Panoramic perspectives on transformative trajectories in visualization across Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism
Studies in Chinese Religions April 3, 2025 DOI: 10.1080/23729988.2025.2565892 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnographic case study with experimental fieldwork Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Chinese Buddhist practitioners in Huayan and Pure Land contexts |
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key findings | Argues that panoramic perspectives in Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism interfuse multiple views into a synergistic vision none held alone, and that this dynamic is reflected in visualization practices across canonical texts, multimedia tableaux, and contemplative experience, though with significant transformations. Offers new ethnographic and experimental data on Huayan and Pure Land practice in Chinese Buddhist contexts. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Panoramic perspectives interfuse multiple views on the same scene, out of which emerges a vision none held alone. Such synergistic dynamics are reflected in practices of visualization, on which Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism offer particularly illuminating perspectives. Their canonical accounts, including the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and Amitāyus Contemplation Sūtra, find multimedia parallels in transformation tableaux and further instantiation in the extracanonical domain of contemplative experience, though not without undergoing significant transformations. Building upon previous work, I engage the canonical sources, multimedia analogs, experiential instantiations and neurophenomenological implications of visualization in Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism. This article contributes new data on contemplative experience from an ethnographic case study on Huayan practice and experimental fieldwork on Pure Land practice in Chinese Buddhist contexts. It offers a set of panoramic perspectives on transformative trajectories in visualization across Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism through a synergy of interdisciplinary insights, fleshing out a fuller picture of Buddhist practice.