Panoramic perspectives on transformative trajectories in visualization across Huayan and Pure Land Buddhism
Brianna K. Morseth
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.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEG Alpha Blocking Correlated with Perception of Inner Light During Zen Meditation Zen-Buddhist practitioners who had been practicing meditation for years | 2003 | Experimental study | |
| Zen meditation and ABC relaxation theory: An exploration of relaxation states, beliefs, dispositions, and motivations Experienced Zen meditators and college students | 2001 | Controlled experimental study | n = 83 |
| Exploring Emptiness and its Effects on Non-attachment, Mystical Experiences, and Psycho-spiritual Wellbeing: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Advanced Meditators. Advanced Buddhist meditators | 2019 | Within-subjects experimental design with qualitative analysis | n = 25 |
| Ready to help, no matter what you did: Responsibility attribution does not influence compassion in expert Buddhist practitioners. Expert Buddhist practitioners and trained novices | 2024 | Experimental study | |
| ZEN MEDITATION AND TIME-EXPERIENCE | 1989 | Experimental study |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience Review of General Psychology May 1, 2017
- Awe motivates authentic-self pursuit via self-transcendence: Implications for prosociality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology December 2, 2021
- Studying the experience of meditation through Micro-phenomenology Current Opinion in Psychology October 25, 2018
- The neural correlates of the awe experience: Reduced default mode network activity during feelings of awe Human Brain Mapping May 7, 2019
- Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2011
and 5 more in the library