Emanation(s)

views updated May 21 2018

Emanation(s). Expressions of power or wisdom from a higher being, making connection between an uninvolved or uncontaminated source, and imperfect (because contingent) appearance. Emanations are characteristically gnostic, and appear strongly in the Neoplatonic system of Plotinus. They appear with idiosyncratic genius in the poetry of Blake. Under Neoplatonic influence, they are paramount in the sefirot of kabbalistic Judaism. In Tibetan Buddhism (Tibetan religion), an emanation expresses either the profound influence of, or complete projection from, a higher being. The Dalai Lama is said to be an ‘emanation’ of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.