The Five Wisdom Buddhas in Vajrayana Buddhism, also known as the Five Dhyani Buddhas (Dhyani being Sanskrit for "Meditator") though it should be noted that this term does not occur in any Buddhist text, the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Skt. for "conqueror" or "victor"), are representations of the five qualities of the Buddha. The Buddhas inhabit the Diamond Realm and are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas.
The Five Wisdom Buddhas are a later development of the Trikaya theory, which posits three bodies for 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, Akshobhya and Amitabha. A further distinction embodied the aspects of power, or activity, and the aspect of beauty or spiritual riches. In 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 Ratnasambhava. The central figure came to be called Vairochana.
In a Dhyani Buddha Mandala, the Buddhas are arranged like this:
Amoghsiddhi
|
Akshobhya --- Vairochana --- Amitabha
|
Ratnasambhava
There are a huge number of associations with each figure, so that the mandala becomes a cipher for remembering, and understanding the whole of the Dharma.
Some of the associations include:
|
Akshobhya Buddha |
Amoghasiddhi Buddha |
Amitabha Buddha |
Ratnasambhava Buddha |
Vairochana Buddha |
Direction |
East |
North |
West |
South |
Center |
Color |
Blue |
Green |
Red |
Yellow |
White |
Wisdom |
Mirror - Like |
Accomplishing |
Sameness |
Discriminating |
Dharmakaya |
Mudra |
Earth - Touching |
Fearlessness |
Meditation |
Giving |
Teaching the Dharma |
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