. In the literature study, we mainly analyzed the biographies of monks. In the field survey, we observed a large-scale ritual at monasteries and collected examples of how encounters and connections occur and are discussed there. The results of the above research enabled us to construct a perspective that connects the concept of “en” and community theory.

Free Research Field

文化人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、現代社会が直面する過疎高齢化や伝統的共同体の崩壊といった状況のもとで、どのような共同性が構築されうるのかという問題を、宗教の観点から解明する意義を持っている。とくに、アジア仏教圏特有の共同性に関する概念である「縁」について、チベットの事例分析と人類学および関連分野におけるコミュニティ論を接続するという学術的意義を持っている。また、これらの成果は現代社会における新たなコミュニティ作りの実践に接続できる点で大きな社会的意義を有するものである。