The Visualization Sutras (, ''guan jing'') are a group of
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are ''bhāvanā'' ("mental development") and '' jhāna/dhyāna'' (mental training resulting in a calm and ...
texts which contain fantastic visual images and which mostly survive in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
translations dating from about the sixth century CE.
Overview
A main feature of these texts is the visual imagery used, though only some include actual meditation practices which use visualization. There is no consensus on a Sanskrit basis for the term "guan" and while the sutras present themselves as translations no Indic originals have been found. Scholars disagree on their origin, possibly Central Asia or China.
List of Visualization sutras
There are various sutras associated with this term, though generally six major texts as seen as the central visualization sutras as listed by Alexander Coburn Soper (1959).
#Sutra on the Sea of Samādhi Attained through Contemplation of the Buddha (''Guan Fo Sanmei Hai Jing''), commonly known as ''Samādhi Sea Sutra''. According to Yamabe, this is the oldest of the bunch.
#
Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (''Guan Wuliangshoufo Jing''), commonly known as Amitāyus Contemplation Sutra
#Sutra on the Contemplation of the Two Bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata (''Guan Yaowang Yaoshang Erpusa Jing''), commonly known as Bhaiṣajyarāja Contemplation Sutra
#Sutra on the Contemplation of Maitreya Bodhisattva's Ascent to Rebirth in
Tusita Heaven'' (''Guan Mile Pusa Shangsheng Doushuaitian Jing''), commonly known as Maitreya Contemplation Sutra
#Sutra on the Contemplation of the Cultivation Methods of the Bodhisattva
Samantabhadra (''Guan Puxian Pusa Xingfa Jing''), commonly known as Samantabhadra Contemplation Sutra
#Sutra on the Contemplation of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha (''Guan Xukongzang Pusa Jing''), commonly known as ''Ākāśagarbha Contemplation Sutra''.
Nobuyoshi Yamabe notes that the following texts also have a similarity to the visualization sutras:
[Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. The significance of the "Yogalehrbuch" for the Investigation into the Origin of Chinese Meditation Texts, Buddhist Culture, The institute of Buddhist Culture, Kyushu Ryukoku Junior College]
#A manual on the Secret Essence of Meditation ()
#The Secret Essential Methods to Cure the Diseases Caused by Meditation ()
#The Essence of the Meditation Manual consisting of Five Gates ()
#The Yogalehrbuch (Yoga textbook), an anonymous meditation manual in Sanskrit found at
Kizil Caves
The Kizil Caves ( zh, t=克孜爾千佛洞, s=克孜尔千佛洞, l=Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas; ug, قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, translation=The Thousand Red Houses; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') ar ...
. Yamabe notes that the visualization practices here are similar to the Sea of Samadhi sutra.
See also
*
Dhyāna sutras
*
Yogacara
Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...
*
Anapanasati
*
Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...
References
Other sources
*Ponampon, Phra Kiattisak.
Dunhuang Manuscript S.2585: a Textual and Interdisciplinary Study on Early Medieval Chinese Buddhist Meditative Techniques and Visionary Experiences" MPhil Diss., University of Cambridge, 2019.
*Soper, Alexander Coburn. ''Literary Evidence f''o''r Early Buddhist Art in China''. Artibus Asiae Supplementum 19. Ascona, Switzerland: Artibus Asiae, 1959.
*Fujita Kōtatsu (藤田 宏達). “The Textual Origins of the ''Kuan Wu-Liang-Shou Ching'': A Canonical Scripture of Pure Land Buddhism.” Translated by Kenneth K. Tanaka. In ''Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha''. Edited by Robert E. Buswell Jr., 149–173. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1990.
*Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. “The Sūtra on the Ocean-Like Samādhi of the Visualization of the Buddha: The Interfusion of the Chinese and Indian Cultures in Central Asia as Reflected in a Fifth Century Apocryphal Sūtra.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1999.
*Yamabe, Nobuyoshi. The significance of the "Yogalehrbuch" for the Investigation into the Origin of Chinese Meditation Texts, Buddhist Culture, The institute of Buddhist Culture, Kyushu Ryukoku Junior College
{{Buddhism topics
Early Buddhist texts
Chinese Buddhist texts