The Serenity Of Vajrasattva, The Adi-Buddha

The signature element of Vajrasattva's iconography is the pristine silvery skin. It represents this tantric deity's essential qualities of purity and newness, and the ability of the mind to transcend the space-time continuum. In this light Vajrasattva is called the Adi-Buddha, the primordial Buddha, a diamond being ('vajra' means 'diamond', 'sattva' means 'being'). He is a picturesque semblance of the spiritual faculties innate in each of us, the beginningless purity of one's nature that is unsullied by any thought or word or deed quantifiable within that continuum of human perception.

A serene stance characterises Vajrasattva. There is untold bliss on His flawlessly sculpted brow. Resplendent gold marks the base of His crown and kundalas, the hairline, the tapering necklace and the bracelts on His arm and the kamarband, and the hem of His robe. With His right hand He holds a vajra to His heart; in His left, a vajraghanta ('ghanta' is Sanskrit for 'bell') symbolic of wisdom. Together these two implements stand for the fusion of polarities - masculine and feminine, perfection and imperfection, conducive and inconducive - into a singular experience of enlightenment. The sumptuous silks and jewels of His shringar have been inlaid with rich colours. Vajrasattva is the union of the mandalas of all five Buddhas. Contemplating on His radiant gaze long enough would transform the devotee's universe.

Vajrasattva is a practice, a visual meditational aid. Alienated from our essential nature, we wallow in self-pity in this realm of existence. The hundred-syllable mantra of this deity enables us to get in touch with our fundamentally true and pure nature, and claim our spiritual inheritance. It begins thus: Om vajrasattva samayam anupalaya (Om Vajrasattva, preserve the bond). Meditating on Vajrasattva does away with all the inessential elements of our being and fills us with an irreplacable newness. He is a reflex form of Akshobhya, the vajra-yielding Buddha of the east, associated with the pure essential newness of dawn.