འཕགས་པ་ནམ་མཁའ་སྙང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.4

intro.4

The name Ākāśagarbha may be rendered in English as “Essence (garbha)¹ of Space (ākāśa).” To understand his name, it is useful to consider the concept of space in Buddhist thought. In early Buddhist theory, space is nonobstruction, the lack of matter allowing for the unhindered movement of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and air. Space is also nonobstructible due to its omnipresence and its eternal nature. Apart from being the mere absence of obstruction, it is also counted as one of the three unconditioned dharmas or phenomena in this world, the other two being the two types of cessation.² In the Pāli Mahāparinibbānasutta, space is presented as the actual foundation for all other elements of existence.³ We can understand, therefore, the prominent position that space holds among the elements of existence, and it is an equally prominent position that the bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha holds among his peers, his presence outshining everything else in the world, everything except the buddhas themselves. Just as space is the unlimited capacity to accommodate the entirety of phenomenal existence, so Ākāśagarbha possesses countless inconceivable qualities to benefit sentient beings. As the embodiment of nonobstruction, he helps beings remove obstacles from the path to awakening, in particular the obstacles caused by their own misdeeds, by making them disclose their transgressions.