Lotus Treasury World
Lotus Treasury World
蓮華蔵世界・華蔵世界 (Skt Kusuma-tala-garbha-vyuhalamkara-loka-dhatu-samudra or Padma-garbha-loka-dhatu; Jpn Rengezo-sekai or Kezo-sekai)
(1) The pure land described in the Flower Garland Sutra where Vairochana Buddha is said to live after fulfilling his bodhisattva vows and practices. According to the sutra, the Lotus Treasury World exists in a huge lotus flower growing in a sea of perfume that is supported by many layers of windy circles. This Lotus Treasury World consists of twenty layers of worlds in the center, the thirteenth (counting from below) of which is called the saha world where Vairochana Buddha dwells. These are surrounded by 111 peripheral worlds each of which also has twenty layers of worlds. Each of these many worlds is ornamented with treasures and inhabited by a Buddha and a great many living beings.
(2) A similar world described in the BrahmaNet Sutra. The world in the BrahmaNet Sutra is a thousand-petaled lotus. Each of the thousand petals is itself a world consisting of a billion smaller worlds, each with a sun, a moon, a Mount Sumeru, and four continents. Vairochana Buddha sits in the center of the lotus. In each of the thousand petals dwells a Shakyamuni Buddha who is regarded as a transformation body of Vairochana Buddha. In each of the numerous smaller worlds in each petal dwells a bodhisattva who is a transformation body of Shakyamuni. Each bodhisattva preaches the teaching under a bodhi tree.
