Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures often effusively praise the preachers who conveyed their teachings, as well as their skill in preaching. In this talk we will examine the South Asian Buddhist notion of pratibhāna-pratisaṃvid, or “skillful knowledge of inspired eloquence.” I demonstrate that this notion is the foremost skill in the Mahāyāna Buddhist preacher’s rhetorical toolkit, and I will argue that its purpose is inspiring others. I conclude by considering what the notion of inspired eloquence offers to our understanding of the history of South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism, and through a discussion of the research that appears in my first monograph Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner (Eerdmans Publishing 2023), I briefly consider what such an understanding contributes to the study of American Buddhism.
Ralph H. Craig III is the 2025–2026 Numata Visiting Scholar at Princeton University, and Assistant Professor of Religion at Whitman College. He is an interdisciplinary scholar of religion, whose research focuses on South Asian Buddhism and American Buddhism. He received his B.A. in Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University and his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Stanford University. His first book was, Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner (Eerdmans Publishing, 2023), which explores the place of religion in the life and career of Tina Turner and examines her development as a Black Buddhist teacher. His next book project is a monograph on preachers in Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras.
This event is co-sponsored by the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute.
LOCATION:Barker Center, Thompson Room STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20250917T203000Z DTEND:20250917T223000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR