Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia

The book fills a thematic lacuna in the study of Buddhist sacred biography and its expressions in text, art, myth and ritual. The essays gathered here illuminate narratives of the Buddha’s life stories and other sacred biographies in terms of their salience, universality, scope, structure and relation to other aspects of the Buddhist traditions of South and Southeast Asia. Each essay makes unique contributions and the collection as a whole engages methodological and interpretive approaches that are central to scholars of Buddhism. It also provides new insights for general academic audiences who are more broadly concerned with comparative studies and interdisciplinary methodologies in the humanities and social sciences. The essays are broadly grouped according to four themes. Part one examines Buddha biography in textual and visual narratives. Part Two deals with textual biographies of Buddhist saints, and communities in light of the Buddha’s biography. Part Three presents depictions of the lives of Theravada kings in the tradition of the Jatakas. The essays in Part Four interpret the Buddhist biographical genre in local cults and practices. Sacred Biography brings together the erudite scholarship of major scholars in the field who enhanced our knowledge of Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia.