The Awakened Ones

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Gananath Obeyesekere explores the depths of visionary experiences, merging Buddhist and European perspectives to reveal a richer understanding beyond rational consciousness. He delves into the symbolic and nonrational aspects of visions and dreams, reigniting intuitive and creative impulses that enhance comprehension. By integrating psychoanalysis and anthropology, he examines the interplay between personal symbolism and religious experience. The exploration begins with Buddha's transformative trances, where he perceives countless past lives and the cyclical nature of existence. This leads to a discussion of a female Christian penitent who, fixated on a crucifix, experiences an expansion of space reflecting Christ's suffering. Obeyesekere investigates the unconscious motivations behind rapture, the consumption of Christ's body and blood, and phenomena such as body mutilation and levitation, linking medieval Catholicism to early modern thought, as seen in William Blake's visions. He introduces the concept of "dream-ego," discussing visionary journeys and the scientific approaches of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, alongside New Age dream-visions. This work culminates in a visionary mode of knowledge, offering a more flexible understanding of truth and translating the epistemology of Hindu and Buddhist thinkers for Western audiences while reinvigorating philosophical and scientific inquiry.