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Indra's net
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls,
Sanskrit Indrajāla) is a metaphor used to illustrate the
concepts of Śūnyatā (emptiness),[2] pratītyasamutpāda
(dependent origination),[3] and interpenetration[4] in Buddhist
philosophy.

The metaphor's earliest known reference is found in the

Atharva Veda. It was developed by the Mahayana school in the
3rd century Avatamsaka Sutra and later by the Huayan school
between the 6th and 8th centuries.[2] "Imagine a multidimensional spider's
web in the early morning covered
with dew drops. And every dew drop
contains the reflection of all the

Contents other dew drops. And, in each

reflected dew drop, the reflections of
Avatamsaka Sutra all the other dew drops in that
reflection. And so ad infinitum. That
In Huayan texts is the Buddhist conception of the
Atharva Veda universe in an image." –Alan
Watts[1]
Modern and Western references
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Vermeer's Hat
Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity
See also
References
Sources
Published sources
Web-sources
Further reading

Avatamsaka Sutra
"Indra's net" is an infinitely large net of cords owned by
the Vedic deva Indra, which hangs over his palace on
Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Buddhist and Hindu
cosmology. In this metaphor, Indra's net has a
multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is
reflected in all of the other jewels.[5]

In the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which follows

the Avatamsaka Sutra, the image of "Indra's net" is used to
describe the interconnectedness of the universe.[5] Francis
H Cook describes Indra's net thus:

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Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which
has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out
infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the
artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net
itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels,
glittering "like" stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now
arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will
discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net,
infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is
also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process
occurring.[6]

The Buddha in the Avatamsaka Sutra's 30th book states a similar idea:

If untold buddha-lands are reduced to atoms,

In one atom are untold lands,
And as in one,
So in each.
The atoms to which these buddha-lands are reduced in an instant are
unspeakable,
And so are the atoms of continuous reduction moment to moment
Going on for untold eons;
These atoms contain lands unspeakably many,
And the atoms in these lands are even harder to tell of.[7]

Book 30 of the sutra is named "The Incalculable" because it focuses on the idea of the infinitude of
the universe and as Cleary notes, concludes that "the cosmos is unutterably infinite, and hence so is
the total scope and detail of knowledge and activity of enlightenment."[8] In another part of the
sutra, the Buddhas' knowledge of all phenomena is referred to by this metaphor:

They [Buddhas] know all phenomena come from interdependent origination.

They know all world systems exhaustively. They know all the

different phenomena in all worlds, interrelated in Indra's net.[9]

In Huayan texts
The metaphor of Indra's net of jewels plays an essential role in the Chinese Huayan school,[10]
where it is used to describe the interpenetration (Wylie: zung-'jug; Sanskrit: yuganaddha) of
microcosmos and macrocosmos.[11] The Huayan text entitled "Calming and Contemplation in the
Five Teachings of Huayan" (Huayan wujiao zhiguan 華嚴五教⽌觀, T1867) attributed to the first
Huayan patriarch Dushun (557–640) gives an extended overview of this concept:

The manner in which all dharmas interpenetrate is like an imperial net of celestial
jewels extending in all directions infinitely, without limit. … As for the imperial net of
heavenly jewels, it is known as Indra’s Net, a net which is made entirely of jewels.
Because of the clarity of the jewels, they are all reflected in and enter into each other, ad
infinitum. Within each jewel, simultaneously, is reflected the whole net. Ultimately,
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nothing comes or goes. If we now turn to the southwest, we can pick one particular
jewel and examine it closely. This individual jewel can immediately reflect the image of
every other jewel.

As is the case with this jewel, this is furthermore the case with all the rest of the jewels–
each and every jewel simultaneously and immediately reflects each and every other
jewel, ad infinitum. The image of each of these limitless jewels is within one jewel,
appearing brilliantly. None of the other jewels interfere with this. When one sits within
one jewel, one is simultaneously sitting in all the infinite jewels in all ten directions.
How is this so? Because within each jewel are present all jewels. If all jewels are present
within each jewel, it is also the case that if you sit in one jewel you sit in all jewels at the
same time. The inverse is also understood in the same way. Just as one goes into one
jewel and thus enters every other jewel while never leaving this one jewel, so too one
enters any jewel while never leaving this particular jewel.[12]

The Huayan Patriarch Fazang (643–712) used the golden statue of a lion to demonstrate the
Huayan vision of interpenetration to empress Wu:[13]

In each of the lion's eyes, in its ears, limbs, and so forth, down to each and every single
hair, there is a golden lion. All the lions embraced by each and every hair
simultaneously and instantaneously enter into one single hair. Thus, in each and every
hair there are an infinite number of lions... The progression is infinite, like the jewels of
Celestial Lord Indra's Net: a realm-embracing-realm ad infinitum is thus established,
and is called the realm of Indra's Net.[13]

Atharva Veda
According to Rajiv Malhotra, the earliest reference to a net belonging to Indra is in the Atharva
Veda (c. 1000 BCE).[14] Verse 8.8.6. says:

Vast indeed is the tactical net of great Indra, mighty of action and tempestuous of great
speed. By that net, O Indra, pounce upon all the enemies so that none of the enemies
may escape the arrest and punishment.[15]

And verse 8.8.8. says:

This great world is the power net of mighty Indra, greater than the great. By that Indra-
net of boundless reach, I hold all those enemies with the dark cover of vision, mind and
senses.[16]

The net was one of the weapons of the sky-god Indra, used to snare and entangle enemies.[17] The
net also signifies magic or illusion.[18] According to Teun Goudriaan, Indra is conceived in the Rig
Veda as a great magician, tricking his enemies with their own weapons, thereby continuing human
life and prosperity on earth.[19] Indra became associated with earthly magic, as reflected in the
term indrajalam, "Indra's Net", the name given to the occult practices magicians.[19] According to
Goudriaan, the term indrajalam seems to originate in verse 8.8.8 from the Atharva Veda, of which
Goudriaan gives a different translation:[20]

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This world was the net of the great Sakra (Indra), of mighty size; by means of this net of
Indra I envelop all those people with darkness.[20]

According to Goudriaan, the speaker pretends to use a weapon of cosmical size.[20] The net being
referred to here

...was characterized there as the antariksa-, the intermediate space between heaven
and earth, while the directions of the sky were the net's sticks (dandah) by means of
which it was fastened to the earth. With this net Indra conquered all his enemies.[20]

Modern and Western references

Gödel, Escher, Bach

In Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979), Douglas Hofstadter uses Indra's
net as a metaphor for the complex interconnected networks
formed by relationships between objects in a system—
including social networks, the interactions of particles, and the
"symbols" that stand for ideas in a brain or intelligent
computer.[22]
"Imagine a multidimensional spider's
web in the early morning covered
Vermeer's Hat with dew drops. And every dew drop
contains the reflection of all the
In Vermeer's Hat (2007), a history book written by Timothy other dew drops. And, in each
Brook, the author uses the metaphor: reflected dew drop, the reflections of
all the other dew drops in that
Buddhism uses a similar image to describe the reflection. And so ad infinitum. That
interconnectedness of all phenomena. It is called is the Buddhist conception of the
universe in an image." –Alan
Indra's Net. When Indra fashioned the world, he
Watts[21]
made it as a web, and at every knot in the web is
tied a pearl. Everything that exists, or has ever
existed, every idea that can be thought about, every
datum that is true—every dharma, in the language
of Indian philosophy—is a pearl in Indra's net. Not
only is every pearl tied to every other pearl by
virtue of the web on which they hang, but on the
surface of every pearl is reflected every other jewel
on the net. Everything that exists in Indra's web
implies all else that exists.[23]

Writing in The Spectator, Sarah Burton explains that Brook uses the metaphor, and its
interconnectedness,

to help understand the multiplicity of causes and effects producing the way we are and
the way we were [...] In the same way, the journeys through Brook's picture-portals
intersect with each other, at the same time shedding light on each other.[24]

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Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity

In Indra's Net (2014), Rajiv Malhotra uses the image of Indra's net as a metaphor for

the profound cosmology and outlook that permeates Hinduism. Indra's Net symbolizes
the universe as a web of connections and interdependences [...] I seek to revive it as the
foundation for Vedic cosmology and show how it went on to become the central
principle of Buddhism, and from there spread into mainstream Western discourse
across several disciplines.[25]

See also
Brahmajala Sutra
Coincidentia oppositorum
Fazang
Hosshin Kingdom
Indra's thunderbolt
Macrocosm and microcosm
Rhizome (philosophy)
Śakra (Buddhism)
The Net (substance)
Three Spheres II
Metamodernism

References
1. "Alan Watts Podcast – Following the Middle Way #3" (http://www.alanwattspodcast.com/index.
php?post_id=373289). alanwattspodcast.com (Podcast). 31 August 2008.
2. Jones 2003, p. 16.
3. Lee 2005, p. 473.
4. Odin 1982, p. 17
5. Kabat-Zinn 2000, p. 225.
6. Cook 1977.
7. Cleary. The Flower Ornament Scripture A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, 1993, page
891-92
8. Cleary. The Flower Ornament Scripture A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, 1993, page 44
9. Cleary. The Flower Ornament Scripture A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, 1993, page
925.
10. & Cook 1977, p. 2.
11. Odin 1982, p. 16-17.
12. Fox, Alan. The Practice of Huayan Buddhism,
http://www.fgu.edu.tw/~cbs/pdf/2013%E8%AB%96%E6%96%87%E9%9B%86/q16.pdf
13. Odin 1982, p. 17.
14. Malhotra 2014, p. 4-5, 210.
15. Ram 2013, p. 910.
16. Ram 2013, p. 910-911.
17. Beer 2003, p. 154.
18. Debroy 2013.
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19. Goudriaan 1978, p. 211.

20. Goudriaan 1978, p. 214.
21. "Alan Watts Podcast – Following the Middle Way #3" (http://www.alanwattspodcast.com/index.
php?post_id=373289). alanwattspodcast.com (Podcast). 31 August 2008.
22. Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1999), Gödel, Escher, Bach, Basic Books, p. 266 (https://archive.org/d
etails/gdelescherbachet00hofs/page/266), ISBN 0-465-02656-7
23. Brook, Timothy (2009). Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global
World (https://books.google.com/books?id=RQgjb3kvDLEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA22#v=onepage&
q&f=false). London: Profile Books. p. 22. ISBN 1847652549. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
24. Burton, Sarah (2 August 2008). "The Net Result" (http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/866241/par
t_2/the-net-result.thtml). The Spectator. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
25. Malhotra 2014, p. 4.

Sources

Published sources
Beer, Robert (2003), The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, Serindia Publications
Burley, Mikel (2007), Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience,
Routledge
Cook, Francis H. (1977), Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra, Penn State Press,
ISBN 0-271-02190-X
Debroy, Bibek (2013), Mahabharata, Volume 7 (Google eBoek), Penguin UK
Jones, Ken H. (2003), The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action, Wisdom
Publications, ISBN 0-86171-365-6
Goudriaan, Teun (1978), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Watson, Gay; Batchelor, Stephen; Claxton, Guy (2000), Indra's Net at Work:
The Mainstreaming of Dharma Practice in Society. In: The Psychology of Awakening:
Buddhism, Science, and Our Day-to-Day Lives, Weiser, ISBN 1-57863-172-6
Lee, Kwang-Sae (2005), East and West: Fusion of Horizons, Homa & Sekey Books, ISBN 1-
931907-26-9
Malhotra, Rajiv (2014), Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity, Noida, India:
HarperCollins Publishers India, ISBN 9789351362449 ISBN 9351362442, OCLC 871215576 (h
ttps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/871215576)
Odin, Steve (1982), Process Metaphysics and Hua-Yen Buddhism: A Critical Study of
Cumulative Penetration Vs. Interpenetration, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-87395-568-4
Ram, Tulsi (2013), Atharva Veda: Authentic English Translation (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=uU0CAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA911&dq=atharva+veda+indra%27s+net&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SloyU
-i3Hc37oAT1yICIAg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=atharva%20veda%20indra%27s%2
0net&f=false), Agniveer, pp. 910–911, retrieved 24 June 2014

Web-sources

Further reading
Cleary, Thomas (1983), Entry Into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua-yen Buddhism,
University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-1697-1.

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