Description
Visual metaphors in a number of Mahayana sutras construct a discourse
in which visual perception serves as a model for knowledge and
enlightenment. In the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) and other
Mahayana literature, immediate access to reality is symbolized by vision
and set in opposition to language and conceptual thinking, which are
construed as obscuring reality. In addition to its philosophical
manifestations, the tension between vision and language also functioned
as a strategy of legitimation in the struggle of the early heterodox
Mahayana movement for authority and legitimacy. This emphasis on vision
also served as a resource for the abundant mythical imagery in Mahayana
sutras, imagery that is ritualized in Vajrayana visualization practices.
McMahan brings a wide range of literature to bear on this issue,
Including a rare analysis of the lavish imagery of the Gandavyuha Sutra
in its Indian context. He concludes with a discussion of Indian
approaches to visuality in the light of some recent discussions of
"ocularcentrism" in the west, inviting scholars to expand the current
discussion of vision and its roles in constructing epistemic systems and
cultural practices beyond its exclusively European and American focus.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Technical Note on Terms Introduction
1. The
Devaluation of Language and the Privileging of Perception
2. Buddhist
Visuality in History Metaphor
3. Orality, Writing, and Authority:
Visionary Literature and the Struggle for Legitimacy in the Mahayana
4.
Realms of the Senses: Buddha Fields and Fields of Vision in the
Gandavyuha Sutra
5. The Optics of Buddhist Meditation and Devotion
6.
Conclusions and Occlusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index