Hirushana Butsu

Hirushana Butsu — Vairocana (an alternate reading of Dainichi Nyorai), the universal Buddha of the Kegon philosophical tradition — appears in this 1937 print from Munakata's breakthrough year of Buddhist imagery. The Kegon Sutra, with its cosmic vision of a universe of infinite interpenetration and mutual reflection, was one of the primary philosophical sources for Munakata's sacred art, and Hirushana Butsu as the sutra's central cosmic deity was a figure of supreme significance. Munakata's carving renders the cosmic Buddha not with the serene refinement of traditional Buddhist sculpture but with the raw, immediate energy of a man confronting divinity directly.