Five Dhyani Buddhas

Cloth with painting of the Buddha

'The Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya', Tibetan thangka, late 13th century, Honolulu Academy of Arts. The background consists of multiple images of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Dhyani Buddhas (Chinese: 金刚界五智如来 or 五方佛), also known as the Five Wisdom Tathāgatas(五智如来; Wǔzhì Rúlái), the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Skt. for "conqueror" or "victor"), are representations of the five qualities of the Buddha. The term "dhyani-buddha" is first recorded in English by the British Resident in Nepal, Brian Hodgson,^[1] in the early nineteenth century, and is unattested in any surviving traditional primary sources. These five Buddhas are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas. These five Buddhas are the primary object of worship and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a sect of Vajarayana Buddhism founded in Japan by Kukai.

Origination

The Five Wisdom Buddhas are a later development, based on the Yogācāra elaboration of concepts concerning the jñāna of the Buddhas, of the Trikaya (Skt. Tri is "three", kaya is "body") theory, which posits three "bodies" of the Buddha. The Wisdom Buddhas are all aspects of the dharmakaya or "reality-body", which embodies the principle of enlightenment. Initially two Buddhas appeared which represented wisdom and compassion - they were, respectively, Akṣobhya and Amitābha. A further distinction embodied the aspects of power, or activity, and the aspect of beauty, or spiritual riches. In the Sutra of Golden Light (an early Mahayana Sutra) the figures are named Dundubishvara, and Ratnaketu, but over time their names changed to become Amoghasiddhi, and Ratnasaṃbhava. The central figure came to be called Vairocana.

When these Buddhas are represented in mandalas, they may not always have the same color or be related to the same directions. In particular, Akṣobhya and Vairocana may be switched. When represented in a Vairocana mandala, the Buddhas are arranged like this:

	Akṣobhya (east)
Amoghasiddhi (north)	Vairocana (principal deity/ meditator)	Ratnasaṃbhava (south)
	Amitābha (west)

Names

Names in other languages:

Sanskrit	Chinese	Japanese	Tibetan	Vietnamese
Vairocana	大日如來 Dàrì Rúlái 毘盧遮那佛 Pílúzhēnà Fó	大日如来, Dainichi Nyorai	Nampar nangdze, Nam nang	Đại Nhật Như Lai
Akṣobhya	阿閦如來, Achù Rulai	阿閦如来, Ashuku Nyorai	Mitrugpa	A Súc Bệ Như Lai
Amitābha	阿彌陀佛, Ēmítuó Fó or Āmítuó Fó	阿弥陀如来, Amida Nyorai	Wöpakme	A Di Đà Như Lai
Ratnasaṃbhava	寳生如來, Baosheng Rulai	宝生如来, Hōshō Nyorai	Rinchen Jung ne Rin jung	Bảo Sanh Như Lai
Amoghasiddhi	成就如來, Chengjiu Rulai	不空成就如来, Fukūjōju Nyorai	Dön yö drub pa Dön drub	Bất Không Thành Tựu Như Lai

Qualities

There is an expansive number of associations with each element of the mandala, so that the mandala becomes a cipher and mnemonic visual thinking instrument and concept map; a vehicle for understanding and decoding the whole of the Dharma. Some of the associations include:

Family/Buddha	Color ← Element → Symbolism	Cardinality → Wisdom → Attachments → Gestures	Means → Maladaptation to Stress	Season
Buddha/Vairocana	white ← space → wheel	center → all accommodating → form → Teaching the Dharma	Turning the Wheel of Dharma → ignorance	n/a
Vajra/Akshobhya	blue ← water → scepter, vajra	east → nondualist → consciousness → humility	protect, destroy → anger, hate	spring
Padma/Amitābha	red ← fire → lotus	west → inquisitive → perception → meditation	magnetize, subjugate → selfishness	summer
Ratna/Ratnasambhava	gold/yellow ← earth → jewel	south → equanimous → feeling → giving	enrich, increase → pride, greed	autumn
Karma/Amoghasiddhi	green ← air, wind → double vajras	north → all accomplishing → mental formation, concept → fearlessness	pacify → envy	winter

The Five Wisdom Buddhas are protected by the Five Wisdom Kings, and in Japan are frequently depicted together in the Mandala of the Two Realms and are in the Shurangama Mantra revealed in the Shurangama Sutra. They each are often depicted with consorts, and preside over their own Pure Lands. In East Asia the aspiration to be reborn in a pure land is the central point of Pure Land Buddhism. Although all five Buddhas have pure lands, it appears that only Sukhāvatī of Amitabha, and to a much lesser extent Abhirati of Akshobhya (Great masters like Vimalakirti and Milarepa dwell in this pure land) and Akanishtha of Vajrayogini-Heruka, attracted aspirants on planet Earth. ^[2]

Buddha (Skt)	Consort	Dhyani Bodhisattva	Pure Land	seed syllable
Vairocana	White Tara or Dharmadhatvishvari	Samantabhadra	central pure land Akanistha Ghanavyuha	Om
Akshobhya	Locanā	Vajrapāni	eastern pure land Abhirati	Hum
Amitābha	Pandara [3]	Avalokiteshvara	western pure land Sukhāvatī	Hrih
Ratnasaṃbhava	Mamaki [4]	Ratnapani	southern pure land Shrimat	Trah
Amoghasiddhi	Green Tara[5][6]	Viśvapāni	northern pure land Prakuta	Ah

See also

• Dharma
• Dharmadhatu
• Dhatu
• Garbha
• Garbhadhatu
• List of the twenty-eight Buddhas
• Rupa
• Trikaya
• Vajra
• Vajradhatu

References

1. ^ Bogle (1999) pp. xxxiv-xxxv
2. ^ =2008 Oral Commentary on Highest Yoga Tantra by Venerable Bhikshu Geshe Ngawang Dakpa" of Tse Chen Ling, San Francisco FPMT Center
3. ^ Pandara The Shakti of Amitabha
4. ^ Mamaki The Shakti of Aksobhya
5. ^ chart of the Five Buddhas and their associations
6. ^ Symbolism of the five Dhyani Buddhas

• Bogle, George; Markham, Clements Robert; and Manning, Thomas (1999) Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa ISBN 81-206-1366-X
• Bucknell, Roderick & Stuart-Fox, Martin (1986). The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism. Curzon Press: London. ISBN 0-312-82540-4

External links

• Five Dhyani Buddhas - chart of the Five Buddhas and their associations.
• The Berzin Archives - Buddha-Family Traits (Buddha-Families) and Aspects of Experience
• Five Dhyani Buddhas - Painting of the Five Buddhas at Padmaloka.
• Symbolism of the five Dhyani Buddhas
• Color Symbolism In Buddhist Art
• Mark Schumacher: Godai Nyorai (Japanese) - Five Buddha of Wisdom Five Buddha of Meditation Five Jina | Five Tathagatas