[INDOLOGY] Visualisation of Buddha/Guru

[Michael Radich]

Dear James,

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

I must add, to the useful studies already mentioned, 

Greene, Eric Matthew. “Meditation, Repentance and Visionary Experience in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism.” PhD dissertation, U. C. Berkeley, 2012. 

Greene makes insightful observations on the whole category of "visualisation" (including a genealogy of the term in modern English, and an analysis of the connections between that general development and the use of the term in Buddhological scholarship), in addition to a wealth of extremely useful empirical observations about a range of related phenomena in various traditional texts. In my humble opinion, this dissertation makes an important contribution to our understanding of a number of questions, and deserves attention not just from scholars of Chinese Buddhism, but from scholars interested in a wide range of problems, including meditation practice and theory and their history in general.

Yours,

Michael

Dr Michael Radich
Senior Lecturer, Religious Studies
Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600, Wellington 6012, New Zealand

Office: Room 216, Hunter Building, Kelburn Parade
ph:(64 4) 463 9477
Fax: (64 4) 463 5065
michael.radich at vuw.ac.nz
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