Cosmic Buddha

The Cosmic Buddha sits atop a two-tiered pedestal that symbolizes Mount Meru, the center and summit of the cosmos. His robes part to reveal a three-tiered representation of the universe.

In the lower panel appears a Buddhist hell, where a bull-headed demon stirs a cauldron filled with sinners.

The human world appears just above the hell. Here, the historical Buddha Shakyamuni rides out from his father’s palace to witness old age and death. Above these scenes, the Buddha appears again, this time at the point of his death; four monks bow before him.

From the Buddha’s chest emerges triangular Mount Meru. Its top is a heaven, home to the mansions of the gods; it is also the same mountain upon which the Cosmic Buddha is seated. Depicted in this manner, it becomes possible to see the entire Buddhist universe in a single sculptural image: as one divine Buddha-body.