Chapter
I: Distant Beginnings
The El Dorado of the Asian
World - An Eclectic Approach to Cultural Borrowing - Early
Inscriptional Evidence - The West Javanese Kingdom of
Taruma - A Cataclysmic Event - The Book of Ancient
Kings - The Aftermath of a Devastating Impact - The Emergence of the
Sumatran Kingdom
of Srivijaya
Chapter II: The Rise & Fall
of Central Java’s ‘Classic Age’
The Illustrious King Sanjaya -
The ‘Lord of the Mountain’ - The Maharaja of Zabag - An Ambitious
Temple Building Program - The Shailendra
Decline on Java - The Maharaja
from the Land of Gold - The Shailendra Beyond Java’s Shores - An
Unknown Calamity of Horrific Proportions -
The Explosive Power of Merapi -
The Vartanyan Theory: A Geological Basis For Mass Hysteria - The
Migration to East Java: Other Hypotheses
Chapter III: A Buddhist
Foundation
The One Thus Come - Challenging
the Hindu Worldview - Enduring Symbols of the Buddha’s Presence - The
Elder School (Theravada) -
The Greater Vehicle (Mahayana)
- The Development of Mahayana Buddhism - Tantric Buddhism -
Initiation into the Mandala
PART II: BOROBUDUR AND ITS
ENVIRONS
Chapter
IV: The Magic of Location
In Harmony with their Local
Surroundings - The Descent of the Cosmic River - Local Javanese Legends
and Indigenous Practices - The Axis of
the Universe - The Mount Merapi
Sunrise - King, Kraton, Kingdom and Cosmos - Candi Pawon and Candi
Mendut - W. O. J. Niewenkamp and the Lotus Throne on the Lake -
Exploring Borobudur’s Vicinity - Locating the Shailendra Kraton
Chapter V: An Approach from the
East
The Bas-reliefs on the
Monument’s ‘Hidden Foot’ - Ascending the Eastern Staircase - Entering
the Bas-relief Galleries - The Significance of the
Jina Images - The 72
Stupa-Buddhas at the Summit - The Stupa at the Apex of the Pyramid -
The Meaning of the Name Borobudur
Chapter VI: Planning, Building
and Restoration
The Ground Plan - Phases of
Construction - The Mandala at the Summit - Ritual Deposits: Bringing
the Temple to Life - Ancient Building
Construction Techniques -
Conservation Efforts at Borobudur - The Never-Ending Battle
PART III: AN ARCHITECTURAL
REAPPRAISAL
Chapter
VII: The Residence of Divinity
The ‘Foot,’ ‘Body’ and ‘Head’
of the Temple - Like Demigods Rushing Along the Ways of the Firmament -
Borobudur and the Structure of the Vedic
Fire Altar - The Shailendra
Chakravartin - Rites of Kingship - The Vastupurusha-mandala on
Borobudur’s Summit - On the Road to Kusinagara
Chapter VIII: Numerical,
Astronomical and Dimensional Symbolism
The Numerical Symbolism of the
Jina Images - A ‘Day’ of the Gods on Mount Meru - The Temporal
Symbolism of the Lower Terrace Levels - Solar Symbolism in the
Lalitavistara Bas-reliefs - The Numerical Symbolism of Borobudur’s
Summit - A Time without Shadows - The Legend of King ‘Mountain Stone’ -
Mirroring the Celestial Realm - Dimensional Symbolism
Chapter IX: Candi
Mendut
The Images inside the Main
Cella - The Vestibule - The Cella Partition Walls - Along the Second
Ambulatory Path - The Staircase Wings -
The Ground Level Ambulatory
Path - A Rooftop Mandala? - A Lighthouse of Buddhism
PART IV: DECODING THE MESSAGE
Chapter
X: The Ghost in the Machine
The Matrix and Diamond World
Mandalas - Eight Great Objections to Borobudur as a Tantric Mandala - A
Sri Lankan Connection? - A Javanese Master of the Garbhadhatu Mandala -
The Influence of Nalanda
Chapter XI: The Unfolding of
Divinity
Pacing the Void - The Five
Revelation-Enlightenment Stages - The Akanishtha Heaven on Borobudur’s
Summit - The Awakening of the Complete Manifest Buddha - The Production
of a Four-faced Vairochana - The Three Mystery Bodies of the Buddha -
Suggestions for Further Research
APPENDICES
A. Chapter End Notes
B. Chapter
References
C.
Glossary
Index
