Philosophy of Borobudur
Borobudur is based on Buddhist philosophy, religion and cosmology. The temple symbolizes the sacred Mount Meru, which in Indian cosmology is situated in the center of the Universe. The temple also represents the core teachings in Buddhist doctrine, namely the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the three realms of existence: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The first realm is that of Kāmadhātu, or ‘Desire Realm’, and is depicted in 160 reliefs based on the text of the Mahakarmavibhangga, which is about the law of cause and effect (karma). This particular realm of existence resembles the life of a human being who has not yet developed a moral sense of responsibility. The reliefs of the Mahakarmavibhangga were discovered as late as 1885 when the first chairman of the ‘Archeologische Vereeniging van Jogjakarta (Archaeological Society of Yogyakarta), Jan Willem IJzerman, accidentally stumbled up...