Lably
Skip to content

Buddhist deities

Divine beings

  • 11 min read
  • 6 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Buddhahood, Four Noble Truths and The Buddha

Lab · Class 6–12Buddhist Art at SanchiLab · Class 6–7Vedic Age

Buddhists later also came to incorporate aspects from the countries to which it spread. As such, it includes many aspects taken from other mythologies of those cultures.

Buddhas

A Buddha is a being who is fully awakened and has fully comprehended the Four Noble Truths. In the Theravada tradition, while there is a list of acknowledged past Buddhas, the historical Buddha Sakyamuni is the only Buddha of our current era and is generally not seen as accessible or as existing in some higher plane of existence. The Pali literature of the Theravāda tradition includes tales of twenty-nine Buddhas, which are Sakyamuni and the twenty-eight Buddhas who preceded him.

Mahayana Buddhists venerate numerous Buddhas, more so than the Theravada tradition, including Maitreya and Amitābha, who are seen as beings of great wisdom and power who preside over pure lands that one can travel to after death. Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions also recognize five primary Buddhas:

Each is associated with a different consort, direction, aggregate (or aspect of the personality), emotion, element, color, symbol, and mount. In later, especially tantric sources, each male Buddha is associated with a specific female Buddha (though their names and attributes vary across the various Buddhist sources). Here is one common list of the five female Buddhas (also called prajñās, or vidyas):

  • Ākāśadhātvīśvarī ("The Sovereign Lady of the Sphere of Infinite Space"), the prajñā of Vairocana
  • Locanā, the prajñā of Akṣobhya
  • Māmakī ("Mine-maker"), the prajñā of Ratnasambhava
  • Paṇḍāravāsinī ("White Robed One"), the prajñā of Amitabha
  • Tārā ('Star"), sometimes associated with Amoghasiddhi, sometimes Amitabha

In Tibetan Buddhism, several female Buddhas are also recognized, such as Tara, the most popular female Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism, who comes in many forms and colors. Other female Buddha figures include Vajrayogini, Nairatmya, and Kurukullā.

Other Buddhas besides these five include Bhaisajyaguru (the Buddha of medicine) and Nageshvara Raja (the king of the Nāgas).

There is also the idea of the Adi-Buddha, the "first Buddha" to attain Buddhahood. Variously named as Vajradhara, Samantabhadra, and Mahavairocana, the first Buddha is also associated with the concept of Dharmakaya and the Ground of all phenomena.

Some historical figures are also seen as Buddhas, such as the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna (sometimes called the second Buddha) and the figure of Padmasambhava.

Sign in to keep reading

5 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Religion

PinyinRomanization scheme for Standard ChineseHindusAdherents of HinduismTraditional Chinese charactersStandardized set of Chinese charactersLiteral translationWord-for-word translation of a textReligionSocial-cultural systemTheologyStudy of the nature of deities and religious beliefs