Buddhist Enlightenment: Visions, Words, and Praxis

Harvard FAS

How do you get enlightened? Is the Buddha a god or human? How many Buddhas are there in the world? How many celebrated enlightened women do we find in Buddhism? How do you know if someone is enlightened? And why does enlightenment matter? These are basic questions that even most recondite books of Buddhism often fail to answer. This seminar looks at famous visual images of Buddhist enlightenment – not only iconographies of Buddhist divinities, but also architecture, gardens, ritual…