Preachers of the great way : the Dharmabhanaka in Mahayana Buddhist sutras
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this dissertation I examine descriptions of preachers of the dharma (Sanskrit: dharmabhāṇaka) in select Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras, dating from roughly the first century BCE to the sixth century CE. I analyze how Mahāyāna Buddhist authors represented these figures of religious authority and made claims about what these preachers should be like. I argue that these sūtras consistently use aesthetic descriptions of preachers; explicit statements about the blessings, empowerment, and authorization that they receive from buddhas, alongside promises of protection from powerful supernatural beings throughout the cosmos; and expressions of their venerable natures to articulate a normative vision of the ideal religious authority figure. Mahāyāna sūtras also exhort their readers and hearers to spread the scriptures and their teachings. In the context of these exhortations, propagation through preaching is made a central activity of Mahāyāna Buddhist practice—alongside a standard list of practices that includes accepting, memorizing, reciting, and copying the sūtras. Therefore, I further argue that such descriptions reveal that dharmabhāṇakas are envisioned as an ideal Mahāyāna Buddhist subject, because they embody one of the central practices of Mahāyāna Buddhism: propagating the dharma.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Craig, Ralph |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Harrison, Paul |
| Thesis advisor | Harrison, Paul |
| Thesis advisor | Gentry, James Duncan |
| Thesis advisor | Gummer, Natalie |
| Thesis advisor | Kieschnick, John, 1964- |
| Thesis advisor | Mayse, Evan |
| Degree committee member | Gentry, James Duncan |
| Degree committee member | Gummer, Natalie |
| Degree committee member | Kieschnick, John, 1964- |
| Degree committee member | Mayse, Evan |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Religious Studies |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Ralph Craig. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Religious Studies. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ng686nc8342 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Ralph Craig
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...