Samantabhadra

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Samantabhadra (Skt., ‘he who is all-pervadingly good’; Chin., P'u-hsien; Jap., Fugen; Tib., Ādi Buddha). A bodhisattva of great importance in Mahāyāna Buddhism. He is the protector of all who teach dharma, and he is the embodiment of the realization that sameness and difference are a unity. He rides a six-tusked elephant, the tusks representing the conquest of attachment to the six senses. He rode on the elephant to China, settling on Mount O-mei, where he is venerated as one of the four great bodhisattvas. He is also closely associated with Vairocāna. For the Tibetan development, see ĀDI BUDDHA.

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