ASIAN 2261 - Indian Ocean Buddhism

(crosslisted) RELST 2261
(GHB) (HA-AS)

Fall. 3 credits. Student option grading.

A. Blackburn.

Long before the steamship, the airplane, the iPad and Snapchat, Buddhist monks, merchants, pilgrims and adventurers created a Buddhist network across the space of the Indian Ocean, including much of what we now refer to as southern China, India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. Why did Buddhist travelers leave their homes for other corners of the Buddhist world? What texts, religious rituals, and magical talismans did they carry? How did mobile persons and things create a Buddhist tradition? Today, Indian Ocean Buddhism is strongly connected to economy and politics, as well as devotion. How did Buddhism, politics, and economy become intertwined? How does Buddhism relate to nationalism? (RL)