Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature (Buddhisms Book 9)

This beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts—__the Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and Vimalakirtinirdesa.__ Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism’s older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic. This beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts—the Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and Vimalakirtinirdesa. Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism’s older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic. This beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts— the Lotus Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and Vimalakirtinirdesa. Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism’s older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Introduction 1. Text as Father 2. Who’s Your Daddy Now? Reissued Paternity in the Lotus Sūtra 3. The Domino Effect: Everyone and His Brother Convert to the Lotus Sūtra 4. “Be All You Can’t Be” and Other Gainful Losses in the Diamond Sūtra 5. Sameness with a Difference in the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra 6. Vimalakīrti, or Why Bad Boys Finish First Conclusion. A Cavalier Attitude toward Truth-Fathers BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Alan Cole sheds new light on the origin & nature of Mahāyāna Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts: the Lotus Sūtra, Diamond Sūtra, Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, & Vimalakīrtinirdeśa