One can also see,
in Fig.7 above, the
trimekhala (or "triple surrounding wall") that
is a feature of all such representations of Paradise. This triple wall
corresponds to the one of Atlantis, and is encountered in all such Hindu
representations of Paradise. It also figures in the description of sunken
Paradises turned Hell such as the one of Tartarus in Hesiod (
Theog.
726) and in the one of the Celestial Jerusalem of the
Book of
Revelation.
As we said, Borobudur is one of the most
impressive monuments ever erected by man. It is both a temple and a memorial
where the cryptic doctrines concerning Adi Buddha and his mysterious Paradise
are exposed to the initiates. And these doctrines center on its destruction
by fire and water, just as happened to Atlantis. If that connection is
allowed, there can be no doubt that the myth of Atlantis originated in
the Far East, as it indeed did.18
The pyramid of Borobudur represents the
Holy Mountain (Mt. Atlas or Meru), just as the whole complex represents
the Holy City. This six stepped pyramid is capped by a shrine (or stupa)
itself composed of three round stages topped by a bell-shaped shrine where
the relics of Adi Buddha were contained. In this, Borobudur closely corresponds
to Zozer's pyramid which is, likewise, six-stepped and was (originally)
topped by a shrine now gone. This seven stepped structure is also characteristic
of Egypt. Its pyramids almost invariably have seven steps, even though
these may been hidden under the smooth outer cladding. As we see, both in Indonesia and in India, pyramids fit the local traditions and the local geography, in contrast to Egypt and Mesopotamia, or even the Americas, where they make no sense at all, and where archaeologists still argue whether their purpose was to serve as tombs, cenotaphs, temples or whatever.
Borobudur and the Several Levels
of Reality
The symbolism of Borobudur centers on the
gradual revelation of the several levels of reality to the initiants, more
or less in the way the Egyptian temples did, as explained above. The lowest
levels of Borobudur corresponds to the basest manifestations of reality
and progress in the upper levels, until the ultimate reality the one corresponding
to the highest condition of spiritual enlightenment is reached in the uppermost
level. It was meant to enlighten the visitor and to cause his spiritual progress,
as he ascended gradually and finally reached the summit.
The monument proclaimed the unity of the
Cosmos permeated by the light of Truth. It explained the apparent paradox
of the union of incongruals such as Good and Evil, Fire and Water, Truth
and Illusion, Creation and Destruction, Male and Female, and so on, in the
one person of God as the Supreme Reality.
Adi
Buddha, "the
Primordial Wisdom" is precisely the knowledge of our paradisial origins
in the Far East, in the region of Indonesia.
Adi Buddha is the same spiritual reality that the
Hindus call
Mahavidya ("Supreme Wisdom"); that the Gnostics call
Gnosis
or
Sophia ("Wisdom"); that the Jews named
Hokhmah ("Wisdom")
or
Binah ("Understanding"), and so on. It is no coincidence that
we have ten
sefirots (or "aspects of divine manifestation"), just
as we also have ten steps in Borobudur's pyramid or ten "lights" in the
Temple of Solomon. For, after all, ten is the number of (Indian) Atlantis, just as seven is the one of Paradise (Lemurian Atlantis).
The Wondrous Pyramids of Southeast
Asia
Another wonder of Southeast Asia are the
temples of Angkor and, particularly, Angkor Vat and Angkor Thom. The Wat
is an enormous pyramidal complex of some 1500 x 1400 m2 . The
complex is surrounded by a vast cloister and is approached from the west.
This is done via a monumental paved road built upon a causeway delimited
by balustrades formed from standing serpents (nagas).
