The following is adapted from an article I wrote for the Shenzhen Daily, published October 26, 2015.
This statue of Vairochana Buddha is at the very top of Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple in the "Hall of Avatamsaka" or Huayan Hall. I've written about one such hall in Ep. 104: Indra's Net of Gems. This one lacks the mirrors and whatnot, but does have this Vairochana at the center.
You may have heard me call Vairochana my "favorite Buddha," or even my "personal Buddha." Here's why.
The first time I recall seeing his statue--in a museum on Mount Koya in Japan--I was immediately captivated by the mudra (ritual gesture) used to identify him in Japan and Korea. He is usually seated, one hand (usually the left) in his lap, with the index finger raised. This is grasped by the fingers of the right hand, like a closed fist around the finger. It struck me, and I got it right away: "Apprehend the One."
Later I learned that in folk Buddhism, this was the Buddha dedicated both to my birth year (Sheep) and my birth month (July). That cinched it.
In China, he is called Dari Rulai (Great Sun Buddha) or Piluzhena Fo, a transliteration of his Sanskrit name Vairochana (sometimes Mahavairochana, or Great Vairochana), which connotes "brilliant and luminous sun." In Japan, he's best known by the Japanese pronunciation of the same characters for Dari Rulai: Dainichi Nyorai.
His mudra is different in China. His hands are clasped, with the two index fingers raised and touching. If you look carefully, though, the tips of the fingers usually are not even, leaving the impression that one finger is pointing at the other--again, directing one's attention to "the One."
This makes me think of one of the great, and very succinct, summary of a Buddhist idea: nonduality, the "oneness of everything," is expressed as bu er (不二) in Chinese, fu ni in Japanese. And so in the Chinese version of Vairochana's mudra, he seems to have two fingers, but they meld into one.
In some sects, Vairochana is considered to be the body of the universe, from which all things--including all Buddhas--arise. He is the "ground of being," the source of all phenomena. Some call him the "Emptiness" (interdependence) that underlies all existence.
He was once immensely popular in China, especially in the more esoteric sects: Huayan, Tiantai, and Zhenyan. This last, no longer common in China, was taken to Japan by the Tang monk Konghai to become the Shingon sect, which is still popular today, and gives Dainichi Nyorai the central place.
This triad is sometimes called the "Three Sages of the Huayan." It shows Vairochana at the center, flanked by Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Puxian Pusa), the Bodhisattva of Great practice, and Manjushri Bodhisattva (Wenshu Pusa) the Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom.
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And that's that! Until next time, may you and your loved ones and all sentient beings be well and happy.
Adios, Amigos!
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