Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Smith College

This book is a significant contribution to the field of Buddhist Studies on at least three counts: it explores the neglected literary genre of Sanskrit legends (the ?vad?nas, in particular the collection known as the Divy?vad?na); in so doing, it emphasizes the importance of the visual dimensions of the experience of the Buddha, in contradistinction to the aural (Thus Have I Seen instead of Thus Have I Heard); and it unpacks various typologies of Buddhist faith and devotion, paying attention to their experiential but also their sociological contexts. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the religious dimensions of Indian Buddhism.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION; PART I: THE PRACTICE OF ?RADDH?; PART II: THE PRACTICE OF PRAS?DA; PART III: SEEING THE BUDDHA; EPILOGUE; APPENDIX: CONTENTS OF THE DIVY?VAD?NA; BIBLIOGRAPHY

Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Smith College

This book is a significant contribution to the field of Buddhist Studies on at least three counts: it explores the neglected literary genre of Sanskrit legends (the ?vad?nas, in particular the collection known as the Divy?vad?na); in so doing, it emphasizes the importance of the visual dimensions of the experience of the Buddha, in contradistinction to the aural (Thus Have I Seen instead of Thus Have I Heard); and it unpacks various typologies of Buddhist faith and devotion, paying attention to their experiential but also their sociological contexts. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the religious dimensions of Indian Buddhism.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION; PART I: THE PRACTICE OF ?RADDH?; PART II: THE PRACTICE OF PRAS?DA; PART III: SEEING THE BUDDHA; EPILOGUE; APPENDIX: CONTENTS OF THE DIVY?VAD?NA; BIBLIOGRAPHY

Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Smith College

This book is a significant contribution to the field of Buddhist Studies on at least three counts: it explores the neglected literary genre of Sanskrit legends (the ?vad?nas, in particular the collection known as the Divy?vad?na); in so doing, it emphasizes the importance of the visual dimensions of the experience of the Buddha, in contradistinction to the aural (Thus Have I Seen instead of Thus Have I Heard); and it unpacks various typologies of Buddhist faith and devotion, paying attention to their experiential but also their sociological contexts. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the religious dimensions of Indian Buddhism.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION; PART I: THE PRACTICE OF ?RADDH?; PART II: THE PRACTICE OF PRAS?DA; PART III: SEEING THE BUDDHA; EPILOGUE; APPENDIX: CONTENTS OF THE DIVY?VAD?NA; BIBLIOGRAPHY