# The Xeno Sutra: Can Meaning and Value be Ascribed to an AI-Generated "Sacred" Text?

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.20525 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.20525/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 44 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jul 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Role-Play with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16367/) (2023)
- [The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16244/) (2024)
- [Simulacra as Conscious Exotica](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.12422/) (2024)
- [Multiversal views on language models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.06391/) (2021)
- [Existential Conversations with Large Language Models: Content, Community, and Culture](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.13223/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [AI as Entertainment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.08768/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper presents a case study in the use of a large language model to generate a fictional Buddhist "sutra"', and offers a detailed analysis of the resulting text from a philosophical and literary point of view. The conceptual subtlety, rich imagery, and density of allusion found in the text make it hard to causally dismiss on account of its mechanistic origin. This raises questions about how we, as a society, should come to terms with the potentially unsettling possibility of a technology that encroaches on human meaning-making. We suggest that Buddhist philosophy, by its very nature, is well placed to adapt.