
Visible metaphors in a few Mahayana sutras build a discourse within which visible notion serves as a version for wisdom and enlightenment. within the Perfection of knowledge (Prajnaparamita) and different Mahayana literature, fast entry to truth is symbolized by means of imaginative and prescient and set against language and conceptual considering, that are construed as obscuring truth. as well as its philosophical manifestations, the strain among imaginative and prescient and language additionally functioned as a method of legitimation within the fight of the early heterodox Mahayana stream for authority and legitimacy. This emphasis on imaginative and prescient additionally served as a source for the ample legendary imagery in Mahayana sutras, imagery that's ritualized in Vajrayana visualization practices. McMahan brings a variety of literature to endure in this factor, together with an extraordinary research of the lavish imagery of the Gandavyuha Sutra in its Indian context. He concludes with a dialogue of Indian techniques to visuality within the mild of a few fresh discussions of "ocularcentrism" within the west, inviting students to extend the present dialogue of imaginative and prescient and its roles in developing epistemic structures and cultural practices past its solely ecu and American concentration.