Meditation, Idealism and Materiality: Vivid Visualization in the Buddhist ‘Qizil Yoga Manual’ and the Context of Caves
Journal of Indian Philosophy February 25, 2022 K. O’brien-kop 4 citations
A Buddhist meditation manual from Central Asia, the 'Qizil Yoga Manual', combines Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma with Mahāyāna Yogācāra strands and describes vivid visualization practices specific to the Kucha region. The paper examines how the manual's hyper-real visualizations relate mind to reality and whether Yogācāra meditation proposes idealism as a metaphysical theory. It also considers whether neurocognitive research can help understand the 'hallucination-like' quality of some visualizations that blur appearances and reality. Analyzing the material context of meditation, especially cave environments, aids in understanding the text's techniques. The manual facilitates soteriological idealism, and factoring in material contexts is useful for deciphering its methods and discussing idealism.