Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian BuddhismOxford University Press, USA, 2009 - 323 pages Although Buddhism is often depicted as a religion of meditators and philosophers, some of the earliest writings extant in India offer a very different portrait of the Buddhist practitioner. In Indian Buddhist narratives from the early centuries of the Common Era, most lay religious practice consists not of reading, praying, or meditating, but of visually engaging with certain kinds of objects. These visual practices, moreover, are represented as the primary means of cultivating faith, a necessary precondition for proceeding along the Buddhist spiritual path. In Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism, Andy Rotman examines these visual practices and how they function as a kind of skeleton key for opening up Buddhist conceptualizations about the world and the ways it should be navigated.Rotman's analysis is based primarily on stories from the Divyavadana (Divine Stories), one of the most important collections of ancient Buddhist narratives from India. Though discourses of the Buddha are well known for their opening words, "thus have I heard" - for Buddhist teachings were first preserved and transmitted orally - the Divyavadana presents a very different model for disseminating the Buddhist dharma. Devotees are enjoined to look, not just hear, and visual legacies and lineages are shown to trump their oral counterparts. As Rotman makes clear, this configuration of the visual fundamentally transforms the world of the Buddhist practitioner, changing what one sees, what one believes, and what one does. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
The Practice of 346raddh257 | 21 |
The Practice of Pras257da | 63 |
Seeing the Buddha | 149 |
Epilogue | 197 |
Contents of the Divy257vad257na | 203 |
Abbreviations | 205 |
Notes | 209 |
281 | |
311 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action allows appears arises asks Asoka Ašokāv awakened become belief Blessed body brahman Buddha Buddhist cause chapter characters clear connection consider created cultivate deeds describes desire dharma direct discussed Divy Divya¯vada¯na effect engage example existence experience explains eyes faith final follows former function gift giving gold hears householder hundred hungry ghosts images individuals karma karmic King Kot.ikarn.a latter leads likewise living Ma¯ra materials means mental mentioned merit mind monastic monks moral narrative nature never objects occurs offerings one’s Pali particular passage perform perhaps person physical possessed possible pra¯sa¯dika objects practice prasa¯da present produce question received reference remains represented response reward ritual s´raddha Sanskrit says seems seen sense shrines sight similar social story Strong stu¯pa teachings tell term things thought thousand tion Toyika truth turn Upagupta venerable verse virtue visual writing