Alexander Wynne

Alexander Wynne returns to speak with us about historical authenticity of the Buddha.

What would it mean to your practice if we discover our historical understanding of Buddhism was not correct? Not in a little way, getting someone’s name a little wrong, but something larger, something that might change the accuracy of the teachings themselves? Would that matter to you? When I think about this question, to me it really doesn’t change anything because my secular approach is one of exploration, of testing for myself, and not accepting holy writ as without error. But what if you happen to place a large portion of your identity as a Buddhist into a vested interest in the accuracy of the Pali canon?

Alexander Wynne is currently a lecturer in Religious Studies at Liverpool Hope University, and also a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and Associate Fellow of the Dhammachi Tipitaka Project (at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Thailand).

So, sit back, relax, and have a nice Not Your Father’s Root Beer.

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Books

Web Links

• Alexander Wynne Articles
• Sujato’s Blog — The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist texts
• Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University
• The Historical Authenticity of Early Buddhist Literature: A Critical Evaluation

 

Music for This Episode Courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez

The music heard in the middle of this podcast is from Rodrigo Rodriguez. You can visit his website to hear more of his music, get the full discography, and view his upcoming tour dates.