In A Passage to India, E. M. Forster does not simply explore thepath to better understanding of India, but man''s quest for ultimate truth.This thesis attempts to investigate E. M. Forster''s novel from a buddhist perspective, exploring the author''s insights in comparison with Buddhist philosophy. The thesis is divided into five sections. Chapter One is an intro-duction to Forster a a review of literature on A passage to India. ChapterTwo introduces the Buddhist concepts of attachment and compassion. In thisnovel, Forster not only points out that the continuum of attachment to selfleads people to misjudge each other but also espouses compassion through thecharacter of Mrs. Moore. Chapter Three introduces the Buddhist concept of "Empty Logic" and examines Mrs. Moore''s disillusionment using this theory. Chapter Four considers the question that Forster raises in this novel, ""Is life a mystery or muddle?" from the Buddhist "Mere-consciousness" viewpoint.The Buddhist notion of the duality of subject and object and its nondualground are discussed. Chaptaer Five concludes the thesis with Forster''s and Buddhist common humanistic concerns and offers a scope beyond the socialand political concerns of earlier commentators on this novel.
