TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)i1H~:L' ); the root is the compassion (karul)ii @); and the final aim
(paryavasiina ~J!;) is means (practically employed for the benefit of
others) (upiiya jj~)Y
0 the chief of guhyakas! What is the enlightenment then? It is to
know our own mind truly and thoroughly; and (what is attained there-
through) is nothing but the highest, the right and the complete enlight-
enment (anuttarasamyaksambodhi 1!\Ll::lE~fi: )."^16Herein lies another maxim which together with 'the three phrases' has been
traditionally taken as the most essential teaching of the system of the
Vairocaniibhisambodhi-siitra. viz. 'recognize your own mind truly and thor-
oughly' (WJ~%1 !§H..-). Subsequently, Vajrapiil)i asks another supplementary
question:"0 Reverend Lord! From what position should the state of the omni-
scient (sarvajiiatii -W~i!) be sought after? Through what should the
enlightenment be attained definitely and perfectly?"^17
The Lord V airocana answers:
"The enlightenment C~~) and the state of the omniscient ( -Wi't.i)
are to be sought after from one's own mind; the mind is (as its very
bottom the universal mind which has been) completely purified by
nature (from the first). ( *M:i1fi'$, Tib. ran bshin gyis yons su dag pa,
svabhiivaparisuddha or prakrtiparisuddha?)."^18These questions and answers clearly indicate the Mahayanic idea of the rela-
tion between the ultimate reality and the individual existence. The universal,
ultimate reality owes the conditions of its existence and its continuation to the
intellectual and practical effort of an individual existence. The universal wisdom
(sarvajiiajiiiina), which is nothing but the ultimate reality or the mal)gala of
Vairocana is to be realized through the personal effort of penetrating one's own
mind to its very bottom. At this point, the individual and the universal are
unified as one and the same thing. In the system of the Vairocaniibhisambodhi-
siitra, the unity or yoga of the individual existence with the ultimate reality,
which is nothing other than the religious ideal of Tantric Buddhism, occurs only
at the ver:, bottom of human mind, or in other words, the place where the
enlightenment is actually realized (bodhimal)da ~~m~ ), which is figuratively
the centre of the mal)gala.
This fact exactly corresponds with the statement that "the whole malJ4ala and
its centre are indicated with one and the same word i.e. Vairocana (seep. 179).
The world ofVairocana is to be depicted as a circle the radius of which repre-
sents the entire process of the progress of the human mind toward enlighten-
ment. While within this circle, one ought to continue walking as a pilgrim on the
destined course toward the centre, Vairocana. One continues walking voluntarily
harmonizing within himself bodhicitta,^19 the mind aiming toward enlightenment