Perfect Interpenetration: Avataṃsaka
Indrajāla · Fazang's hall of mirrors · dharmadhātu
Madhyamaka asks whether an independently existing thing can be found. Huayan turns the question around and looks at what the world is like once nothing stands alone: everything contains and reflects everything else, without obstruction. Its master image is 事事無礙, "phenomena do not obstruct phenomena", the fourth of the four dharmadhātus. Fazang is said to have shown this to Empress Wu by surrounding a Buddha image and a lamp with mirrors, and by counting ten coins. Indra's net, a web of jewels that each reflect all the others, is the classic image.
Twenty-one visualizations follow, sorted by what they show. Each one is tagged so you can tell where it comes from.
Classical. The image or teaching comes from Huayan sources.
Classical, modern rendering. The idea is in the sources and the drawing is ours.
Modern analogy. Our own comparison, such as fractals, that the tradition does not teach.