gangs chen mtsho

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• Infinite Ocean [deity = gang chen mtsho IW

• Immense Ocean; Gangchentso, Infinite Ocean. Syn gang chen mtsho RY

• Skt.: Hemasagara. A name applied to the buddhas of the five families as they appear in Buddhist cosmology. Our universe, the Saha world, is said to appear within the thirteenth of twenty-five lotus flowers inside the alms bowl of Vairochana-Hemasagara. (The term is translated as Great Glacial Lake in Myriad Worlds) ASP

• An abbreviated name for the five cosmic buddhas from which, according to Mahayana cosmology, all of existence emanates. This name, which translates as "Great Glacial Lake," presumably derives from the scented water that is said to pour down from the pores of the bodies of these buddhas and gather in pools, out of which various universes and pure realms manifest. The manner in which this occurs is said to be inconceivable, with each and every atom being pervaded by buddhas, pure realms, and samsaric worlds. The atoms of these realms, in turn, are pervaded in just the same way. The five buddhas from which these manifestations occur are rnam par snang mdzad gang chen mtsho/Vairocana Mahāhimasāgara, mi bskyod pa gangs chen mtsho/Akṣobhya Mahāhimasāgara, rin chen 'byung ldan gangs chen mtsho/Ratnasambhava Mahāhimasāgara, snang ba mtha' yas gangs chen mtsho/Amitābha Mahāhimasāgara, and don yod grub pa gangs chen mtsho/Amoghasiddhi Mahāhimasāgara. This presentation of Buddhist cosmology is described in detail by Longchenpa in his zab don rgya mtsho'i sprin, pp. 42-44. CJD

The Great Glacial Ocean or Great Glacial Lake (Skt. mahāhimasāgara, Tib. gangs chen mtsho) refers to Vairocana Buddha in his aspect as Vairocana Mahāhimasāgara (rnam snang gangs chen mtsho), “Great Glacial Ocean Vairocana." In the cosmology of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Tantras of Vairocana, this is not a literal body of water, but a vast, infinite world-system or "buddha field" (buddhakṣetra) that contains all the universes of the ten directions. This "ocean" symbolizes the Dharmakāya's capacity to manifest an inexhaustible array of forms and realms. As described in detail by Longchenpa in his ‘Cloud from the Ocean of Profound Meaning’ (zab don rgya mtsho'i sprin), this "ocean" is formed by the “scented water” of enlightened qualities that pours from the pores of Vairocana’s body, gathering into “pools” from which more universes manifest. By addressing the Tathāgata Vairocana as this cosmic glacial ocean, the practitioner recognizes that the Five Buddha Families are not separate entities, but the radiant play of a single expanse of primordial awareness that "cools" the heat of cyclic existence with the “snow” of Vairocana’s all-pervasive pristine wisdom. Erick Tsiknopoulos