Five Dhyani Buddhas

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

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 (Dhyani ध्यानि Skt. for "concentration"; Chinese: 金刚界五智如来, 五方佛), also known as the Five Wisdom Tathāgata(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, in the early nineteenth century, and is unattested in any surviving traditional primary sources. These five Buddhas are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas.

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.

It should be noted that 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:

Buddha (Skt)	Chinese	Japanese	Tibetan
Vairocana	大日如來 Dàrì Rúlái 毘盧遮那佛 Pílúzhēnà Fó	大日如来, Dainichi Nyorai	Nampar nangdze, Nam nang
Akṣobhya	阿閃如來, Ajiu Rulai	阿閃如来, Ashuku Nyorai	Mitrugpa
Amitābha	阿彌陀佛, Ēmítuó Fó or Āmítuó Fó	阿弥陀如来, Amida Nyorai	Wöpakme
Ratnasaṃbhava	寳生如來, Baosheng Rulai	宝生如来, Hōshō Nyorai	Rinchen Jung ne Rin jung
Amoghasiddhi	成就如來, Chengjiu Rulai	不空成就如来, Fukūjōju Nyorai	Dön yö drub pa Dön drub

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	Wisdom	Neurosis/Poison	Skandha	Action Activity	Symbol Implement	Element	Color	Season	Cardinal Direction	Mudra
Buddha	Vairocana	all accommodating	ignorance	form	Turning the Wheel of Dharma (teaching)	wheel	space	white	n/a	center	teaching the Dharma
Vajra	Akshobhya	mirror like	hatred anger	consciousness	protecting, destroying	scepter, vajra	water	blue	spring	east	earth-touching
Padma	Amitābha	discriminating awareness	desire	perception	magnetizing, subjugating	lotus	fire	red	summer	west	meditation
Ratna	Ratnasambhava	equanimity equality	greed pride	feeling	enriching, increasing	jewel	earth	gold, yellow	autumn	south	giving
Karma	Amoghasiddhi	all accomplishing	envy	mental formation, concept	pacifying	double vajras	air, wind	green	winter	north	fearlessness

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.

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

See also

• Trikaya - Garbhadhatu - Vajradhatu - Dharmadhatu - Garbha - Vajra - Dharma - Dhatu - Rupa

References

• 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 812061366X
• 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

et:Dhjaanibudad ja:五智如来 pt:Cinco Budas da Meditação ru:Дхьяни-будды sk:Dhjánibudha sv:De fem dhyanibuddhorna ta:ஐந்து தியானி புத்தர்கள் th:พระธยานิพุทธะ