Visions of Sublime Excess: Visionary Literature, Expansive Art, and Transformative Technologies in Ancient and Modern Buddhism

This talk draws thematic parallels between some of the visionary literature of Mahāyāna Buddhism, particularly the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra, and modern secular articulations of the sublime. It then discusses their fusion in contemporary visions of the Buddhist sublime in popular ideas such as “interbeing” and the jeweled net of Indra. It also includes a discussion of the essential role of technologies, from writing to digital technology, that have helped enable these visions, as well as examples of ancient and modern art that express them. Finally, it reflects on the dual character of the sublime and its enabling technologies: their capacity to transform one’s understanding of the self and cosmos—as well as the darker side—their tendency to foster oversaturation of meaning and image and passive wonder in the face of crisis.

This event is part of the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies.