Love as Merit, Grief as Practice: Buddhist Narrative Ethics in the Memoir Mengenang Mama Linda
Abstract
This study examines how the text reframes personal grief as a Buddhist ethical practice, articulating love as karmic merit (puñña) and mourning as a ritualized form of spiritual cultivation (bhāvanā). This study employs narrative ethics and close reading to analyze Hendry Filcozwei Jan’s memoir Mengenang Mama Linda: Wanita Luar Biasa nan Penyayang (2023). The analysis demonstrates that the memoir integrates Theravāda doctrine, Confucian filial piety, and Indonesian cultural rituals to construct a hybrid narrative of healing. The findings reveal that Jan’s literary practice functions as dāna (generosity), transforming private loss into a communal moral resource. This research contributes to Buddhist literary studies by providing a granular model of how contemporary Southeast Asian memoirs navigate grief through narrative ethics, offering an alternative to Western paradigms focused on individual catharsis.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15548/al-adyan.v6i2.13002
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Departement Religious Studies of The Faculty Ushuluddin and Religious Studies State Islamic University Imam Bonjol Padang
Kampus III Sungai Bangek, Kelurahan Balai Gadang, Kecamatan Koto Tangah, Kota Padang. Kode pos 25171
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