Akshobhya
Akṣobhya | |
---|---|
Sanskrit | अक्षोभ्य
Akṣobhya |
Chinese | 阿閦佛
(Pinyin: Āchù Fó) |
Japanese | 阿閦仏
( romaji: Ashuku Butsu) |
Khmer | អសុភ្យ (a-sop), អសុភ្យពុទ្ធ |
Korean | 아촉불
( Vajrayāna |
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Akshobhya (
Textual history and doctrine
Akshobhya appears in the
In the Śūraṅgama mantra (Chinese: 楞嚴咒; pinyin: Léngyán Zhòu) taught in the Śūraṅgama sutra (Chinese: 楞嚴經; pinyin: Léngyán Jīng), an especially influential dharani in the Chinese Chan tradition, Akshobhya is mentioned to be the host of the Vajra Division in the East, one of the five major divisions which controls the vast demon armies of the five directions.[3]
Akshobhya is sometimes merged with
Iconography
Akshobhya is the embodiment of 'mirror knowledge' (
The Vajra family, is also associated with the element of water, hence the two colours of the Vajra being blue, like the depths of the ocean; or bright white, like sunlight reflecting off water. Even if the surface of the ocean is blown into crashing waves, the depths remain undisturbed, imperturbable. Although water may seem ethereal and weightless, in truth it is extremely heavy. Water flows into the lowest place and settles there. It carves through solid rock, but calmly, without violence. When frozen, it is hard, sharp, and clear like the intellect, but to reach its full potential, it must also be fluid and adaptable like a flowing river. These are all the essential qualities of Akshobhya.
Many wrathful, tantric beings are represented as blue in colour because they embody the transmuted energy of hatred and aggression into wisdom and enlightenment.
Citations
- ^ Strauch, Ingo (2008). The Bajaur collection: A new collection of Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts – A preliminary catalogue and survey
- ^ Strauch, Ingo (2010). More missing pieces of Early Pure Land Buddhism: New evidence for Akṣobhya and Abhirati in an early Mahāyāna sūtra from Gandhāra; Eastern Buddhist 41, 23-66.
- )
General and cited references
- Jordan, Michael, Encyclopedia of Gods, New York, Facts On File, Inc. 1993, pp. 9–10
- Nattier, Jan (2000). "The Realm of Aksobhya: A Missing Piece in the History of Pure Land Buddhism". Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 23 (1), 71–102.
- Sato, Naomi (2004). Some Aspects of the Cult of Aksobhya in Mahayana, Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 52 (2), 18-23
- Strauch, Ingo (2008). "The Bajaur collection: A new collection of Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts. A preliminary catalogue and survey (in progress)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-03.
- Vessantara, Meeting the Buddhas, Windhorse Publications 2003, chapter 9