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Mount Meru (also Sumeru or Sineru or Kangrinboqe/Kailash) is the name of the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmology. Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru (Pāli Meru ), to which is added the approbatory prefix su- , resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru" or "wonderful Meru".
Bhutanese thangka of Mt. Meru and the Buddhist universe (19th cent., Trongsa Dzong, Trongsa, Bhutan).. Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. [1]
Below this is a layer of "golden earth", a substance compact and firm enough to support the weight of Sumeru. It is 320,000 yojanas in depth and so extends to 400,000 yojanas below sea level. The layer of golden earth in turn rests upon a layer of water, which is 8,000,000 yojanas in depth, going down to 8,400,000 yojanas below sea level.
The Buddhist cosmology divides the bhūmaṇḍala (circle of the earth) into three separate levels: Kāmadhātu (Desire realm), Rūpadhātu (Form realm), and Ārūpyadhātu (Formless realm). In the Kāmadhātu is located Mount Meru (Sumeru), which is said to be surrounded by four island-continents. The southernmost island is called Jambudvīpa.
Vaiśravaṇa is the guardian of the northern direction, and his home is in the northern quadrant of the topmost tier of the lower half of Sumeru. He is the leader of all the yakṣas who dwell on the Sumeru's slopes. He is often portrayed with a yellow face. He carries an umbrella or parasol as a symbol of his sovereignty.
[7] Mahayana literature tends to recognize four primary leaders, whose biographies are explained in detail in both the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna Sūtra and the Daśabhūmika Sūtra. According to this tradition, these asuras live 84,000 yojanas beneath the ocean floor on the northern side of Mount Sumeru, which are divided into four layers. Rāhu
According to his biography upon his return in 645 C.E. Xuanzang returned from his seventeen-year-long pilgrimage to India with, "over six hundred Mahayana and Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha and more than a hundred sarira relics." [31] Emperor Wen and Empress Wu of the Sui dynasty both venerated Buddha relics.
Dharmacakra, symbol of the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment. Buddhism (Pali and Sanskrit: बौद्ध धर्म Buddha Dharma) is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, "the awakened one".