A written text can be a vehicle for the conveyance of meaning, but it is always also a material object with a physical presence in the world. In many Buddhist communities, the material presence of texts has been viewed as a crucial aspect of their nature and function. Buddhist texts are powerful, and their power is thought to reside not only in their message, but also (and sometimes especially) in the physical embodiment of that message.

The Buddha's Textual Body

The texts that are conceived of as having the greatest potential power and ritual efficacy are those that contain the word of the Buddha (buddhavacana), primarily sūtras or excerpts therefrom. Whereas the profundity of the Buddha's teachings provides one reason for the reverence accorded to such works, their ritual functions rely perhaps more heavily on the notion that they are embodiments...