Himalayan Art Resources

Buddhist Deity: Sarvavid Maha Vairochana

Vairochana Buddha Main Page

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra
- Vairochana & Vajra Mudra
- Seven Point Posture of Vairochana
- Abhisambodhi Tantra
- Tattvasamgraha Tantra
- Buddha Main Page
- Buddhas, Who Are They? Outline Page
- Buddhas: Tantric Outline Page
- Masterworks
- Confusions
- Others...

The buddha Vairochana can best be understood in three different ways: as the principal character in a number of Buddhist sutras, a common image depicted in painting and sculpture, and as a meditational deity used in ritual practices. All of these have the same common source in the Vairochana Sutra. Vairochana is also one of the three most important Buddhas in Tantric Buddhism along with Akshobhya and Amitabha. These three together make up the organizing structure of the first category of the fourfold Tantric classification system. In some Sutra explanations Vairochana is seen as a universal form of Shakyamuni Buddha and is especially important in the history of the early development of Buddhist Tantra.

Name: Sarvavid Maha Vairochana, The Thirty-seven Deity Mandala of all the Families of Great Vairochana
Tibetan: kun rig nam par nang dze lha sum chu so dun kyil khor
Textual Source: Sarvadurgati Parishodhana Tantra

Jeff Watt 1-2001 [updated 4-2017]