The Vicissitudes of Multiple Buddhas in Theravada Buddhism: Of Ludic Play, Gender, and Politics.

Although most studies of Theravada Buddhism focus on the "historical" life of the Gotama Buddha, for centuries popular Buddhist teachings centered on stories about the multiple Buddhas and their previous and future lives. These stories, known as "jātakas," were part of a broader Theravada framework in which Gotama is understood as only one in a succession of Buddhas who have appeared or will appear across multiple eons. However, the relevance of the belief in past and future lives has undergone change over time. Drawing on both textual analyses and anthropological fieldwork in Thailand, this essay is divided into five sections. After providing an overview of the evidence for the historical rise of the belief in multiple lives of multiple Buddhas, the essay argues that these stories—with their playful bawdiness, growing incorporation of female roles, and opportunities for social critique—facilitated the regional spread of Buddhism across classes and genders over the centuries. However, belief in the future Buddha, Maitreya, prompted millenarian movements. The essay concludes by reviewing evidence suggesting that although the belief in multiple Buddhas remains relevant elsewhere across the Theravada Buddhist world, because of political concerns of the Thai state, the belief has given way to an emphasis on the historical life of Gotama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]