REL 331 - Lives of the Buddha

This course trains attention on the central story at the heart of the Buddhist tradition: the biography of the (historical) Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, as rendered in narrative and material forms. We will explore the role of hagiography, narrative, and epic poetry (kāvya) in creating and sustaining Buddhist thought and practice. Our sources include the early Sanskrit texts Buddhacarita and Lalitavistara Sūtra, the fifth-century Pāli Jātakanidāna, the twelfth-century Pāli Jinalankara, and the twentieth-century Nepal Bhasa Sugata Saurabha, as well as bountiful sculptural examples from Buddhist sites in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. We will ask, “What do the variety of retellings and representations reveal about the concerns and aspirations of their respective communities?” We will find that the category of “biography” extends beyond the representation of a singular life, in terms of both content (previous lives are included) and form, as biography is the vehicle that conveys Buddhism’s central teachings, the dhamma.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): REL 132
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Not offered: 2024-25
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.