Reinventing the Wheel

Teiser . . . has a talent for explaining difficult concepts from the basics, and he includes references to popular or mass-media forms of contemporary Buddhism. His book is packed full of fascinating details and enlivened with translations of Buddhist narratives, legends, and miracle tales. This is a fine example of scholarship from the leading edge of the field of Buddhist studies. It will be appreciated and enjoyed by all those interested in the communication of ideas and the religious function of painted images.

[An] extraordinary book-length project . . . . Without question, Teiser has an extraordinary command of the material; he offers a rich, multilayered, multifaceted analysis that benefits from careful reading and rereading . . . . his methodological synthesis of visual and literary sources has significantly advanced the field of Buddhist studies, bridging the divide between Buddhist images and texts with a more productive collaborative and contextual analysis. This is a very important book that will long remain an enormously valuable resource to scholars and students.

[An] erudite and well-written study, one that deserves to be used as both a basic reference for the representation and history of wheels of rebirth as well as a methodological model for the study of Buddhist art.

Groundbreaking. . . . The gorgeous visuals, detailed maps, and line drawings materially herald an exciting new phase in Buddhology, pronouncing a long-awaited, mature marriage between art history and Buddhist studies. . . . Teiser has radically changed scholarly discourse and understanding. . . . A highly engaging, in-depth treatment of an important Buddhist symbol, this exquisitely produced book has much to offer to specialist readers and undergraduate students.

With keen aesthetic discernment, extensive historical scholarship, and sensitivity to Buddhist spirituality, this work seamlessly studies all significant aspects of the Buddhist wheel found in old Buddhist temples while bringing in relevant dimensions of Buddhist spirituality. Art, symbology, history, culture, and spirituality are interwoven in an engrossing, enlightening manner.

A provocative and reliable account of an image that found its way from India to China in the medieval period and continues to play an important role in Buddhist practice and education in Tibet today.

[This book] succeeds through an earnest engaging style and promises to garner in an exquisitely crafted production a wider audience for its subject.

A milestone in the scholarship on Buddhism. This book will remain a standard and definitive account of the subject for a long time to come. It is hard to imagine that any serious student of Buddhism can afford to neglect this book.