PODCASTS

THE BUDDHA’S WIFE AND OTHER UNTOLD STORIES:

An Exploration of Religious Mythology and Texts from a Feminine lens with Dr. Vanessa R. Sasson

For this episode of SOUNDFOOD, we welcome in March and the beginning of Women’s Month with the very dear, brilliant, and respected Dr. Vanessa R. Sasson. Dr. Sasson is a professor and writer of Religious Studies at Marianopolis College and a Research Fellow at the University of the Free State in South Africa, and a research member at CERIAS at UQAM. She has authored several books, both fiction and academic. In this episode, we dive specifically into her first novel Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife, exploring the overlap between Buddhism, humanhood, motherhood, feminism, and more. The consummate teacher brings us her lessons on Buddhism, specifically as it relates to romance, attachment, teaching, life, and death, in a powerful yet playful conversation, ultimately about embracing our humanity and coming together.

Vanessa Sasson and the Buddha’s Wife

DECEMBER 30TH, 2019 | 44:25 | S2:E5

EPISODE SUMMARY

Professor and scholar Vanessa R. Sasson talks with Parul Pandya about her fictionalized account of the often overlooked story of the Buddha’s wife.

Giving a Voice to the Buddha's Wife: A conversation with Vanessa R. Sasson

29 minutes | Sep 27th, 2019

EPISODE SUMMARY

Vanessa R. Sasson, author of “Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Vanessa and Lakshya talk about why she wanted to tell this story, what it was like to write in Yasodhara’s voice, and how the process of writing this book changed how she felt about the Buddha.