Like the gods of the Manichaeans and Gnostics, Vairoc'ana is fivefold, and is represented by the five great statues of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. To the mystic five correspond the five elements, the five senses, the five colours, the five planets, and many other groups of five. But they are really six, for just as Vairoc'ana, besides occupying his seat of honour in the midst of the Five, overshadows and embraces all his colleagues, so there is a sixth sense, a sixth element, etc., which overshadows and embraces everything (alaya shiki). The five are represented by five Chinese characters, representing the sounds A-ba-ra-ka-ki, and to these is added a sixth syllable,

un, A-ba-ra-ka-ki-un means "Glory to Abraxas," and Abraxas is the name found engraved on Egyptian rings and charms. It was the name used for "God" by Basilides and other Gnostics of the first century.

As with the Manichaeans and Gnostics, the world is twofold. There is the "Diamond world" (Kongo-kai, Vajradhatu), in which all is at rest and eternal, without change, without decay. It is the world of ideas, the world of gods. The other, equally ancient, is the "Womb World" (Taizo-kai, Garbhadhatu), the world of change, decay, birth, death. The one world is good, the other evil, and thus--as with the Manichaeans--evil and good are co-equal with one another and co-eternal.

In the Womb World there is a constant struggle; from the Diamond World, where dwell the Everlasting Powers, whose sum-total represents the Mandala or Pleroma of God, there issue forth countless rays of various light, incarnated or manifested in many shapes and forms of angels and gods, to aid man in his struggles. No lasting value need be attached to these forms. They are but the transient appearances of Vairoc'ana the Invisible, who is alone unchangeable and everlasting.

Heaven helps man by the enlightenment of his mind. In the Shingon system, as with the Manichaeans, it is supposed to do so much more efficaciously by revealing to him certain magic formulae and gestures, the performance

of which enables him to put the enemy to flight and compel Heaven to take his part. These formulae are known as the secrets of the body, mouth, and heart. They are found in Manichaeism; they also exist in the magical systems of Hinduism. The goma ceremony, which is the offering of pure fire, seems to connect the system with Hinduism, and yet the syllable ra, used as the name for "Fire," points to Egypt.

The Manichaeans divided their followers into "Hearers" and "Perfect." So does Shingon. It introduced into Japan the term sokushin jobutsu, which means that a man may, whilst still living, become a Perfect Buddha, higher than the gods of the trees and mountains, and, like S'akyamuni, equal to the Most High.