Description:

The sixth lecture in the fifth year of the The Khyentse Foundation Buddhist Studies Lecture Series at Northwestern.

Reading

Naomi Appleton, “In Defence of the Vessantara-jātaka: An Ethically Enriching Work of Literature” – article currently under review by a journal 

Abstract

This lecture explores accounts of the Buddha’s return to his hometown of Kapilavastu, with a focus on what past-life stories (jātakas) he tells to his family and why. We start with the Pāli tradition, in which his first hometown teaching is of the Vessantara-jātaka, a lifetime in which he was parted from his parents, and subsequently gave away his children and wife; a more family-focused story could scarcely be imagined. The Mahāvastu and Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya accounts have the Buddha tell different stories to his parents, wife, and wider family, but each account shares common themes, including the protective power of family virtue, the positivity of multi-life attachment, and yet also the inevitable pairing of love and suffering. Perhaps most surprisingly in a tradition that emphasises renunciation, the stories also demonstrate the ways in which family ties remain relevant to the Buddha even after he has achieved buddhahood. This lecture therefore closes by suggesting we may need to rethink how love and attachment are perceived in Indian Buddhism, and that we get a richer understanding of these themes when we read Buddhist literature as literature.

Bio

Naomi Appleton is Professor of Buddhist Studies and Indian Religions at the University of Edinburgh, and Co-Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Buddhist Studies. Her primary research interest is the role of stories in creation, communication and challenge of religious ideas in ancient India. In Buddhist Studies circles she is best known for her work on jātaka stories (tales of the Buddha’s past lives) but she has also worked on avadāna literature, the Buddha’s lifestory, buddhology (the nature of buddhas) in narrative literature, and also the intersections between Buddhist, Jain and Brahmanical Hindu literary traditions. She is currently writing a book on love in Indian Buddhist literature.