Five Tathāgatas

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Jp. 五智如来 gochinyōrai), also known as the Five Dhyani Buddhas (dhyani being Sanskrit for "wisdom"), the Five Great Buddhas (Jp. 五大如来 godainyōrai) 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 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 Ratnasambhava. The central figure came to be called Vairocana.

When represented as a mandala, the Buddhas are arranged like this:

                     Amoghasiddhi
                           |
                           |
       Akshobhya  ---  Vairocana  --- 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	Amoghasiddhi	Amitabha	Ratnasambhava	Vairocana
Direction	east	north	west	south	center
Colour	blue	green	red	yellow	white
Wisdom	mirror-like	accomplishing	sameness	discriminating	dharmakaya
Mudra	earth-touching	fearlessness	meditation	giving	teaching the Dharma

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.

See Also: Trikaya