[INDOLOGY] Visualisation of Buddha/Guru

[James Hegarty]

Dear Colleagues,

Can anyone advise me as to how common visualisation of the Buddha or Guru is in Buddhist meditative practice?

Can anyone also suggest the period in which such practices were likely to have developed? It is not something I associate with Pali sources (but I am no Buddhologist).

I am particularly interested in materials that are likely to date to the first millennium of the common era.

If there are any striking examples of this practice in other early Indian religious traditions, I would also be grateful to hear of them.

With Thanks and Best Wishes,

James Hegarty
Cardiff University
UK