Kris L. Anderson

This dissertation examines the Buddhist funerary traditions of the Sarvadurgatiparisodhana tantra. The project maps the iterations of the text between the eighth and thirteenth centuries using the tantra, its Tibetan translations, and related ritual manuals from Dunhuang, contributing to scholarship on death in Buddhist traditions and on the development of the tantras. Its second portion examines later ritual literature preserved in Nepal, particularly samadhi and sadhana texts in a hybrid of Sanskrit and Newari, to trace how the text was deployed in later periods. The third portion of the project situates more recent texts and practices in the broader Sarvadurgatiparisodhana tantra tradition, looking at the contemporary Newar community of Patan, and the Tibetan community of Boudhanath, Nepal.

Housing an extraordinary collection of objects from across places, cultures, and time, the Art Institute of Chicago is a place of active learning for all—dedicated to investigation, innovation, education, and dialogue—continually aspiring to greater public service and civic engagement. Within the Art Institute’s distinctive and expansive Arts of Asia collection, the Buddhism Public Scholar will build on a series of collection-based curatorial initiatives, researching Himalayan thangkas and related Buddhist textiles, and will complement the museum’s efforts to thoroughly document its collections online and make them more accessible to the public.