| Vairocana | |
| Sanskrit Name: | वैरोचन Vairocana |
| Bengali Name: | Bengali: বৈরোচন |
| Burmese Name: | ဗုဒ္ဓဘုရားရှင် |
| Chinese Name: | 大日如来 (Pinyin: Dàrì Rúlái) 毘盧遮那佛 (Pinyin: Pílúzhēnà Fó) |
| Japanese Name: | (romaji: Dainichi Nyorai) (romaji: Birushana Butsu) |
| Tibetan Name: | རྣམ་པར་སྣང་མཛད་ Wylie: rnam par snang mdzad THL: Nampar Nangdze |
| Mongolian Name: | Машид гийгүүлэн зохиогч Masida geyigülün zohiyaghci Бярузана, Машид Гийгүүлэн Зохиогч, Гэгээн Гэрэлт Biruzana, Masida Geyigülün Zohiyaghci, Gegegen Gereltü |
| Korean Name: | 대일여래 大日如來(RR: Daeil Yeorae) 비로자나불 毘盧遮那佛(RR: Birojana Bul) |
| Thai Name: | พระไวโรจนพุทธะ (RTGS: Phra wịrocana phuthṭha) |
| Indonesian Name: | Wairocana |
| Vietnamese Name: | Đại Nhật Như Lai 大日如来 Tỳ Lư Xá Na 毘盧遮那 Tỳ Lô Giá Na Phật 毗盧遮那佛 |
| Veneration: | Mahayana, Vajrayana |
| Attributes: | Śūnyatā |
Vairocana (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.[1] Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the Avatamsaka Sutra, as the Dharmakāya[2] [3] [4] 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. Mahāvairocana is often translated into East Asian languages as "Great Sun Buddha" (Chinese: 大日如來, Japanese: Dainichi Nyorai) Buddha.[5] 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 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 is first introduced in the Brahmajala Sutra:
Vairocana 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) and to a lesser degree the Vajrasekhara Sutra (also known as the Tantra).
In the Avatamsaka Sutra, 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. 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.[6] Similarly, the Brahmajala Sutra also states that Shakyamuni was originally named Vairochana, regarding the former as a physical incarnation (nirmāṇakāya) of the latter.[6]
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 taught in the Śūraṅgama sutra, 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.[7]
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 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 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.[8] [9]
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:
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."[10]
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.[11] 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:).[12] It is also called the "Lotus Treasury World" (Chinese:, Skt.), 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 a multiverse called "Ocean of worlds, whose surface and inside are decorated with an arrangement of flowers" (Kusumatalagarbha-vyuhalamkara-lokadhatu-samudra).[13] 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.[14] Vairocana is closely associated with Shakyamuni Buddha, in some cases he is even identified with him in the Avatamsaka Sutra.[15] Huayan generally sees Shakyamuni as an emanation body (nirmanakaya) from the ultimate Buddha Vairocana ("The Illuminator").[16]
Numerous mantras, seed syllables and dharanis are associated with Vairocana Buddha.
A common basic mantra is the following:[19]
oṃ vairocana hūṃAnother popular Vairocana related mantra is the Mantra of Light, which is popular in Japanese Buddhism, including Shingon. This is:
oṃ amogha vairocana mahāmudra maṇipadma jvāla pravarttaya hūṃAnother 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.[20] Its inner meaning 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:[21] [22]
aḥ vi ra hūṃ khaṃEach 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. 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."
There is another five element mantra of Vairocana, which is:[24] [25]
A vaṃ raṃ haṃ khaṃAn alternate version sometimes appears with a Buddha vandana (homage) as follows:[26] [27]
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 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.[28] The dharani is as follows:[29] [30]
OṂ NAMO BHAGAVATE SARVA DURGATI PARIŚODHANA RĀJĀYA TATHĀGATĀYA ARHATE SAMYAKSAṂBUDDHAYA TADYATHĀ OṂ ŚODHANE ŚODHANE SARVA PĀPAṂ VIŚODHANE ŚUDDHE VIŚUDDHE SARVA KARMA AVARAṆA VIŚUDDHE SVĀHĀ
With regard to śūnyatā, 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, is the largest bronze image of Vairocana in the world.
The larger of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan that were destroyed 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.
]
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.[19]