Vairocana
Vairocana (Skt., ‘the illuminator’, ‘he who is like the sun’).
1. In Hinduism (as Virocana), an asura who attempted, with Indra, to find the self (ātman): see Chandogya Upaniṣad 8. 7.
2. In Buddhism, one of the five transcendent Buddhas, associated with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and the earthly buddha Krakuccanda. He is often depicted making the handclasped sign (mudra) of supreme wisdom. Vairocana became identified with the Ādi-buddha as the personification of dharma-kāya. Vairocana is no longer an epitome of the absolute and undifferentiated nature of all appearance, to be approached only through aeons of insight-meditation, but becomes Mahāvairocana, accessible through cult and ritual. In Japan, Birushana is central in Shingon.
1. In Hinduism (as Virocana), an asura who attempted, with Indra, to find the self (ātman): see Chandogya Upaniṣad 8. 7.
2. In Buddhism, one of the five transcendent Buddhas, associated with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and the earthly buddha Krakuccanda. He is often depicted making the handclasped sign (mudra) of supreme wisdom. Vairocana became identified with the Ādi-buddha as the personification of dharma-kāya. Vairocana is no longer an epitome of the absolute and undifferentiated nature of all appearance, to be approached only through aeons of insight-meditation, but becomes Mahāvairocana, accessible through cult and ritual. In Japan, Birushana is central in Shingon.
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Vairocana