Featuring the first-ever English translation of the "Splendid Vision
Sutra," a sixth-century Indian Mahayana Buddhist scripture known for its
rich ritual magic and worship of bodhisattva-goddesses, this volume
explicates the text's cultural significance as a source of extraordinary
value, cosmic truth, and existential meaning.
The ancient author of the "Splendid Vision Sutra" promises every
imaginable reward to those who heed its words and rites, whether one's
desire is to become king, enjoy heavenly pleasures for thousands of
millennia, or attain the spiritual summit of advanced bodhisattvahood.
Richard S. Cohen carefully analyzes this religious rhetoric, developing
a heuristic model of "scripture" that extends beyond Buddhist
literature. In his framework, a text becomes sacred scripture when a
community accepts it as a receptacle of extraordinary value, an
authoritative source of cosmic truth, and a guide for meaningful action.
While clarifying these points, Cohen untangles the discursive skein
through which the "Splendid Vision Sutra" expresses its authority,
inspires readers to accept that authority, and promises superior power
and accomplishments to those who implement its teachings. Exploring ways
of living and reading a text, Cohen draws on Marcel Duchamp's theory of
found art, Jerzy Grotowski's idealization of the holy actor, and other
formulations, identifying contingencies, uncertainties, and
incompleteness in the lived present and its determination of our
reception of the past. More than a mere introduction to an important
work, The Splendid Vision opens a window into religious experience and
practice in contemporary environments as well as in the world of the
sutra.
