The androgynous, asexual Buddha of contemporary popular imagination stands in stark contrast to the muscular, virile, and sensual figure presented in Indian Buddhist texts. In early Buddhist literature and art, the Buddha's perfect physique and sexual prowess are important components of his legend as the world's "ultimate man." He is both the scholarly, religiously inclined brahman and the warrior ruler who excels in martial arts, athletic pursuits, and sexual exploits. The Buddha effortlessly performs these dual roles, ...
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The androgynous, asexual Buddha of contemporary popular imagination stands in stark contrast to the muscular, virile, and sensual figure presented in Indian Buddhist texts. In early Buddhist literature and art, the Buddha's perfect physique and sexual prowess are important components of his legend as the world's "ultimate man." He is both the scholarly, religiously inclined brahman and the warrior ruler who excels in martial arts, athletic pursuits, and sexual exploits. The Buddha effortlessly performs these dual roles, combining his society's norms for ideal manhood and creating a powerful image taken up by later followers in promoting their tradition in a hotly contested religious marketplace. In this groundbreaking study of previously unexplored aspects of the early Buddhist tradition, John Powers skillfully adapts methodological approaches from European and North American historiography to the study of early Buddhist literature, art, and iconography, highlighting aspects of the tradition that have been surprisingly invisible in earlier scholarship. The book focuses on the figure of the Buddha and his monastic followers to show how they were constructed as paragons of masculinity, whose powerful bodies and compelling sexuality attracted women, elicited admiration from men, and convinced skeptics of their spiritual attainments.
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Add this copy of A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the to cart. $36.50, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2012 by Harvard University Press.
Add this copy of A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the to cart. $45.00, very good condition, Sold by Alan Wofsy Fine Arts rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from San Francisco, CA, UNITED STATES, published by Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press, 2009.
Edition:
Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press, 2009
Publisher:
Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press, 2009
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
13307171872
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Seller's Description:
8vo. 320 pp. Black Cloth, Very Good+ with some notes penciled in margins. Focuses on the figure of the Buddha and his monastic followers to show how they were constructed as paragons of masculinity, whose powerful bodies and compelling sexuality attracted women, elicited admiration from men, and convinced skeptics of their spiritual attainments.
Add this copy of A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex, and the to cart. $86.00, new condition, Sold by Basement Seller 101 rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cincinnati, OH, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harvard University Press.
