There are many different Buddhas mentioned in the sutras. I recently compiled a list of the buddhas I know about to help keep them straight.
One of the more interesting Buddhas you may or may not have heard of is Vairocana. Vairocana is a sambhogakaya buddha and a major figure in Vajrayana and other esoteric Mahayana traditions. But other schools don't talk about him much.
In the Avatamsaka (Flower Garland) Sutra, Vairocana is presented as the ground of being itself and the matrix from which all phenomena emerge. In the Mahavairocana Sutra, a 7th-century guide to tantra, Vairocana is the universal buddha from whom all buddhas emanate. In art going back to the early first millennium CE, Vairocana usually is larger than other Buddhas and placed in the center of the composition.
Of course, if you want to interpret Vairocana as an archetype or metaphor rather than a Big Cosmic Guy, that's fine.
The Japanese monk Kukai (774-835), the founder of Shingon, taught that Vairocana emanated all of reality from his own being, and that nature is an expression of Vairocana's teaching in the world. I like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment