What is Buddhist Art?

Buddhist art as it unfolds into the present continues transforming civilizations. From the days of Sakyamuni Buddha’s birth, it served as a tool of culture changing humanity’s understanding of beauty, shedding a constant light on the meaning of truth and reality .

By examining art alongside the development of an independent Buddhist thought process, the course hopes to clarify the meaning as well as the role of Buddhism within the flow of history.

The topics will include the the birth and life of Sakyamuni Buddha, the path of the elders after the death of Buddha, Emperor Asoka’s spread of Buddhism: Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Cambodia (Borobudur, Angkor Wat), Central Asia, India (Ajanta and Ellora, China, Japan, Thailand, Burma and finally the contemporary world.