The Preacher's Flow: Inspired Eloquence as the central skill of Mahāyāna Buddhist Preachers

This talk first discusses the South Asian Buddhist notion of pratibhāna-pratisaṃvid, or “skillful knowledge of inspired eloquence.” Then it turns to a discussion of how the concept of “inspired eloquence” informs and provides context for Turner’s sermonic stylings on her last recorded albums. It will conclude by considering what the notion of inspired eloquence offers to our understanding of the history of both South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism and American Buddhism.

This talk is made possible through the generous support of the Warren Mills Hutcheson Endowed Fund in Religion.

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Ralph H. Craig III is an interdisciplinary scholar of religion whose research focuses on South Asian Buddhism and American Buddhism. He received his BA in Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University and his PhD in Religious Studies at Stanford University. He works with textual materials in Sanskrit, Pāli, Buddhist Chinese and Classical Tibetan. His first book Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner 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.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Olin Humanities, Room 102

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