Lecture
Buddhism For the Masses: the History and Future of a Tibetan Storytelling Tradition
- Date
- Thursday 26 May 2016
- Time
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 307
2016 Numata lecture in Buddhist Studies
Tibetan storytellers used to roam the land to entertain and inspire ordinary people with their stories of Buddhist heros and heroines, while explaining their colourful painted scrolls. According to some, there is now only one such person left who actively performs this storytelling tradition. In this lecture I will discuss its history, the reasons for its current decline and the future of Tibetan storytellers, seen through the eyes of the last performer of this oral tradition.