Authority and Orality in the Mahāyāna

This article investigates the complex relationship between authority, oral transmission, and writing in the formation of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Lopez begins with the problem posed by the phrase “thus did I hear,” which gives Mahāyāna sūtras the appearance of direct oral transmission from the Buddha, while historical scholarship places their composition long after the Buddha’s lifetime. The study first considers Buddhist debates over who could legitimately transmit these teachings and how Mahāyāna texts defended themselves against accusations of inauthenticity. It then turns to broader strategies of legitimation, including the reconfiguration of earlier Buddhist narrative, the authority of bodhisattvas, the function of the sūtra as a sacred object, and the use of doctrinal criteria to identify buddhavacana, or the word of the Buddha. A major section compares Buddhist concerns with oral preservation to Mīmāṃsā claims about the eternality and authorlessness of the Vedas, showing both parallels and differences between Buddhist and Brahmanical theories of sacred speech. The article finally examines the role of writing, arguing that the rise of Mahāyāna cannot be understood apart from the religious value assigned to written texts, their recitation, copying, worship, and preservation as embodiments of the Buddha’s absent voice.