Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners

Traditional understandings of Buddhism have often been drawn from the perspective of the minority spiritual and philosophical elite. Understanding Buddhism redresses this imbalance by exploring a fascinating series of life histories of individuals whose lives are far more representative of the ways in which Buddhists throughout time have embodied the tradition. This text brings together a wide–ranging and representative collection of biographies featuring both historical and modern Buddhists, many written by leading scholars, linking their beliefs and practices to the development of Buddhism in their time and place. This series of compelling biographies of householder practitioners, as well as prominent monastics, is designed for easy comparison; the book provides a unique and fascinating perspective from which to understand Buddhism "on the ground."  Each section is introduced by the editor, himself a leading Buddhist scholar, who skillfully locates it within Buddhist history, belief and sociology.  The case studies have been carefully chosen to cover a range of Asian and modern Western Buddhists, as well as a range of historical periods, gender, and class, to provide an overview uniquely rich in diversity, texture, and educational value. 

Todd Lewis is Professor in the Religious Studies Department at The College of the Holy Cross. He is one of the world′s leading authorities on the social history of Buddhism. His most recent book, Sugata Saurabha: A Poem on the Life of the Buddha by Chittadhar Hridaya of Nepal , was awarded the Toshide Numata Book Prize for the best book in Buddhist Studies in 2010 and the Khyentse Foundation Award in 2012, for the best translation of a Buddhist text. In 2011, Professor Lewis was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.