Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox BuddhaVairocana (from Sanskrit: Vi+rocana, "from the sun" or "belonging to the sun", "Solar", or "Shining"), also known as Mahāvairocana (Great Vairocana), is a major Buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the Avatamsaka Sutra, as the Dharmakāya<ref>佛光大辭典增訂版隨身碟,中英佛學辭典 - "三身" (Fo Guang Great Dictionary Updated USB Version, Chinese-English Dictionary of Buddhist Studies - "Trikāya" entry)</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> of the historical Gautama Buddha.

In East Asian Buddhism (Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese Buddhism), Vairocana 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.<ref name=":0" /> Mahāvairocana is often translated into East Asian languages as "Great Sun Buddha" (Chinese: 大日如來, Japanese: Dainichi Nyorai).<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the conception of the Five Jinas of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Vairocana is at the centre and is often considered a Primordial Buddha. In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Mahāvairocana is considered to be a Cosmic Buddha whose body is the entire cosmos, the absolute reality Dharmadhātu.<ref name=":0" />

Vairocana is not to be confused with Vairocana Mahabali, son of the asura Virochana, a character in the Yoga Vasistha. Vairocana Buddha is also not to be confused with another Buddha that appears in some Mahayana sources called "Rocana".

OverviewEdit

In Mahayana sutrasEdit

Vairocana ("Radiance" or "The Illuminator") is introduced in the Brahmajāla Sūtra (traditional Chinese: 梵網經; pinyin: Fànwǎng jīng), which states:

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File:隆兴寺铜铸毗卢佛 2.jpg
Bronze-cast Vairocana Buddha of Longxing Temple. This unique bronze statue depicts the triple bodied (trikaya) Vairocana facing the four cardinal directions (symbolizing his all pervasive nature) along with Vairocana's numerous manifestation Buddhas (nirmanakayas).

In the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, Vairocana is described as having attained enlightenment immeasurable ages ago and residing in a world purified by him while he was a bodhisattva. He also presides over an assembly of countless other bodhisattvas.<ref name="Concept">Template:Cite book</ref> The Buddhāvataṃsaka also sees Vairocana is a supreme cosmic Buddha who is said to contain all world systems within his all-encompassing cosmic body.<ref name="Takeuchi Yoshinori page 161">Takeuchi Yoshinori (editor). Buddhist Spirituality: Indian, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, and Early Chinese, page 161</ref> The Avatamsaka sutra also states that the wisdom of the Buddha (the Tathagata) is present everywhere in the universe, indeed, it is present within every living being. Thus, the sutra states (in chapter 32, Manifestation of the Tathagata):

Son of Buddha, the wisdom of Tathagata is present everywhere. Why? Son of Buddha, in the class of living beings there is no place where the wisdom of Tathagata is not present. Why is it that? The wisdom of Tathagata is not established due to grasping the discrimination/consciousness, because the omniscient wisdom, the self-existent wisdom and the non-obstructed wisdom perfectly appear in total disconnection with discrimination.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

According to Paul Williams, the Buddha "is said or implied at various places in this vast and heterogeneous sutra to be the universe itself, to be the same as 'absence of intrinsic existence' or emptiness, and to be the Buddha's all-pervading omniscient awareness."<ref name="Williams, Paul page 122">Template:Cite book</ref> The very body of Vairocana is also seen as a reflection of the whole universe:

The body of [Vairocana] Buddha is inconceivable. In his body are all sorts of lands of sentient beings. Even in a single pore are countless, immeasurable vast oceans.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, the whole universe is a vast pure buddha-field which has been purified by Vairocana. This is the view of Pure Land which is found in the Chinese Huayan tradition.<ref>Prince, Tony (2014). Universal Enlightenment, An introduction to the teachings and practices of Huayen Buddhism, pp. 222-223. . Kongting Publishing Company Ltd. Taiwan.</ref> According to this view, our world is just one small part of this universal Pure Land which is named: "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Sanskrit: Template:Transliteration).<ref>Susumu, Otake, "Sakyamuni and Vairocana", in Gimello et al. (2012). Avataṃsaka Buddhism in East Asia: Huayan, Kegon, Flower Ornament Buddhism ; origins and adaptation of a visual culture, p. 37. Asiatische Forschungen: Monographienreihe zur Geschichte, Kultur und Sprache der Völker Ost- u. Zentralasiens, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, Template:ISBN</ref> It is also called the "Lotus Treasury World" (Chinese: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Skt. Template:Transliteration), since it is an array of billions of worlds in a lotus shape.Template:Cn

In the cosmology of the Avatamsaka sutra, our Universe is just one of the immeasurable number of universes in a Multiverse called "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Kusumatalagarbha-vyuhalamkara-lokadhatu-samudra).<ref>Susumu, Otake, "Sakyamuni and Vairocana", in Gimello at al. (2012), p. 37.</ref> 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.<ref>Susumu, Otake, "Sakyamuni and Vairocana", in Gimello at al. (2012), p. 38.</ref> Vairocana is closely associated with Shakyamuni Buddha, in some cases he is even identified with him in the Avatamsaka Sutra.<ref>Susumu, Otake, "Sakyamuni and Vairocana", in Gimello at al. (2012), p. 39.</ref> Huayan generally sees Shakyamuni as an emanation body (nirmanakaya) from the ultimate Buddha Vairocana ("The Illuminator").<ref>Lin, Weiyu (2021). Exegesis-philosophy interplay : introduction to Fazang's (643-712) commentary on the Huayan jing (60 juans) [Skt. Avataṃsaka Sūtra; Flower garland sūtra] — the Huayan jing tanxuan ji [record of investigating the mystery of the Huayan jing]. p. 32. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Library.</ref>

In the Śūraṅgama mantra (Template:Lang-zh) taught in the Śūraṅgama sutra (Template:Lang-zh), an especially influential dharani in 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Vairocana is the central Buddha of numerous esoteric sutras (sometimes also called tantras), and he appears in sutras like the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra (Vairocana’s Awakening), the Vajrasekhara Sutra (Vajra Peak) and the Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra (Summation of Essential Principles).

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 the Dainichikyo is that all the virtues of Dainichi (Mahāvairocana) are inherent in us and in all sentient beings."<ref>Helen Hardacre, 'The Cave and the Womb World', in Tantric Buddhism in East Asia (Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2006), p. 215</ref>

Relationship with ŚākyamuniEdit

In the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha is a magical emanation (nirmāṇakāya) of the cosmic Buddha Vairocana.<ref name="Williams, Paul page 122" /> Vairocana is certainly seen as a more cosmic and transcendent existence of Śākyamuni, who came to be seen as Vairochana's earthly manifestation.<ref name="Concept" /> Similarly, the Brahmajala Sutra also states that Śākyamuni was originally named Vairocana, regarding the former as a physical incarnation (nirmāṇakāya) of the latter.<ref name="Concept" />

Vairocana is also mentioned as an epithet of Śākyamuni Buddha in the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra (part of the Threefold Lotus Sutra).<ref name="Reeves">Template:Harvnb</ref> Thus, in Tiantai and Tendai, Vairocana is seen as synonymous with the Original Buddha of the Lotus Sutra's 16th chapter. The Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra states:

Śākyamuni is called Vairocana, who pervades all places. This Buddha’s abode is called Eternally Quiescent Light: a place which is Template:Sic the Pāramitā of Permanence (nitya-pāramitā); a place which is established on the Pāramitā of Self (ātma-pāramitā); a place [where] the Pāramitā of Purity (śuddha-pāramitā) extinguishes the characteristics of existence; a place [where] the Pāramitā of Bliss (sukha-pāramitā)[leads to] the non-abiding of the characteristics of body and mind. It is a place [wherein] the existence or non-existence of the characteristics of all dharmas is not perceived. It is like the quiescence of liberation (i.e. nirvāṇa) and the culmination of the Prajñā Pāramitā because the phenomena (rūpa) there are permanently abiding dharmas; in like manner, you should contemplate the Buddhas of the ten directions.<ref>Dehn, Tyler (Rev. Jikai) (2023). "Buddha-Nature” (Foxing 佛性) in Zhanranʼs (湛然) Adamantine Scalpel Treatise (Jinʼgangpi Lun 金剛錍論), with special focus on its congruence with the Saddharmapundarika (Miaofalianhua Jing 妙法蓮華經) and Mahaparinirvana Sutras (Niepan Jing 涅槃經)", p. 78. Dissertation, Macquarie University</ref>

In East Asian BuddhismEdit

Vairocana is the Original Buddha (本佛 běn fó, Jp. honbutsu) in the Chinese Buddhist schools of Tiantai, Huayan and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, as well as in the Japanese traditions of Kegon, Shingon and Tendai. In Huayan Buddhism, the entire universe is seen as the very body of Vairocana, who is seen as a supreme cosmic reality. Vairocana is infinite, his influence and light is limitless, pervading the entire universe.<ref>Cook (1977) pp. 90-91</ref> Furthermore, Vairocana is really the ultimate principle (li), the Dharmakaya, Suchness and "the substance underlying phenomenal reality".<ref name=":113">Cook (1977), pp. 93-104.</ref> 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 the universe.<ref name=":113" /> Thus, Vairocana is both immanent (due to its dependent and interfused character) and transcendent (as the immutable basis of all things).<ref>Cook (1977), p. 105.</ref>

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, the Bodhisattvas Body, the Tathāgatas Body, the Wisdom Body, the Dharma Body, and the Space Body.<ref>Lin, Weiyu (2021). Exegesis-philosophy interplay : introduction to Fazang's (643-712) commentary on the Huayan jing (60 juans) [Skt. Avataṃsaka Sūtra; Flower garland sūtra] — the Huayan jing tanxuan ji [record of investigating the mystery of the Huayan jing]. p. 33. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Library.</ref> Fazang sees these ten bodies as encompassing all phenomena (animate and inanimate) in the "three realms", i.e. the entire universe.<ref>Lin, Weiyu (2021). Exegesis-philosophy interplay : introduction to Fazang's (643-712) commentary on the Huayan jing (60 juans) [Skt. Avataṃsaka Sūtra; Flower garland sūtra] — the Huayan jing tanxuan ji [record of investigating the mystery of the Huayan jing]. p. 34. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Library.</ref>

In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, Vairocana was gradually superseded as an object of reverence by the popularity of Amitābha, due in large part to the increasing popularity of Pure Land Buddhism, but veneration of Vairocana still remains popular among adherents and remains a central object of devotion in Tendai, Shingon, and the Huayan schools.

During the initial stages of his mission in Japan, the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier 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.<ref name="Ropps">Francis Xavier and the Land of the Rising Sun: Dainichi and Deus, Matthew Ropp, 1997.</ref><ref name="Ellisonas">Template:Cite book</ref>

Relationship with AmitabhaEdit

The Shingon monk Dohan regarded the two great Buddhas, Amitābha and Vairocana, as one and the same Dharmakāya Buddha and as 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:

Template:QuoteThe identification of Vairocana with Amitābha can also be seen in the Huayan school. During the Qing dynasty, Huayan figures like Peng Shaosheng (1740–1796) also equated Amitābha Buddha with Vairocana.<ref name="Liu2">Template:Cite journal</ref> According to Peng, Vairocana and Amitabha are actually the same Buddha, Amitabha's pure land of Sukhavati is the same as Vairocana Buddha's Lotus Treasury World.<ref name=":30">Liu, Kuei-Chieh (劉貴傑). On the Synthesis of Huayan Thought and Pure Land Practice by Early Qing Dynasty Buddhist Scholars (清初華嚴念佛思想試析——以續法與彭紹升為例). Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Volume 20.</ref> Peng saw the Huayan principle of the interpenetration of principle and phenomena as indicating that these Buddhas and their pure lands were mutually interfused and non-dual with all worlds in the universe.<ref name=":303">Liu, Kuei-Chieh (劉貴傑). On the Synthesis of Huayan Thought and Pure Land Practice by Early Qing Dynasty Buddhist Scholars (清初華嚴念佛思想試析——以續法與彭紹升為例). Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Volume 20.</ref>

Mantras and dharanisEdit

Numerous mantras, seed syllables and dhāraṇī are associated with Vairocana Buddha.

A common basic mantra is the following:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

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Oṃ Vairocana Vaṃ

Another popular Vairocana related mantra is the Mantra of Light, which is popular in Japanese Buddhism, including Shingon. This is:

Oṃ Amogha Vairocana Mahāmudrā Maṇipadma Jvala Pravartāya Hūṃ

File:SIDDHAM LETTER A.svg
CitationClass=web }}</ref> This is because the letter is first in the Sanskrit alphabet (and so it is like alpha) and it's also a negative prefix (like un-), and so has apophatic connotations.

Five element mantrasEdit

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:<ref>Stone, Jacqueline I. (2016). Right Thoughts at the Last Moment: Buddhism and Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan, p. 499. University of Hawaii Press.</ref><ref name=":3">Giebel, Rolf W.; Todaro, Dale A. (2004). Shingon Texts, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, pp. 247-248. BDK English Tripi†aka 98-I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.</ref>

aḥ vi ra hūṃ khaṃ

File:Womb World from Mandala of the Two Worlds (Kongōkai Taizōkai mandara) (CBL J 1216.2).jpg
Womb realm mandala with Vairocana at the center, Hanging scroll, textile. Japan, 15th century.

Each syllable is correlated with earth, water, fire, air, space respectively, while Vairocana 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.<ref name=":3" /> 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); 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."<ref name=":3" />

A slightly longer variation of this mantra, also found in Shingon is:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

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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:<ref name=":1">Soothill, William Edward; Hodous, Lewis. A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index, p. 293. 1977. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.</ref><ref name=":2">Snodgrass, Adrian. The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism, p. 748. Aditya Prakashan, 1988</ref><ref name=":3" />

A vaṃ raṃ haṃ khaṃ

An alternate version sometimes appears with a Buddha vandana (homage) as follows:<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web

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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".<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

DharaniEdit

A longer dharani associated with Vairocana 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.<ref>Huntington, John C.; Bangdel, Dina. The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, p. 106. Serindia Publications, Inc., 2003.</ref>

The dharani is as follows:<ref>FPMT, 2021. Ten Powerful Mantras for the Time of Death.</ref><ref>Baruah, Bibhuti (2000) Buddhist Sects and Sectarianism, pp. 205-206. Sarup & Sons.</ref>

OṂ namo bhagavate sarva durgati pariśodhana rājāya tathāgatāyārhate samyaksambudhāya tadyathā

OṂ śodhane śodhane sarva pāpam viśodhani śuddhe viśuddhe sarvakarmāvarana viśodhani svāhā! <ref>Skorupski, Tadeusz. The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra: Elimination of All Evil Destinies : Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts, Motilal Banarsidass, 1983, p. 126.</ref>

StatuesEdit

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 universal and beyond concepts.

The Spring Temple Buddha of Lushan County, Henan, China, depicts Vairocana. With a height of 126 meters, it is the second tallest statue in the world (see list of tallest statues).Template:Citation needed

The Daibutsu in the Tōdai-ji in Nara, Japan, is the largest bronze image of Vairocana in the world.

The larger of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan that were destroyed by the Taliban 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 the dharmachakra mudrā. The statue is flanked with statues of the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Vajrapani.

GalleryEdit

See alsoEdit

SourcesEdit

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BibliographyEdit

External linksEdit

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