Bridging Worlds: Sexuality, Spirituality and Cultural Exchange in Luso-Hispanic and European Encounters with India

Abstract

This paper critically explores the intersections of sexuality, spirituality, and cultural perception through the works of Jose Ignacio Cabezon and Ilija Trojanow, situated within the broader discursive framework of Luso-Hispanic and European engagements with India. Building on Cabezon’s extensive analysis of sexuality in classical South Asian Buddhism, this work offers a nuanced understanding of how sexual ethics were perceived and practised in historical Indian Buddhist traditions. This comparative study immerses us in the idea of Maya – as both a type of ontological thinking and a philosophical conception in Buddhist thought – and raises the question: How do Cabezon's and Trojanow's interpretations of sexuality and spirituality engage with the Buddhist concept of Maya, in particular about desire, attachment, and the illusory nature of sexual identity?   In order to answer this question, both authors use Maya to illuminate the process of self-discovery in India, where the transcendence of illusion-including that of sexual identity-becomes part of the spiritual journey toward enlightenment. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of how Buddhist epistemology reframes Western narratives of desire and spirituality, offering alternative frameworks for cross-cultural engagement.