BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:-//WordPress - MECv6.5.5//EN
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://sibi.mangalamresearch.org/
X-WR-CALNAME:2022 NEH Summer Institute
X-WR-CALDESC:The Imagination and Imaginal Worlds in the Mirror of Buddhism
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220620T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20220620T110000
DTSTAMP:20220504T183500
UID:MEC-6f2268bd1d3d3ebaabb04d6b5d099425@sibi.mangalamresearch.org
CREATED:20220504
LAST-MODIFIED:20220506
PRIORITY:5
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SUMMARY:David McMahan, “Buddhist Visionary Literature and the Logic of Visionary Imagery”
DESCRIPTION:The Mahāyāna Sūtras inaugurate a revolutionary shift in Buddhist literature. They include the stark dialectics of emptiness, which rigorously deconstruct all conceptual structures, whether they are philosophical edifices or taken-for-granted ways of seeing things. At the same time, they introduce a new genre of visionary literature that represents an explosion of the visual imagination, with a proliferation of fantastical scenes and scenarios. This session explores some of the varieties and functions of such imagery, arguing that the underlying logic of emptiness and the abundance of visionary imagery in certain sūtras is the same—that all things are ananta: boundless, infinite, without end. Visionary literature expresses another way of freeing up things from the illusion of fixed, inherent existence, playfully deploying fantastical imagery to suggest the shimmering possibilities just outside of ordinary awareness. It can also be seen as a genre of fantasy novel dramatizing Buddhist themes—emptiness, compassion, skillful means—and the idea that the ordinary world is overflowing with hidden beauty, wonder, and meaning if seen through the eyes of heightened awareness. This literature also leads directly to a systematization of such imagery in complex visualization meditations in Pure Land and Tantric traditions.\nReadings:\nMcMahan, David. “Realms of the Senses: Buddha Fields and Fields of Vision in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra.” In Empty Vision: Metaphor and Visual Imagery in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Routledge, 2002..\nSelection from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra\n
URL:https://sibi.mangalamresearch.org/events/buddhist-visionary-literature/
LOCATION:2018 Allston Way, Berkeley, California
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sibi.mangalamresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/dreamstimemaximum_71811969-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR