Roderick Orlina
Murdoch University (Australia)
The Philippines has remained a black hole for Buddhist studies because little material evidence of its existence remains. However, the archival record informs us that this was not due to the absence of Indic religion (subsumed under the general heading idolatrias, ‘idolatries’) or its lack of adherents (infieles, ‘infidels’), but rather to the zealous actions of the Catholic orders given permission directly from the Spanish monarch to spread the Christian Doctrine by whatever means necessary.
Beyond the bells of the Catholic churches in towns established by Spanish authorities to collectivize and facilitate the instruction of the local populations, mountains and caves provided a safe haven for such worship and remained undiscovered by ecclesiastics until well over a hundred years after Spain captured Manila from its Muslim rulers. The steps taken to rein in the activities that took place in these sacred mountains have been well documented, providing an intimate look into the changing material, social and religious world of the people who resisted conversion to Catholicism.
(Presented in the International Conference on Buddhist Studies: Buddha's Biography – Buddhist Legends, 18-19 July 2015, Le Meridien Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Department of Thai, Faculty of Arts, The Pali and Sanskrit Section, Department of Eastern Languages, Faculty of Arts and Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University)