The Mahāvairocana Tantra is an important VajrayanaBuddhist text. It is also known as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, or more fully as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Vikurvita Adhiṣṭhāna Tantra. In Tibet it is considered to be a member of the Carya class of tantras. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra''. Both are also part of the Tendai school.
Composition & history
The Mahāvairocana Tantra is the first true Buddhist tantra, the earliest comprehensive manual of tantric Buddhism. It was probably composed in the middle of the 7th century, in all probability in north-eastern India at Nālandā. The Sanskrit text of the Mahāvairocana Tantra is lost, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The Chinese translation has preserved the original Sanskrit mantras in the Siddhaṃ script. There are translations from both into English.. The text was translated into Chinese in 724 by Śubhakarasiṃha who had travelled to China from Nālandā. It is possible that the Sanskrit text was taken to China circa 674 by the Chinese pilgrim Wu-xing. It was translated into Tibetan sometime before 812 by Śīlendrabodhi and dPal brTsegs. A major commentary by Buddhaguhya was written in about 760 and is preserved in Tibetan. Hodge translates it into English alongside the text itself. Kūkai learned of the Mahāvairocana Tantra in 796, and travelled to China in 804 to receive instruction in it.
Contents
The Mahāvairocana Tantra consists of three primary mandalas corresponding to the body, speech and mind of Mahāvairocana, as well as preliminary practices and initiation rituals. According to Buddhaguhya’s the Mahāvairocana Tantra system of practice is in three stages: preliminary, application, and accomplishment. Attached here and there are doctrinal passages, and sadhana practices which relate back to the main mandalas. The following outline is based on Hodge's translation of the Tibetan version of the Sutra. The Chinese version has differences in the order of the chapters.
Chapters
I - The sutra begins in a timeless setting of Mahavairocana Buddha's palace, with a dialogue between Mahavairocana Buddha and his disciple Vajrasattva. In chapter one, Mahavairocana Buddha expounds the Dharma to a great host of bodhisattvas, with emphasis on the relationship between form and emptiness.
II-VI Three chapters on the mandala of the Body Mystery with detailed instruction on the laying out of the mandala and the ritual. This mandala is also known as the Mandala of the Womb Realm.
VII-IX Three miscellaneous chapters originally at the end of the text. They are at the end in the Chinese version.
X-XII Three chapters on the mandala of the Speech Mystery. Includes a series of glosses on meditating using the letters of the alphabet in various combinations.
XII-XVI Five chapters on the mandala of the Mind Mystery.
XVII A stand alone chapter that may once have circulated separately.
XVIII-XIX A further chapter regarding meditating on the letters of the alphabet which involves placing them around the body while visualising oneself as the Buddha.
XX A standalone chapter address to bodhisattvas.
XXI-XXV Four chapters on the 100 syllable meditation.
XXVI-XXX Five miscellaneous chapters including the six homa rites.
Esoteric Precepts
Chapter 2 of the sutra also contains four precepts, called the samaya, that form the basic precepts esoteric Buddhist practitioners must follow:
Not to abandon the true Dharma;
Not to deviate from one's own enlightened mind;
Not to be reserved in sharing with others the Buddhist teachings;
The Mahavairocana Tantra does not trace its lineage to Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Instead it comes directly from Mahavairocana. The lineage then being, according to the Shingon tradition:
Vajrasattva, the disciple of Mahavairocana Buddha in this sutra;
Nagarjuna received the text of the Mahāvairocana Tantra directly from Vajrasattva inside an iron stupa in South India;
Within the vision of the Mahavairocana Sutra, the state of bodhi is seen as naturally inherent to the mind - the mind's natural and pure state - and is viewed as the perceptual sphere of non-duality, where all false distinctions between a perceiving subject and perceived objects are lifted and the true state of things is revealed. This is also the understanding of Enlightenment found in Yogacara Buddhism. To achieve this vision of non-duality, it is necessary to recognise one's own mind. Writing on the Mahavairocana Sutra, Buddhist scholar and translator of that scripture, Stephen Hodge, comments: The text also speaks of how all things can be accomplished once 'non-dual union with emptiness' is attained. Yet ultimately even emptiness needs to be transcended, to the extent that it is not a vacuous emptiness, but the expanse of the mind of Buddha, Buddhic Awareness and Buddha-realms, all of which know of no beginning and no arising - as Stephen Hodge points out: The sutra later reinforces the notion that Emptiness is not mere inert nothingness but is precisely the unlocalised locus where Vairocana resides. Vajrapani salutes the Buddha Vairocana with the following words: Emptiness in Buddhist discourse usually means the flow of causation and result - the arising of causes and conditions - but in this scripture, Mahavairocana Buddha declares himself to be separate from all causes and conditions and without defect - truly mighty:
Popular culture
The title of Chinese writer and film director Xu Haofeng's 徐浩峰 novel Da ri tan cheng refers to the Mahāvairocana Tantra.
