The Five Dhyani Buddhas and The Five Wisdoms

Five Dhyani Buddhas and The Five Wisdoms

Vairochana

Empty Basic Space Wisdom

In the Rigveda, the world’s earliest codified text, the word vairochana has the connotation of a brilliant and luminous sun. Vairochana in Tibetan is called ‘Namnang', meaning ‘The illuminator.’

Vairochana displays the Dharmachakra mudra. Dharmachakra in Sanskrit means the 'Wheel of Dharma'. This mudra symbolizes one of the most important moments in the historical life of the Buddha, the occasion when he preached to his companions the first sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath. It thus denotes the setting into motion of the Wheel of the teaching of the Dharma. Vairochana is said to be the sum of all the Dhyani Buddhas and combines all their qualities. He is therefore, pure white, since white is a blend of all colors.

Indeed, his lotus seat is supported by a pair of two great lions. The lion is the king of beasts and when he roars all others fall silent. Similar is the roar of Buddha’s teachings, in relation to the grandeur of which all other voices of our everyday life become insignificant and fall silent. Not surprisingly, meditating on the image of Vairochana is specifically believed to transform the delusion of ignorance into the wisdom preached by the Dharma. When Gautama Buddha turned the wheel of the Dharma, it illuminated like a sun the hearts of men and women darkened by ignorance. 

Akshobhya

Mirror like Wisdom

Akshobhya is believed to transform the human failing of anger into a clear mirror-like wisdom. With this wisdom, we see things just as they are, impartially and unaffectedly. Indeed, whether it be a red rose or a bloody dagger, a mirror will reflect both just as they are. It will not be judgmental and distinguish between the two reds, attempting to hold to the first and flee from the second. No reflection in a mirror sticks to it, and none repels it. The mirror always stands imperturbable and immutable, just as we should, whether the circumstances be favorable or unfavorable to us.

Akshobhya’s blue color is closely linked to the mirror symbolism. Blue is the color of water, and water has the capacity to act as a clear mirror.

He makes the Bhumisparsha mudra (earth touching gesture). This gesture recalls the incident just before Buddha’s enlightenment when he was challenged by Mara, the personification of evil. Mara was convinced that the spiritual throne where Buddha was sitting belonged rightly to him. Accordingly he challenged Buddha to prove his claim to the seat. Buddha moved his hand to touch the ground with his fingertips, and thus bid the goddess Earth to bear witness to his right to be sitting where he was. She did so with a hundred thousand roars, and validated Buddha’s assertion.

More relevant to our interest here is the fact that this gesture suggests confidence, deep-rootedness, and the same kind of determination which carried the Buddha to his enlightenment, inspite of the numerous hurdles which crossed his path.

Akshobhya’s emblem is the vajra. The Vajra is the quintessential symbol of Vajrayana Buddhism, which derives its name from the vajra itself. The Sanskrit term vajra means 'the hard or mighty one', and its Tibetan equivalent dorje means an indestructible hardness and brilliance like the diamond, which cannot be cut or broken. The vajra essentially signifies the immovable, immutable, indivisible, and indestructible state of enlightenment. Thus is Akshobhya touching the earth with the fingertips of his right hand, the earth too being a symbol of the immutable, the solid, and the concrete.

Akshobhya’s mount is the elephant. An elephant places its foot upon the earth with unshakeable certainty. It has the same unalterable quality as the Buddha’s fingers touching the ground, and the same determination that carried Buddha through his tribulations.

Akshobhya is considered the ruler over the eastern direction. It is the direction where dawn takes place. Indeed, Buddha’s victory over Mara heralded the dawning of a new, spiritual reality.

Ratnasambhava

Sameness Wisdom

Ratnasambhava means ‘Born from the Jewel,’ ‘ratna’ signifying jewel in Sanskrit.

Ratnasambhava is believed to transform the negative human trait of pride into the wisdom of sameness. This wisdom brings out the common features of human experience and makes us see the common humanity underlying all men and women. It makes us see ourselves as fellow-beings, organically united to the total stream of humanity. In this state of enlightenment, there is nobody superior or inferior to the other, leaving no scope for pride to develop. Ratnasambhava displays the Varada mudra.

This mudra symbolizes charity and boon granting. Indeed his distinct emblem is a jewel (ratna), associating him with riches and Ratnasambhava is sometimes described as the Buddha of giving. But he makes no distinction and gives freely to all (the wisdom of sameness). All beings are equally precious to him. Whatever our social position, race, sex, or life form, we are all made from a common clay. The grace of Ratnasambhava shines equally on the palace and dung heap. Meditating on his wisdom we develop solidarity with all humanity and with all forms of life.

The wisdom of sameness gives us the clarity of mind to perceive in the correct perspective, the eight experiences, arranged into four pairs. These are gain and loss, fame and disgrace, praise and blame, and pleasure and pain. These experiences always come in pairs. If we chase one we will lay ourselves open to the other. For example, if we pursue pleasure, we will undoubtedly at some time experience pain too. This is a spiritual expression of Newton’s third law of dynamics namely that ‘each and every action in the universe has an equal and opposite reaction.’

Ratnasambhava’s color is yellow. This is the color of the earth. The earth too is extremely generous in sharing with us her riches. Also she gives without any expectation or favor in return. She gives and also receives all equally. The earth is thus the great leveler. Similarly, Ratnasambhava’s radiance dissolves all boundaries of self and the other. We can then just share with others – without any associated sense of giving, because giving requires a ‘self’ to give and ‘others’ to receive, a duality which Ratnasambhava helps us transcend. The jewels are the emblem associated with Ratnasambhava.

The animal associated with Ratnasambhava is the horse, who ferries over the suffering beings with full vigor. It also suggests a journey, a spiritual voyage such as that on which the Buddha-to-be set forth when he left his life at home, riding on his faithful charger.

In Tibetan art, the horse is often shown carrying jewels on its back. This is a further reinforcement of its relation with Ratnasambhava.

Ratnasambhava guards over the direction south. The sun is in the south at noon-time. Its rays are then a light-golden-yellow, the hue of Ratnasambhava himself.

Amithaba

Discriminating Wisdom

Amitabha is undoubtedly the most well known and popular of the five Dhyani Buddhas. He is red in color. In Tibetan Buddhism, red is the color of love, compassion, and emotional energy.

His direction is the west. It is in this direction that sunset takes place and indeed he is envisioned as the setting sun (red). During sunset, the sun is gentle, and we can directly look into its fierce power, without coming to any harm. As it disappears into the west, the sun is like a proud and fierce king, who at the end of a hard day of rigid protocol turns gentle and jovial, and allows anyone to approach him. Amitabha is thus the supreme power and energy of nature, cast on an earthly plain, accessible to all of us.

Amitabha’s mount is the peacock, which is capable of swallowing poisonous snakes without coming to harm. In fact, the peacock is believed to derive its rich plumage from the poison of the snakes on which it feeds. This symbolism, of being open even to poison, and transmuting it into beauty, gives us a feeling of the purifying and transforming power of Amitabha. For us ordinary mortals, it signifies that even our darkest and most venomous aspects can be transformed by meditating on his image.

Amitabha’s image has both a simplicity and archetypal quality to it. His demeanor is totally relaxed and his hands are in the Dhyana mudra, the mudra of meditation.

According to tradition, this mudra derives from the one assumed by the Buddha when he was meditating under the pipal tree, in the pursuit of Nirvana.

In conformity with his hand mudra, the essential message of Amitabha is that of meditation. His association with the setting sun suggests the withdrawal of our external sense perceptions inwards, into higher states of meditative concentration. Elevating ourselves to such a spiritual level has the ultimate objective of uniting us with that intangible Universal Consciousness which pervades all tangible reality. The lotus, spreading its petals like a powerful sun is the symbol associated with Amithaba.

Amitabha thus provides us with the archetypal infinite wisdom that helps us transmute the negative trait of obsessive attachment into a discerning awareness that we are all made up of the same primitive substratum. So contemplating, we are able to realize that the object we crave for is not separate from us, and already as much a part of ourselves as we are of it. 

Amogasidhi

All Accomplishing Wisdom

The hand mudra made by Amoghasiddhi is the Abhaya mudra. Abhaya in Sanskrit means fearlessness. Thus this mudra symbolizes protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear.

According to the Buddhist tradition, Buddha’s cousin Devadatta felt greatly jealous of him. His jealousy knowing no bounds, he once even attempted to murder the Buddha. His plan involved loosing a rampaging elephant into the Buddha's path. But as the elephant approached him, Buddha displayed the Abhaya mudra, which immediately calmed the animal. Accordingly, it indicates not only the appeasement of the senses, but also the absence of fear.

Indeed, Amoghasiddhi’s whole presence removes terror and fear. His body is green, the color of the peace and tranquility of Nature. It is a soothing and relaxing color, which calms anxiety.

Amoghasiddhi rides on Garuda, the half-man and half-eagle composite, who feeds on snakes. Blessed with a telescopic vision, Garuda can detect the presence of serpent-like negative delusions plaguing our mortal frames even from a considerable distance. Garuda is too associated with the Himalayan ranges of the north, which is the direction of Amoghasiddhi.

Amoghasiddhi is particularly associated with energy and is known as the Lord of Karma. As a Buddha of action, he represents the practical achievement of results using the wisdom of the other four Buddhas. His double vajra too is a symbol of the successive conclusion of all actions. This is the reason why that after a deity statue has been completed and consecrated, a crossed vajra is inscribed upon the metal strip used to seal its base.

The goddess Green Tara is believed to have emanated from Amoghasiddhi and not surprisingly, she too is deified as a deity of action in the Buddhist pantheon. Indeed, Green Tara is always depicted in a posture with her right leg extended, signifying her readiness to spring into action.

Amoghasiddhi is believed to alter the negative human failing of jealousy into the positive wisdom of accomplishment. Jealousy is a positive human emotion in as much that it fuels our ambition and prompts us to achieve greater heights. But its negativeness stems from the fact that it is almost always accompanied by a bitterness towards the one who is the target of our envy. When we are able to ward off this associated feeling of resentment, and realize at the same time that the object of our jealousy is but a medium prompting us to greater karma, leading to higher accomplishments, we would read the message of Amoghasiddhi successfully.