Vairocana (毘盧遮那佛, Birojana)
The cosmic buddha of Hwaeom teaching, enshrined as the principal image at many Korean temples.
Vairocana is the buddha at the centre of Hwaeom (Huayan) teaching, understood as the body of the whole cosmos rather than as a figure who lived a life. Korean temples of the tradition enshrine him as the principal image, and he is usually recognised by the hand gesture in which one hand grips the raised forefinger of the other. At Sangwonsa on Odaesan the state record names him alongside Mañjuśrī as the focus of prayer.
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Places in this collection
TempleTodaiji
- Protection & Safety
The temple of the Great Buddha, begun in 743 under an edict praying that all things, animate and growing, may flourish.
TempleSangwonsa
- Health & Healing
A temple on Odaesan founded in 705, at the centre of the mountain’s Manjushri devotion, and known for the story that King Sejo met the bodhisattva here as a boy and was healed.
TempleChinkoku-ji
Kobo Daishi met a great storm on his crossing to Tang China and was saved when Fudo Myoo appeared among the waves; after returning he opened this temple on Mount Byobu.