Tentang gunung Semeru (Pali: Sineru) dlm Dictionary of Pali Proper Names:
Sineru
A mountain, forming the centre of the world. It is submerged in the sea to a depth of eighty four thousand yojanas and rises above the surface to the same height. It is surrounded by seven mountain ranges -
1. Yugandhara,
2. Isadhara,
3. Karavīka,
4. Sudassana,
5. Nemindhara,
6. Vinataka and
7. Assakanna
(SNA.ii.443; Sp.i.119; Vsm.206; cp. Mtu.ii.300; Dvy.217; it is eighty thousand leagues broad, A.iv.100).
On the top of Sineru is Tāvatimsa (SNA.ii.485f), while at its foot is the Asurabhavana of ten thousand leagues; in the middle are the four Mahādīpā with their two thousand smaller dīpā. (The Asurabhavana was not originally there, but sprang up by the power of the Asuras when they were thrown down from Tāvatimsa, DhA.i.272; see, e.g., SNA.i.201).
Sineru is often used in similes, its chief characteristic being its un-shake ability (sutthuthapita) (E.g., SN. vs.683). It is also called Meru or Sumeru (E.g., Cv.xlii.2), Hemameru (E.g., Cv.xxxii.79) and Mahāneru (M.i.338; also Neru, J.iii.247).
Each Cakkavāla has its own Sineru (A.i.227; v.59), and a time comes when even Sineru is destroyed (S.iii.149).
When the Buddha went to Tāvatimsa, he covered the distance there from the earth in three strides he set his right foot down on the top of Yugandhara and his left on Sineru, the next step brought him to Tāvatimsa, the whole distance so covered being sixty eight hundred thousand leagues. DhA.iii.216.
Sumber: http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/s/sineru.htm
Gunung ini adalah pusat cakkavala yang terdiri dari 7 rangkaian pegunungan, di atasnya ada surga Tavatimsa, di kakinya ada alam Asura, di tengahnya terdapat 4 benua besar (Mahadipa). Setiap cakkavala memiliki Sineru-nya sendiri2.....
Sepertinya ini bukan gunung yg ada di bumi,mungkin di luar bumi (dimensi lain?) di mana merupakan pusat tata surya kita. Mungkin bentuknya seperti gunung di bumi maka disebut gunung (semacam benda langit berbatu dan bergunung spt asteroid?).
Sedangkan cakkavala (sistem dunia/tata surya) dikatakan:
Cakkavāla
The name given to a whole world-system, there being countless such systems.
Each Cakkavāla is twelve hundred and three thousand, four hundred and fifty yojanas in extent and consists of the earth, two hundred and four thousand nahutas of yojanas in volume, surrounded by a region of water four hundred and eight thousand nahutas of yojanas in volume. This rests on air, the thickness of which is nine hundred and sixty thousand nahutas of yojanas. In the centre of the Cakkavāla is Mount Sineru, one hundred and sixty-eight yojanas in height, half of which is immersed in the ocean.
Around Sineru are seven mountain ranges, Yugandhara, Isadhara, Karavīka, Sudassana, Nemindhara, Vinataka and Assakanna. The mountains are inhabited by the Regent Gods (Mahārājas) and their followers, the Yakkhas.
Within the Cakkavāla is the Himavā mountain, one hundred leagues high, with eighty-four thousand peaks. Surrounding the whole Cakkavāla is the Cakkavālasilā. Belonging to each Cakkavāla is a moon, forty-nine leagues in diameter, a sun of fifty leagues, the Tāvatimsabhavana, the Asurabhavana, the Avīcimahāniraya and the four mahādīpas - Jambudīpa, Aparagoyāna, Pubbavideha and Uttarakuru, each mahādīpa surrounded by five hundred minor dīpas.
Between the Cakkavalas exist the Lokantarika-niraya (SA.ii.442f.; DhsA.297f).
In each Cakkavāla are four Regent Gods (Cattāro Mahārājā) (AA.i.439).
A sun can illuminate only one Cakkavāla; the rays of light from the Buddha's body can illuminate all the Cakkavālas (AA.i.440).
Cakkavala terdiri dari bumi yang dikeliling air/lautan yang melayang di udara, di tengahnya ada gunung Sineru. Dalam setiap cakkavala ada pegunungan Himava (Himalaya?), bulan, matahari, surga Tavatimsa, alam Asura, neraka Avici, dan 4 benua besar (Jambudīpa = benua selatan, Aparagoyāna = benua barat, Pubbavideha = benua timur, Uttarakuru = benua utara)
Sepertinya gak ada korelasi antara tata surya menurut astronomi (di mana matahari adalah pusat tata surya) dg cakkavala dalam Buddhis (di mana gunung Sineru adalah pusatnya)....