Editing Mandala of the Two Realms (section)

== Indian background ==
[[File:051_Cave_12,_Reliefs_(33768885290).jpg|thumb|Relief of eight great bodhisattvas at [[Ellora Caves]] (cave no. 12) in a nine square pattern.<ref name=":02">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ZTt7jZmFXIJ6PdSO&v=kElMc3DWxIs&feature=youtu.be |title=The origin of Japanese two world mandala {{!}} SOAS University of London |date=2019-05-07 |last=Tanaka |first=Kimiaki |access-date=2024-09-25 |via=YouTube}}</ref>]]
[[file:MET 33 50 11 F sf.jpg|thumb|Indian Terracotta mandala, c. 6th century]]
[[file:Paharpur - DJI 0792.jpg|thumb|[[Somapura Mahavihara]]'s four directional square layout]]

The conceptual and textual foundations of the Two Worlds Mandala derive from Indian Esoteric Buddhism ([[Vajrayana|Mantrayāna]]), specifically from two seminal scriptures: the ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra'' and the ''Vajraśekhara Sūtra''. Both texts represent advanced stages of Buddhist tantric development in India, reflecting sophisticated ritual systems, [[mantra]] theory, and visualization practices intended to rapidly actualize the practitioner's identity with the cosmic Buddha.<ref name=":03">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ZTt7jZmFXIJ6PdSO&v=kElMc3DWxIs&feature=youtu.be |title=The origin of Japanese two world mandala {{!}} SOAS University of London |date=2019-05-07 |last=Tanaka, Kimiaki |access-date=2024-09-25 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

The ''Great Compassion Womb Realm Mandala'' is primarily based on the ''[[Mahavairocana Sutra|Mahāvairocana Sūtra]]'' ([[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 大日經; [[pinyin]]: ''Dàrì jīng''; [[rōmaji]]: ''Dainichi kyō''), while the ''Vajra-realm Mandala'' is based on the ''[[Vajrasekhara Sutra|Vajraśekhara Sūtra]]'' ([[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 金剛頂經; [[pinyin]]: ''Jīngāngdǐng jīng''; [[rōmaji]]: ''Kongōchō kyō'').<ref name=":8">Kiyota, M. (1987). Shingon Mikkyō's twofold maṇḍala: Paradoxes and integration. ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 10''(1), 91-116.</ref> The ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra'' is said to have been compiled around the mid-7th century in India. Its first chapter provides a Madhyamaka like teaching on [[Śūnyatā|emptiness]].<ref name=":8" /> On the other hand, the ''Vajraśekhara Sūtra'' is a compilation of several works, compiled in India beginning at the end of the 7th century. It's orientation is closer to [[Yogachara|Yogacara]] Mind-only Buddhism and [[buddha-nature]] thought.<ref name=":8" /> These sutras draw on previous Mahayana iconography and deities to develop a much more complex esoteric ritual complex. While the ''Mahāvairocana Sūtra'' and the ''Vajraśekhara Sūtra'' both take [[Vairocana|Mahāvairocana]] Buddha as their central theme, they are scriptures of different lineages, composed independently at different times and in different regions of India, and transmitted separately to China. 

[[File:Main_stupa_at_Udayagiri_Buddhist_Complex_16.jpg|thumb|Main stupa at [[Udayagiri, Odisha|Udayagiri]] Buddhist Complex with four Buddhas enshrined at four niches facing the four cardinal directions]]

In Buddhist India, mandalas were often earthen platforms or designs on the ground with cow dung or clay, along with paint or colored powder used for esoteric rituals.<ref name=":9" /> They represented the true nature and pattern of all reality as well as the enlightened wisdom of the Buddhas. In China, these designs evolved into permanent paintings or textiles.<ref>Yamasaki 1988, pp. 124-125.</ref> In some cases, an entire temple complex could be a mandala. Perhaps the most famous example of such a large scale mandala is the Indonesian Buddhist site of [[Borobudur]].<ref name=":3">Yamasaki 1988, p. 126</ref>  

The tradition of laying out [[Buddhist deities]] in a sacred diagram (i.e. a [[mandala]]) corresponding to the main cardinal directions is not unique to [[Buddhist tantric literature|esoteric Buddhist texts]]. These diagrams first appear in [[Mahayana sutras]] like the [[Golden Light Sutra|''Sutra of Golden Light'']] (c. 5th century) and the ''[[Amitābha Sūtra|Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra]]''.<ref name=":03" /> The ''Golden Light'' ''Sutra'' describes a mandala with [[The Buddha|Shakyamuni]] in the center, surrounded by Ratnaketu (south), [[Amitābha|Amitayus]] (west), Dundubhisvara (north) and Aksobhya (east) Buddhas.<ref name=":03" /> According to Orzech and Sørensen "The Buddhist cave-temples of [[Kanheri Caves|Kanheri]] and at [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]] in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] contain what may be the earliest extant examples of rudimentary mandalas in the form of geometric matrices containing Buddhist divinities."<ref name=":9">Orzech, C. D., & Sørensen, H. H. (2011). "6. Mudrā, Mantra and Mandala".  In ''Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004184916.i-1200.29</nowiki></ref>    

Examples of four Buddhas arranged in the four cardinal directions with the [[Śarīra|Buddha relics]] at the center chamber (called a ''garbha'') have also been found in Indian Buddhist stupas like [[Sanchi Stupa No. 2|Sanchi stupa]], [[Udayagiri, Odisha|Udayagiri stupa]], Jajpur stupa ([[Pushpagiri Vihara|Pushpagiri]]) and Dekhinath stupa ([[Gyaraspur]]). The Udayagiri stupa for example, houses Vairocana, Amitabha, Aksobhya and Ratnasambhava in the four cardinal directions of the stupa.<ref name=":03" /> 

According to Kimiaki Tanaka, this basic model of four cardinal directions Buddhas surrounding a central core was combined with [[Vairocana]] Buddha from the ''[[Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra|Avatamsaka sutra]]'', and developed into later diagrams depicting the Buddha families of the [[Five Tathāgatas|Five Tathagatas]] (which changed the other two Buddhas' names to [[Amoghasiddhi]] and [[Ratnasambhava]]).<ref name=":03" /> 

Pamela Winfield describes the original Buddhist context of the mandala as follows:<blockquote>the mandala is a two-dimensional blue-print for a three-dimensional palace or imperial city. It is an architectural construct that provides a visual metaphor for the majesty of the [[Macrocosm|macrocosmic]] universe, and in some contexts, for the sovereignty of the meditator’s own microcosmic body-speech-mind complex. The colorful buddhas who reside within the mandala-palace are usually depicted in royal garb holding imperial regalia, as they preside over their enlightened realms as befitting any [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|cakravartin]] (virtuous world-ruler). Retinues of bodhisattvas in princely attire represent powerful regents for realizing specific enlightened virtues (e.g. all-seeing compassion, diamond-like wisdom, the ability to use appropriate and “skillful means” [S. [[Upaya|upāya]]] effectively). For the initiate attuned to Buddhism’s elaborate [[Iconology|iconographic]] code, these enlightened and enlightening figures carry both ontological as well as soteriological significance as they reside in and regally preside over their perfected environments.<ref>Winfield, Pamela D. (2016). "The Philosophy of the Mandala". In Gereon Kopf, ''The Dao Companion to Japanese Buddhist Philosophy''. Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 235-253.</ref></blockquote>