Everything about The Vajrasekhara Sutra totally explained
The
Vajrasekhara Sutra is an important
Buddhist tantra used in esoteric schools of Buddhism, particularly the Japanese
Shingon school. It is also known as the . In Tibetan it's considered to be the main representative of the
Yoga Tantra class of texts.
The sutra begins with
Mahavairocana Buddha preaching the Dharma to a great host of
Bodhisattvas, including
Vajrasattva, in the Buddhist heaven of Akanishta. As he preaches the
Dharma, Prince Sarvarthasiddhi, the esoteric name of the Buddha,
Siddhartha Gautama, is meditating under the
Bodhi Tree. Enlightenment is imminent, but the Prince has still not attained it because he's still attached in some small way to his forsaken ascetic practices. Despairing over his inability to find Enlightenment, he's visited by Buddhist figures who were just now learning the Dharma from Mahavairocana.
These same deities proceed to teach him a more direct path to Enlightenment through esoteric ritual. The sutra then details the rituals used to the Dharma. These rituals help forming the basis of
esoteric ritual in
Shingon Buddhism, including such practices as meditating upon the full moon and the use of certain mantras.
This sutra also introduces the
Diamond Realm Mandala as a focus for meditative practices, and its use in the
abhiseka ritual of initiation. As the prince has now experienced Enlightenment, he ascends to
Mount Sumeru and constructs the
Diamond Realm Mandala and initiates and converts the
bodhisattvas gathered there, one by one, into esoteric deities who constitute the Mandala.
In esoteric ritual, the teacher of the esoteric Buddhism assumes the role of the Prince who constructs the Mandala, while the master and student repeat specific mantras in a form of dialogue. The student, who is blindfolded, then throws a flower upon the Mandala that's constructed, and where it lands (for example which deity) helps dictate where the student should focus his devotion on the esoteric path. From there, the student's blindfold is removed and a
vajra is placed in hand.
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