Japanese Temple Pagoda as Image of Sacred Center of World

We see the sacred tree represented in architecture as well as art. As mentioned in the previous post, the tree functions as the axis of the universe. The Buddhist stupa, represented here by a Japanese temple pagoda, is an image of the sacred center of the world - the point from which all creation originates. The Axis Mundi, the linear extension of this cosmological point, extends through the planes of being (shown here as stacked roofs). It was at the center, beneath the Cosmic Tree, that the future Buddha, Prince Siddhartha, attained enlightenment.