The Buddhist active will in Caroline A. Foley Rhys Davids' Eranos lectures

Caroline A. Foley Rhys Davids, a major expert on Buddhist Pāli Literature and the Western authority on Abhidhamma Piṭaka studies, participated in Eranos from 1933 to 1937, focusing on Buddhism’s history. A pioneer in multidisciplinary Buddhist studies, she introduced Buddhist psychology to the public, paving the way for this subject’s prominence in Western tradition studies. Her translations and essays, known for their insightful interpretation of complex psychological and philosophical themes, gained recognition. After her son’s death in World War i, she turned to peace advocacy and activism, and began promoting a positive, transformative view of human will. These views shaped her later Buddhist understanding and her lectures at Ascona. This paper examines her contributions to Eranos and her later works, discussing how her experiences of the war and the subsequent social and academic context distinctively influenced this phase of her scholarship.