TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)became Vajradhatu Tathagata (:&~^1 J~tm*) who was concurrently Sakyamuni
Buddha who attained enlightenment on the seat of enlightenment bodhi-mm;da
1ifiliHii~) under a bodhi-tree on the bank of the River Nairaiijana in the suburbs
of Gaya. As soon as Sarvarthasiddhi became the buddha, all the tathiigatas led
him away from this world to "the pavillion with the pinnacle of adamantine
jewel" (vajramm;iratnasikharakiitiigiira {il~Jj~.JBJ,lf]Jt;flf¥.1) situated on the top
of Mt. Sumeru in order to enthrone him as the creator of the whole universe
(visvakarman) as the representative (sarvatathiigata, sg.) of all the tathiigatas
(sarvatathiigata, pl.).
In the third scene of this mystical drama, all the tathiigatas arriving at the
palace nominate Vajradhatu Tathagata, that is, Vairocana for the position of
their representative making him ascend the lion-seat as the representative of all
the tathiigatas (sarvatathiigatasimhiisana) and sit on the throne facing in all the
directions.
Subsequently, the four tathiigatas, viz. Ak!}obhya (lliiJ~), Ratnasambhava
( W:!E), Lokdvararaja ( i!!: !3 {E.:£) and Amoghasiddhi (:if!t!JiX:ie) nominate them-
selves for the position of representatives (sarvatathiigata) of all of the innumer-
able tathiigatas and sit on all sides of "the Reverend Lord Sakyamuni
Tathagata". Thus, the five tathiigatas constituting the adamantine sphere were
selected.
According to the Tantric way of thinking, 'when A represents a group B, A is
identical with the whole of B'. Therefore, these five tathiigatas are nothing other
than all of the innumerable tathiigatas filling the whole world of reality. In other
words, the ultimate reality, with Sakyamuni Buddha as its nucleus, appears itself
as the aggregate of five tathiigatas. Just as a transparent solution gels when a
drop of reagent is added, as the process of self-realization progresses further, the
ultimate reality makes its appearance finally as the Vajradhiitu-mm:zdala of
thirty-seven deities high above the world of human beings.
We can illustrate this process of self-realization of "the adamantine sphere"
as follows (fig. 3).
"The adamantine sphere", the world of reality as the aggregate of all the innu-
merable tathiigatas can be expressed by two concentric circles. The inner circle
corresponds to the central circle of the mm:ujala of the Vairocaniibhi-sambodhi-
siitra (fig. 1) and represents Vairocana Tathagata. The outer circle corresponds to
the centre < '1d inner two layers of fig. 1 or the inner circle (A) of fig. 2 within
which there is no difference of brightness. When this "adamantine sphere" is situ-
ated on "the palace of the king of the Akani~tha deities" (akani!fthadevariijasya
bhavana) (scene i.), these two circles are drawn with dotted lines as the sphere
has not yet made its appearance to us existing on earth. When Sakyamuni
Buddha, who can also be represented by the central circle of fig. 1, appears on the
earth after completing the process of accumulating merits over the three great
uncountable aeons, the concentric circles of "the adamantine sphere" descend
from the Akanii;itha heaven, its inner circle overlapping with the circle of Sakya-
muni is solidified and Vairocana, who is an imaginary or ideal being in the