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Thursday, August 30, 2012

5 Wisdom 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 WisdomTathāgatas(五智如来; Wǔzhì Rúlái), the Five Great Buddhasand the Five Jinas (Skt. for "conqueror" or "victor"), are representations of the five qualities of the Buddha.

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 "truth-body", which embodies the principle ofenlightenment. 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, andRatnaketu, 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:
(east)
(north)
(principal deity/ meditator)
(south)
(west)



                       Seed Syllables


hrīḥ 
 
trāṃaāḥ

hūṃ




The vairocana buddha in the center – White – represents wisdom of the nature of law ;
the first one from left to the center is ratnaketu – Yellow-  in the south land of pleasure , representing good deeds of wisdom of the identity of all things ;
the second one left is aksobha – Blue –  in the east land of happiness , representing consciousness of great mirror wisdom ;
the first one right to the center is amitabha – red –  in the west land of utmost happiness , representing wisdom of profound insight ;
the second one right is amoghasiddhi – Green – in the north land of lotus , representing course of wisdom of success

五位主尊正中者,为法身毗卢遮那佛,密宗称其为大日如来,代表法界替性智;
靠正中左侧第一位,为南方欢喜世界的宝相佛,亦称宝生佛,代表平等性智的福德;
正中左侧第二位,为东方香积世界(一说妙喜世界)的阿佛,代表大圆镜智的觉性;
靠正中右侧第一位者,为西方极乐世界阿弥陀佛,代表妙观察智的智慧;
正中右侧第二位,为北方莲花世界微妙声佛,又称不空成就佛,代表成所作智的事业。 

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