Avataṃsaka Meditation in Khotan: Samādhi, Visualization, and the Cult of Buddha Images
Religions January 25, 2026 DOI: 10.3390/rel17020135 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractKhotan was a crucial center for the transmission and reception of Avataṃsaka/Huayan Buddhism, where the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra enjoyed exceptional prestige and royal protection, creating favorable conditions for the circulation and possible redaction of large Mahāyāna compilations. Two meditation texts translated by the Khotanese monk Devendraprajñā combine Huayan cosmology and non-obstruction with visualization-based contemplative techniques. A functional differentiation within Khotanese practice emerges: the meditation texts prioritize cognitive and visionary transformation and largely omit formal repentance, whereas an image-making sūtra explicitly requires repentance as a precondition for karmic purification, promising the elimination or mitigation of karmic consequences through making Buddha images.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical and textual analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Gautama buddha Repentance Contemplation Section typography |
| Key finding | Argues that Khotan's royal patronage of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra enabled the circulation and possible redaction of large Mahāyāna compilations, and that Khotanese practice shows a functional differentiation where meditation texts omit formal repentance while an image-making sūtra requires it for karmic purification. |
Abstract
This article examines Khotan’s role in the transmission and reception of Avataṃsaka/Huayan Buddhism, arguing that the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra’s exceptional prestige and royal protection in Khotan provided favourable conditions for the circulation—and possibly the redaction—of large Mahāyāna compilations. It then analyses two Avataṃsaka-group meditation texts translated by the Khotanese monk Devendraprajñā (The Section on the Cultivation of Loving-Kindness and The Section on the Inconceivable Buddha-Realm), showing how they combine Huayan cosmology and non-obstruction with visualization-based contemplative techniques. Finally, by reading these texts alongside The Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Merits of Creating Images Spoken by the Buddha, the article highlights a functional differentiation within Khotanese practice: the meditation texts prioritise cognitive and visionary transformation and largely omit formal repentance, whereas the image-making sūtra explicitly requires repentance as a precondition for karmic purification, promising the elimination or mitigation of karmic consequences through the making of Buddha images.