Kegon thought turns again and again to images that evoke a universe of radical interdependence. Foremost among these is Indra’s Net, a boundless web stretching in all directions, with a luminous jewel at every intersection. Each jewel reflects all the others without remainder, suggesting that every single phenomenon both contains and reveals all phenomena. This image does not merely illustrate connection in a loose sense; it points to a vision in which nothing stands alone, and each event in the cosmos is a complete expression of the whole.

This vision is personified in the figure of the cosmic Buddha Vairocana, regarded as the embodiment of the Dharma-body, or ultimate reality itself. Depicted as a majestic, radiant Buddha whose light pervades all realms, Vairocana symbolizes a presence in which all worlds, beings, and events are gathered without obstruction. Around this central figure, Kegon imagery often multiplies Buddhas and bodhisattvas beyond counting, suggesting that enlightenment manifests in infinitely diverse forms. Light and radiance, in this context, become visual shorthand for wisdom and the illuminating power of awakening that reaches throughout the ten directions.

Kegon also turns to more architectural and natural symbols to convey its insights. The Dharma-realm, or Dharmadhātu, is evoked as a vast, boundless field or space that encompasses all universes and beings, a kind of cosmic expanse in which every realm interpenetrates every other. Jeweled palaces, crystal-like structures, and mandala-like diagrams serve to depict this multi-layered yet non-obstructive cosmos, where each part mirrors the totality. The jeweled pagoda, in particular, can stand for the completeness and perfection of the Buddha’s teaching, rising tier upon tier yet belonging wholly to a single, integrated reality.

Lotus imagery adds a more intimate, existential dimension to these grand cosmological pictures. The lotus, blooming unsullied from muddy waters, symbolizes purity and enlightenment arising from the very conditions of cyclic existence. In Kegon usage, this flower can suggest that the entire cosmos unfolds from a single point, just as a lotus opens to reveal its many petals. The thousand-petaled lotus in particular evokes the inexhaustible depth of Buddha-nature inherent in all beings, hinting that every sentient life is both a single petal and, at the same time, the whole flower of reality.