Further Looking at the Five Wheel Stupa

I posted the diagram of the Five Wheels from the Jewel Mirror Samadhi Translation project in Soto Zen Buddhism, and wanted to look up more information on the second column of the Gorin (Five Wheels).

This odd-looking structure composed of five elements (get it?) are found in buildings and temples for Zen. Here's an image of a stone structure made in its shapes.

From The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism by Helen Josephine Baroni:

Gorin Sotoba

"Five wheel stupa." A stone or cast metal stupa made in five sections. Stupas are dome-shaped structures used to enshrine relics or mark historically important places. Each section of the Gorin sotoba forms a different shape, which symbolizies one of the five great elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and space (or emptiness). Originally the stupas were intended to house Buddhist relics, but in later practice they were used as gravestones. Gorin sotoba were first introduced in Japan during the Heian period (794-1185) and are commonly associated with the esoteric schools of Buddhism, the Tendai sect, and the Shingon sect.

Each section of the Gorin sotoba is inscribed with an associated Sanskrit character as well as the Chinese character for the related element. The bottom section is a cube, representing the earth, inscribed with the Sanskrit letter "A".

Next is a sphere representing water, inscribed with the Sanskrit letter "VA."

The third section is a triangular stone, representing fire, inscribed with the Sanskrit letter "RA."

The fourth is a half-sphere, representing the wind, inscribed with the Sanskrit letter "HA."

The top section is in the shape of a mani jewel, representing space or emptiness, inscribed with the Sanskrit letter "KHA."

In the esoteric schools of Buddhism, the five sections of the stupa are also said to represent the Five Buddhas; the cube is associated with Ashuku (Akshobhya), the sphere with Amiba buddha (Amitabha), the triangle with Hodo (Ratnasambhava), the half-sphere with Fukujoju (Amoghasiddhi), the mani jewel with Dainichi Nonin (Mahavairochana Buddha).

Submitted July 24, 2017 at 11:57PM by Dillon123 http://ift.tt/2tv6PNu