Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism
"This is a bold little book that pushes around some very big problems, and it does what it says it will do: it reopens the question of the relationship between what we call Buddhism and the world of 'spirits' that appears always to have surrounded it."--Gregory Schopen, Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA"A thoughtful and accessible introduction to the popular traditions present around early Indian Buddhism and the symbiotic grafting that took place among them."--CHOICE"Robert DeCaroli's book sheds new light on a body of material that is central to our understanding of ancient South Asian cultures. It explores the complex relationship between Buddhist religion and pre-existing popular beliefs and highlights, in an unprecedented way, the impact of local traditions on the formation of Buddhism and its art. This book is valuable to specialists, yet it is accessible and meaningful to a broader audience approaching this important material for the first time."--Kurt Behrendt, Department of Art History, Tyler School of Art, Temple University