 As a descending view from the summit, this Taizō mandala represents the enlightened universe from the perspective of compassion, an expression of the “female” principle. Just as a mother enfolds her child in the care of her womb, the Buddha’s compassion nurtures the original enlightenment in all. With the lotus as chief symbol, the picture represents the manifestation of Dainichi through his cosmic activities. Dainichi occupies the unmoving center with myriad buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other deities layered around it, while Dainichi simultaneously pervades all up to the outermost edges of the diagram. From that center, enlightenment radiates outward in a spiral, passing through the various buddhas and bodhisattvas, descending through various levels of being and mind, outward to the phenomenal world as it becomes more and more concrete, reaching the human world and further into the realms of animals, hell-beings, and hungry ghosts. Thus a wellspring of activity is depicted to be endlessly flowing out of the center. This activity manifests the welling-up of compassion from the Buddha’s wisdom as it moves outwards and downwards. Simultaneously all beings are directed inwards and upwards towards enlightenment depicted in the mandalic center. The two movements are non-dualistic.