The Lives of the Buddha
What is a buddha? How does a person become one? The life of the Buddha is one of the most influential stories ever, but it was not the focus of the earliest Buddhist literature. When narratives of his life (and previous lives) first appear in word and image, which concerns dominate them? How and why do later groups of Buddhists tell, interpret, and ritually enact his life story differently? We will focus on the telling and retelling of these lives over the long span and wide spread of the Buddhist tradition - and what they reveal about doctrine and practice as well as issues of gender, authority, and religious aspiration.