Daibustu-den,+Todai-ji,+Nara

=Daibutsu-den, Todai-ji, Nara (Lindsey Cafarella )=

DAIBUTSU-DEN PHOTO GALLERY

Todai-ji temple dates back to Nara Japan (710-794). As the Sui and Tang dynasties flourished in China, the Japanese began to note the benefits of centralized government. One aristocratic family claimed imperial authority and began to use said authority to centralize Japanese politics. Part of the reform creating this new system was the creation of Nara as the Japanese capital city, modelling it closely after the Tang capital of Chang'an. While Chinese influence was strong during the Nara period, the Japanese have never been one to bow to another culture, and they maintained their traditional society while borrowing effective ideas from the Chinese.
 * __Political History __**

Some of the ideas adopted from the Chinese are spiritual in nature--the ideas of Confucius and the Buddha. As the new position of emperor required legitimacy, Nara grew as a religious center as well as a political center, using the new religious institutions as a way of giving the emperor divine authority. Though the Japanese continued to observe Shinto rites (including veneration of ancestors and nature spirits), Todaiji temple was a reflection of the combining of Buddhism, Shinto, and Nara's new imperial government. While cults devoted to kami still existed alongside the state religion of Buddhism, they became a conglomeration of many Eastern traditions and religions that inevitably supported the emperor.

Founded by Emperor Shomu, Todai-ji temple was the central temple of the new capital and was in charge of a state-sponsored network of temples, kokubunji, that ran throughout Japan. Not only is the Todai-ji temple the largest wooden structure in the world, but it also houses the largest statue of Buddha in Japan, representing the Vairocana Buddha (also known as cosmic Buddha or Birushana in Japanese). Shomu made both the temple and the Buddha huge to illustrate Shomu's own power, and Vairocana Buddha symbolized Shomu's status as emperor.

Requiring an immense amount of human, natural, and financial resources, the Todai-ji temple was dedicated in 752 with a ceremony involving 10,000 monks, 4,000 musicians, and 7,000 state officials. An Indian priest, Bodhisena, provided the centerpiece to the ceremony by painting the eyes on the Buddha. As one of the most spectacular events in Japanese history, the dedication of the Todai-ji temple solidified Nara as the center of both political and religious power.  The most important part of the Todai-ji temple is the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), which houses the Birushana-butsu (Buddha Vairocana). An essential element of the Buddha Vairocana is his personification of Buddha as a teacher, which goes back to the story of Siddhartha Gautama (Sakyamuni in Japanese). The moment of Sakyamuni's enlightenment allows him to become a Buddha who transcends both space and time. This Buddha, called the Buddha Vairocana, is often seen as the supreme Buddha of which all other Buddhas are part.
 * __Religion__**

The Buddha Vairocana (Birushana-butsu in Japanese) lives in a magnificent world, and as a result, his teachings include the songs of birds, the colors of flowers, the flowing of water, and the forms of clouds. Without Buddha Vairocana acting as a teacher, there would be no Buddhism and no enlightenment, for he would be the only practitioner of Buddhism. The aim of his teachings is to save all living things. To illustrate Buddha's teachings, most statues of Buddha Vairocana have him making a hand gesture: the index finger of his left hand is wrapped with all five fingers of his right, representing the world being encompassed by the five elements (earth, wind, fire, water, ether). However, the Buddha Vairocana in Nara has his hands in a classical teaching pose.

In the Todai-ji temple, Birushana-butsu sits on a lotus flower. The lotus petals are engraved with pictorial representations of the "world of enlightenment," illustrating that each individual does not live in isolation. Rather, everything has limitless connections and dimensions that are enveloped in the light of Vairocana's wisdom.

//Brief editorial: While I find this slightly ironic, given Japan's tendency toward isolation, I find this an inspiring message in today's world. Modern technology has found a way for us all to be interconnected, as the teachings of Vairocana describe, but it seems to me that it leaves us more and more spiritually isolated as individuals instead of more connected. Sure, I may be able to chat with celebrities via Twitter, but I am still alone at my computer as I do this. In light of the isolating nature of modern society, I find it very inspiring to think of the multitude of ways that we are connected. //

As the cosmic Buddha, he sits at the center of all universes and projects himself in the form of many other different Buddhas. To the Shingon sect of Buddhists in Japan, Birushana-butsu is the source of the entire universe, representing the wisdom of shunyata or emptiness. This emptiness is not a "glass half empty" idea; it is supposed to show the first form of all life and describes everything without characteristics and distinctions. His symbol is the sun, as the sun because the sun stimulates growth in everything all over the world, and his color is white, representing all colors. He is supposed to be the sum of all Buddhas.