Wrapping Up ("The Making of a Savior Bodhisattva")

ERRATUM: At about ~30:58 I make a pretty major error. The story of "Mulian Rescues His Mother" is about the monk Moggallāna (called "Mulian" in Chinese) and his mother. Obviously, "Mulian" is not the mother's name!! There is a similar story in the Ullambana Sutra, and that story does involve Ananda. There is also another similar story involving Shariputra in the Yulanpen Sutra.
This was the last class in a series on the book "The Making of a Savior Bodhisattva: Dizang in Medieval China" by Zhiru.
At ~58:43 I start talking about the "Wanli Era". I got things a little wrong when I said that it was the Wanli Emperor's mother who really deserves credit for the revival of Buddhism during this time. Actually it was one of his consorts named Cisheng. She is also often referred to as "Empress Dowager Xiaojing". To learn a lot more about Cisheng's active role in promoting the Dharma during the Wanli Era, see Dewei Zhang's excellent book "Thriving in Crisis: Buddhism and Political Disruption in China, 1522-1620":
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