Lands of the Buddha: An artistic and cultural journey through Asia in-venue

Join us as we explore the sublime history, art, and architecture of Buddhism throughout Asia. It’s going to be an unforgettable journey! The historical Buddha probably lived somewhere in northern India in the sixth century BC. Although there are relatively few Buddhists in India today, the religion he inspired has since spread throughout Asia. We, in turn, are inspired, to make an amazing journey. Travelling with the first monks who took Buddhist scripts to China, we shall go on to explore the Buddhist world of Asia. Geographically speaking, it is immense. Artistically speaking, it is breathtaking. Each week, we will visit a manifestation of this endlessly changing religion in a new destination: all the way from Tibet to Thailand, and from Java to Japan. At the heart, of course, will be the sublime (and sometimes even rather crazy!) art and architecture of Buddhism. It’s going to be an unforgettable journey. No preparation or reading is required. No exams, no homework - just entertaining, informative, and accessible learning for pleasure. *Please note that there are two versions of this course - one online, and one in-venue at Pickering. This is the in-venue iteration* Delivery: A lecture-based course, delivered via 7 x 2-hour sessions, 10:30-12:30, UK time: Friday 16October Friday 23 October Friday 30 October Friday 13 November Friday 20 November Friday 27 November Friday 4 December The course will be delivered via 7 in-venue sessions, and include opportunity for questions and discussion. Recordings of the online version of each session (with discussion elements edited out for GDPR reasons) will also be available – posted within 48 hours of each session, and available on demand for 2 weeks thereafter.