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53-560: The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra ( Vairocana’s Awakening Sutra , Sanskrit : 𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀸𑀪𑀺𑀲𑀁𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭 ), also known as the Mahāvairocana Tantra ( Sanskrit : 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀢𑀦𑁆 ; traditional Chinese : 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經 ; ; pinyin : Dà Pílúzhēnà Chéngfó Shénbiàn Jiāchí Jīng ; also known as 大日經 Da Ri Jing ) is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text composed before 674 CE. The Indian tantric master Buddhaguhya ( fl. c.700 CE) classified

106-543: A Primordial Buddha . In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Mahāvairocana is considered to be a cosmic Buddha whose body is the entire universe, the Dharmadhātu . Vairocana is not to be confused with Vairocana Mahabali , son of the asura Virochana , a character in the Yoga Vasishta . Vairocana Buddha is also not to be confused with another Buddha that appears in some Mahayana sources called "Rocana". Vairocana Buddha

159-685: A Buddha vandana (homage) as follows: Namaḥ samanta-buddhānām A vaṃ raṃ haṃ khaṃ "A" is the seed syllable mantra ( bījamantra ) of Vairocana in the Garbhadhatu mandala , while "Vaṃ" is the seed syllable of Vairocana in the Vajradhātu mandala. Thus, this five element mantra contains both main seed syllables of Vairocana in the East Asian Esoteric tradition . Furthermore, these two seed syllables are sometimes combined into one mantra: "A-Vaṃ". A longer dharani associated with Vairocana

212-546: A multiverse called "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Kusumatalagarbha-vyuhalamkara-lokadhatu-samudra). The Avatamsaka states that this entire cosmos has been purified by the Buddha Vairocana through his bodhisattva practices for countless aeons, after having met countless Buddhas. The sutra also states that our world is in Vairocana's buddhafield . Vairocana

265-753: A qualified disciple, this constitutes an infraction of the Lama's samaya. It is proper for the Lama to show some hesitation by not consenting on the first request in order to arouse and examine the disciple. It is not a ploy to see if the amount of offerings can be increased, but rather provides time to examine the student's mind-stream. In the Nyingma lineage, the three root samayas are categorized as body, speech, and mind . Each requires refraining from non-virtue as well as maintaining sacred view. Maintaining sacred view generally means to view all beings and all phenomenon as 'primordially pure' (Tib: kadak). The samaya of body

318-474: A vacuous emptiness, but the expanse of the mind of Buddha, Buddhic Awareness and Buddha-realms, all of which know of no beginning and no arising - as Stephen Hodge points out: Finally, though one has realized the true emptiness of the individual and phenomena, one does not yet realize that the natural state of mind is the Tathagata's inherent Awareness and that it is the all-pervasive Body of Vairocana with all

371-525: A world purified by him while he was a bodhisattva . He also presides over an assembly of countless other bodhisattvas. He may be considered the celestial existence ( saṃbhogakāya ) of Gautama Buddha , who came to be as Vairochana's earthly rebirth from his previous existence in Tushita heaven. Similarly, the Brahmajala Sutra also states that Shakyamuni was originally named Vairochana, regarding

424-465: Is Mahavairocana [the Primal Buddha, uncreated and forever existent]. In other words, the mind in its intrinsic nature is Mahavairocana, whom one "becomes" (or vice-versa) when one is perfectly enlightened. The text also speaks of how all things can be accomplished once 'non-dual union with emptiness' is attained. Yet ultimately even emptiness needs to be transcended, to the extent that it is not

477-524: Is a set of vows or precepts given to initiates of an esoteric Vajrayana Buddhist order as part of the abhiṣeka ( empowerment or initiation) ceremony that creates a bond between the guru and disciple. According to Keown, et al. , samaya may be defined as: In one of the most widely followed teachings on samaya, Sakya Pandita , a preeminent 12th century Tibetan Buddhism scholar, outlined fourteen primary points of observance to consider in keeping one's samaya vow pure. Jamgon Kongtrul comments on

530-859: Is also mentioned in the Avatamsaka Sutra ; however, the doctrine of Vairocana is based largely on the teachings of the Mahavairocana Tantra (also known as the Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-tantra ) and to a lesser degree the Vajrasekhara Sutra (also known as the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha Tantra). In the Avatamsaka Sutra , Vairocana is described as having attained enlightenment immeasurable ages ago and residing in

583-528: Is also seen as the dharmakāya (the supreme buddha-body , the body of ultimate reality), and the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of wisdom and purity. Mahāvairocana is often translated into East Asian languages as "Great Sun Buddha" (Chinese: 大日如來, Japanese: Dainichi Nyorai) Buddha. In the conception of the Five Jinas of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Vairocana is at the centre and is often considered

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636-476: Is an invocation to Dharmakāya Mahāvairocana Buddha as the great universal teacher. Five syllable mantras (Japanese: goji shingon ) symbolize how all things in the universe (here: the five elements ) are modes and emanations of Vairocana. One such mantra which is used in the Shingon school is: aḥ vi ra hūṃ khaṃ Each syllable is correlated with earth, water, fire, air, space respectively, while Vairocana

689-427: Is closely associated with Shakyamuni Buddha, in some cases he is even identified with him in the Avatamsaka Sutra . Huayan generally sees Shakyamuni as an emanation body (nirmanakaya) from the ultimate Buddha Vairocana ("The Illuminator"). Furthermore, Huayan thought sees the entire universe as being the very body of Vairocana, who is seen as a supreme cosmic Buddha. Vairocana is infinite, his influence and light

742-550: Is first introduced in the Brahmajala Sutra : Now, I, Vairocana Buddha am sitting atop a lotus pedestal; On a thousand flowers surrounding me are a thousand Sakyamuni Buddhas. Each flower supports a hundred million worlds; in each world a Sakyamuni Buddha appears. All are seated beneath a Bodhi-tree, all simultaneously attain Buddhahood. All these innumerable Buddhas have Vairocana as their original body. Vairocana

795-457: Is left without repair for more than three years, it is not repairable. Samaya is easily damaged. Patrul Rinpoche said it is very hard to maintain samaya and used a famous metaphor that maintaining samaya is like keeping a mirror or tile clean that is lifted up into a sand storm; dust settles on it as soon as it is clean and we must continuously clean it. To repair samaya, a practitioner may restore mindfulness and awareness of sacred view; confess

848-477: Is limitless, pervading the entire universe. Furthermore, Vairocana is really the ultimate principle (li), the Dharmakaya , Suchness and "the substance underlying phenomenal reality". However, while Vairocana as ultimate principle is eternal, it also transforms and changes according to the needs and conditions of sentient beings. Furthermore, Vairocana is empty, interdependent and interfused with all phenomena in

901-491: Is named: "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Sanskrit: Kusumatalagarbha-vyūhālamkāra-lokadhātusamudra ). It is also called the "Lotus Treasury World" (Chinese: 華蔵世界 , Skt. Padmagarbha-lokadhātu ), since it is an array of billions of worlds in a lotus shape. In the cosmology of the Avatamsaka sutra, our world is just one of the immeasurable number of worlds in

954-534: Is necessary to recognise one's own mind. Writing on the Mahavairocana Sutra , Buddhist scholar and translator of that scripture, Stephen Hodge, comments: ... when the MVT [i.e. Mahavairocana Tantra ] speaks of knowing your mind as it truly is, it means that you are to know the inherent natural state of the mind by eliminating the split into a perceiving subject and perceived objects which normally occurs in

1007-474: Is no arising, and abandoned the perceptual range of words; I became free from all faults, and separated from causes and conditions. The title of Chinese writer and film director Xu Haofeng's 徐浩峰 (b.1973) novel 《大日坛城》 Da ri tan cheng (published in 2010) refers to the Mahāvairocana Tantra . Vairocana In East Asian Buddhism ( Chinese , Korean , Japanese and Vietnamese Buddhism ), Vairocana

1060-589: Is the Mantra of Light , which is popular in Japanese Buddhism, including Shingon . This is: Oṃ Amogha Vairocana Mahāmudrā Maṇipadma Jvala Pravartāya Hūṃ Another mantra associated with Vairocana is the following Shingon school mantra: Namo Mahāguru Vairocana Vajra (Jp: namu daishi henjō kongō 南 無 大 師 遍 照 金 剛) This mantra is also the mantra of Kukai , the founder of the Shingon school. Its inner meaning

1113-686: Is the Sarvadurgatiparishodana dharani ( Complete removal of all unfortunate rebirths ), also known as Kunrig mantra in Tibetan Buddhism . This dharani is found in the Sarvadurgatiparishodana tantra which depicts Vairocana at the center of a mandala surrounded by the other four tathagatas . The dharani is as follows: OṂ namo bhagavate sarva durgati pariśodhana rājāya tathāgatāyārhate samyaksambudhāya tadyathā OṂ śodhane śodhane sarva pāpam viśodhani śuddhe viśuddhe sarvakarmāvarana viśodhani svāhā! With regard to śūnyatā ,

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1166-492: Is the innermost realization that Amida is the true nature, material and spiritual, of all beings, that he is 'the omnivalent wisdom-body, that he is the unborn, unmanifest, unchanging reality that rests quietly at the core of all phenomena". Helen Hardacre, writing on the Mahavairocana Tantra , comments that Mahavairocana's virtues are deemed to be immanently universal within all beings: "The principle doctrine of

1219-583: Is the intrinsic nature ( svabhava ) of the mind which is Enlightenment ( bodhi-citta ). Moreover, he frequently uses the terms suchness ( tathata ) and Suchness-Awareness ( tathata-jnana ) interchangeably. But since Awareness ( jnana ) is non-dual, Suchness-Awareness is not so much the Awareness of Suchness, but the Awareness which is Suchness. In other words, the term Suchness-Awareness is functionally equivalent to Enlightenment. Finally, it must not be forgotten that this Suchness-Awareness or Perfect Enlightenment

1272-739: Is the largest bronze image of Vairocana in the world. The larger of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan that were destroyed by talibans was also a depiction of Vairocana. In Java , Indonesia, the ninth-century Mendut temple near Borobudur in Magelang was dedicated to the Dhyani Buddha Vairocana. Built by the Shailendra dynasty , the temple featured a three-meter tall stone statue of Vairocana, seated and performing

1325-609: Is the sixth element - consciousness ( vijñana ). In the Mahavairocana sutra the mantra appears as: Namaḥ samanta-buddhānām a vi ra hūṃ khaṃ. According to East Asian mantrayana writers like Kakuban , this mantra can lead to enlightenment. According to translator Dale A. Todaro, the mantra's syllables have numerous symbolic correlations aside from the five elements, including: "the Five Buddhas (Mahavairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi respectively);

1378-584: Is to refrain from non-virtue with respect to body, and also to always offer yourself to your guru and to your vajra sangha . The samaya of speech is to avoid non-virtuous speech, and also to never forget one's commitment to practicing mantra . The samaya of mind is to refrain from divulging the secrets and to always maintain the view that one's mind is dharmakaya . According to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche , there are four increasing stages in which one's samaya may be damaged: "infraction, breach, violation, and complete break". Once damaged, samaya may be repaired. But if it

1431-719: The Chinese Chan tradition , Vairocana is mentioned to be the host of the Buddha Division in the centre, one of the five major divisions which dispels the vast demon armies of the five directions. Vairocana is the Primordial Buddha in the Chinese schools of Tiantai , Huayan and Tangmi , also appearing in later schools including the Japanese Kegon , Shingon and esoteric lineages of Tendai . In

1484-615: The Dainichikyo is that all the virtues of Dainichi (Mahāvairocana) are inherent in us and in all sentient beings." According to the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra , the whole universe is a vast pure buddha-field which has been purified by Vairocana Buddha. This is the view of Pure Land which is found in the Chinese Huayan tradition. According to this view, our world is just one small part of this universal Pure Land which

1537-491: The Lamrim Yeshe Ningpo that samaya is established by taking abhiṣeka and samaya is the manner in which practitioners "preserve the life-force of that empowerment within your being". Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche defines root samayas as any which if violated would remove all the benefit from practicing. He defines branch samayas as any which if violated would diminish or impair the benefit of practice. He states that

1590-541: The Mahāvairocana Tantra is lost, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The Chinese translation has preserved the original Sanskrit mantras in the Siddhaṃ script. There are translations from both into English. (see below). A major commentary by Buddhaguhya was written in about 760 and is preserved in Tibetan. Hodge translates it into English alongside the text itself. Four originally Sanskrit commentaries on

1643-413: The dharmachakra mudrā . The statue is flanked with statues of the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Vajrapani . Samaya New branches: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : The somaya ( Tibetan : དམ་ཚིག , Wylie : dam tshig , Japanese and Chinese : 三昧耶戒 , J: sonmaya-kai , C: Sān mè yē jiè ),

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1696-659: The Best of the Extensive Scriptures ). According to Rolf Giebel, "the Chinese translation was produced in seven fascicles by Śubhākarasiṃha (637–735) and his Chinese disciple Yixing (683–727) in 724–5, apparently on the basis of a manuscript sent to China some decades earlier by the Chinese monk Wuxing, who died in India in 674." The Mahāvairocana Tantra was later translated into Tibetan sometime before 812 by Śīlendrabodhi and Kawa Paltsek . The Sanskrit text of

1749-732: The Bodhisattvas Body, the Tathāgatas Body, the Wisdom Body, the Dharma Body, and the Space Body. Fazang sees these ten bodies as encompassing all phenomena (animate and inanimate) in the "three realms", i.e. the entire universe. Numerous mantras , seed syllables and dharanis are associated with Vairocana Buddha. A common basic mantra is the following: Oṃ Vairocana Vaṃ Another popular Vairocana related mantra

1802-792: The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi have survived, two by Śubhākarasiṃha (extant in Chinese) and two by Buddhaguhya (extant in Tibetan). In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism, the most widely used commentary is the Pronunciations ;Basic Meaning: Commentary on the Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-tantra  (大毘盧遮那成佛經疏,T 1796.39.579a-649c), usually called by the abbreviated name, the Dainichi kyō . It was written by Yixing , and

1855-520: The case of Huayan and Shingon, Vairocana is the central figure. In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism , Vairocana was gradually superseded as an object of reverence by Amitābha , due in large part to the increasing popularity of Pure Land Buddhism , but veneration of Vairocana still remains popular among adherents. During the initial stages of his mission in Japan, the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier

1908-549: The five colors yellow, white, red, black, and blue; five organs (liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, spleen); five Chinese elements (wood, metal, fire, water, earth); and so on." A slightly longer variation of this mantra, also found in Shingon is: Oṃ a vi ra hūṃ khaṃ vajra dhātu vaṃ This version includes another mantra associated with the Vajradhātu mandala. There is another five element mantra of Vairocana, which is: A vaṃ raṃ haṃ khaṃ An alternate version sometimes appears with

1961-517: The former as a physical incarnation ( nirmāṇakāya ) of the latter. Vairocana is also mentioned as an epithet of Gautama Buddha in the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra , who dwells in a place called "Always Tranquil Light". In the Śūraṅgama mantra ( Chinese : 楞嚴咒 ; pinyin : Léngyán Zhòu ) taught in the Śūraṅgama sutra (Chinese: 楞嚴經 ; pinyin: Léngyán Jīng ), an especially influential dharani in

2014-478: The main points of the tantra) the Mahāvairocana Tantra system of practice is in three stages: preliminary, application, and accomplishment. Attached here and there are doctrinal passages, and sadhana practices which relate back to the main mandalas. The following outline is based on Hodge's translation of the Tibetan version of the Sutra. The Chinese version has differences in the order of the chapters. Chapter 2 of

2067-464: The manifested Buddha realms. Therefore one must transcend even emptiness with the emptiness of emptiness, when it is seen that the mind is primordially unborn and unarisen. The sutra later reinforces the notion that Emptiness is not mere inert nothingness but is precisely the unlocalised locus where Vairocana resides. Vajrapani salutes the Buddha Vairocana with the following words: I salute you who are bodhicitta [Awakened Mind]! I salute you who are

2120-564: The massive size and brilliance of Vairocana statues serve as a reminder that all conditioned existence is empty and without a permanent identity, whereas the Dharmakāya is beyond concepts. The Spring Temple Buddha of Lushan County, Henan , China, with a height of 126 meters, is the second tallest statue in the world ( see list of tallest statues ). The Daibutsu in the Tōdai-ji in Nara , Japan,

2173-420: The most egregious root samaya to violate is the commitment to one's guru. Foregrounding the mindful observance of the mindstream , whilst intimating the binding reciprocity of samaya, Gyatrul (b. 1924) in his commentary to Chagmé (Wylie: karma-chags-med, fl. 17th century), rendered into English by Wallace (Chagmé et al. , 1998: p. 29) states: If a Lama obstinately refuses to grant instruction to

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2226-471: The scripture does not call itself a tantra. The Mahāvairocana Tantra is the first true Buddhist tantra, the earliest comprehensive manual of tantric Buddhism. It was probably composed in the middle of the 7th century, in all probability in north-eastern India at Nālandā . Evidence to support the text's composition in Nalanda include the fact that many of the Buddhist scholars involved in the transmission of

2279-487: The source of Enlightenment! [...] I bow to you who reside in emptiness!' Emptiness in Buddhist discourse usually means the flow of causation and result - the arising of causes and conditions - but in this scripture, Mahavairocana Buddha declares himself to be separate from all causes and conditions and without defect - truly mighty: I who am mighty have been renowned as the Great Hero. I directly realized that there

2332-614: The state of bodhi ("awakening, enlightenment") is seen as naturally inherent to the mind - the mind's natural and pure state (as in Dzogchen and Tathagatagarbha ) - and is viewed as the perceptual sphere of non-duality, where all false distinctions between a perceiving subject and perceived objects are lifted and the true state of things (non-duality) is revealed. This is also the understanding of Enlightenment found in Yogacara Buddhism. To achieve this vision of non-duality, it

2385-399: The sutra also contains four precepts, called the samaya , that form the basic precepts esoteric Buddhist practitioners must follow: The Mahavairocana Tantra does not trace its lineage to Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Instead it comes directly from Mahavairocana . The lineage then being, according to the Shingon tradition: Within the vision of the Mahavairocana Sutra ,

2438-572: The text as a caryātantra, and in Tibetan Buddhism it is still considered to be a member of the carya classification . In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra ( Daibirushana jōbutsu jinpen kajikyō) , it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra . Both are also part of the Tendai school. Though the text is often called a tantra by later figures (including later Indian commentators),

2491-488: The text resided in Nalanda including Buddhaguhya and Śubhakarasiṃha . The description of plants and trees in the MVT also matches those found in the region surrounding Nalanda in North-East India. The longer title of the scripture is Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-vikurvitādhiṣṭhāna-vaipulyasūtrendrarāja-nāma-dharmaparyāya ( Dharma Discourse Called “Mahāvairocana’s Awakening and His Empowerment of Miracles,” King of

2544-483: The true nature at the core of all beings and phenomena. There are several realizations that can accrue to the Shingon practitioner of which Dohan speaks in this connection, as James Sanford points out: [T]here is the realization that Amida is the Dharmakaya Buddha, Vairocana; then there is the realization that Amida as Vairocana is eternally manifest within this universe of time and space; and finally there

2597-673: The universe. Thus, Vairocana is both immanent (due to its dependent and interfused character) and transcendent (as the immutable basis of all things). According to Fazang , while the nirmanakaya Shakyamuni taught the other Mahayana sutras , Vairocana teaches the Avatamsaka Sutra through his ten bodies which are: the All-Beings Body, the Lands Body, the Karma Body, the Śrāvakas Body, the Pratyekabuddha Body,

2650-493: The violation to another practitioner that holds samaya; recite the one hundred syllable mantra ( Vajrasattva mantra); or use other methods determined by their guru. In the esoteric lineage of Japanese Shingon Buddhism, the samaya precedes the Abhiseka initiation ceremony proper. The initiate undertakes four precepts: The first recorded taking of the samaya precepts at Tōdai-ji temple began in 822 when Kukai performed

2703-538: The world and is wrongly thought to be real. This also corresponds to the Yogacara definition ... that emptiness ( sunyata ) is the absence of this imaginary split. ... We may further elucidate the meaning of Perfect Enlightenment and hence of the intrinsic nature of the mind by correlating terms [which Buddhist commentator on the Mahavairocana Sutra ,] Buddhaguhya, treats as synonyms. For example, he defines emptiness ( sunyata ) as suchness ( tathata ) and says that suchness

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2756-543: Was mostly based on the teachings given by Śubhakarasiṃha (637-735 CE). This commentary is key in both Tendai and Shingon . Kūkai learned of the Mahāvairocana Tantra in 796, and travelled to China in 804 to receive instruction in it. The Mahāvairocana Tantra consists of three primary mandalas corresponding to the body, speech and mind of Mahāvairocana, as well as preliminary practices and initiation rituals. According to Buddhaguhya’s Piṇḍārtha (a summary of

2809-577: Was welcomed by the Shingon monks since he used Dainichi , the Japanese name for Vairocana, to designate the Christian God . As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he substituted the term Deusu , which he derived from the Latin and Portuguese Deus . The Shingon monk Dohan regarded the two great Buddhas, Amitābha and Vairocana, as one and the same Dharmakāya Buddha and as

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