Vajradhara

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18th-century Chinese statue of Vajradhara

Vajradhara (

Sakya,[1] Gelug and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism.[2] It is also a name of Indra
, because "Vajra" means diamond, as well as the thunderbolt, or anything hard more generally.

In the evolution of Indian Buddhism, Buddha Vajradhara gradually displaced

metaphysically
equivalent. Achieving the 'state of Vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation.

According to the Kagyu lineage, Buddhā Vajradhara is the primordial Buddha, the

Dharmakaya Buddha. He is depicted as dark blue in color, expressing the quintessence of buddhahood itself and representing the essence of the historical Buddha's realization of enlightenment.[3]

As such, Buddha Vajradhara is thought to be the supreme

From the primordial Buddha Vajradhara/Samantabhadra Buddha /Dorje Chang were manifested the

Five Wisdom Buddhas
(Dhyani Buddhas):

Buddha Vajradhara and the Wisdom Buddhas are often subjects of mandala.

Buddha Vajradhara and Samantabhadra Buddha are cognate deities in Tibetan Buddhist

void and ultimate emptiness
.

Dharmakaya as part of the Trikaya

Tibetan thangka of Vajradhara

The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally "Three bodies or personalities"; 三身 Chinese: Sānshēn, Japanese: sanjin) is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. By the 4th century CE, the Trikaya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know.

Briefly, the doctrine says that a Buddha has three kayas or bodies: the

Dharmakaya or reality body which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or boundaries.[7]

In the view of Anuyoga, the 'Mindstream' (Sanskrit: citta santana) is the 'continuity' (Sanskrit: santana; Wylie: rgyud) that links the Trikaya.[7] The Trikaya, as a triune, is symbolised by the Gankyil.

Literature

'

Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde' (Tibetan: མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན, Wylie: man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun) within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik. In the Dzogchen tantric text rendered in English as "Shining Relics" (Tibetan: སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བ, Wylie: sku gdung 'bar ba), an enlightened personality entitled Buddha Vajradhara and a Dakini whose name may be rendered into English as "Clear mind" engage in discourse and dialogue which is a common convention in such esoteric Buddhist literature and tantric literature in general.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Buddha Vajradhara, Originating Deity of the Sakya Lineage".
  2. ^ Getty, Alice (1914). The gods of northern Buddhism, their history, iconography, and progressive evolution through the northern Buddhist countries, Oxford: The Clarendon press, pp. 4-6.
  3. ^ Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice
  4. ^ "Dharmapala Thangka Centre". Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2012. Vajrayana View
  5. ^ Father Tantra
  6. ^ "Dharmapala Thangka Centre". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011. Vajradhara is an emanation of Adibuddha, some people say.
  7. ^ a b Welwood, John (2000). The Play of the Mind: Form, Emptiness, and Beyond. Source: http://www.purifymind.com/PlayMind.htm (accessed: Saturday January 13, 2007)
  8. ^ Martin, Dan (1994). 'Pearls from Bones: Relics, Chortens, Tertons and the Signs of Saintly Death in Tibet'. Numen, Vol. 41, No. 3. (Sep., 1994), p.274.

Link

Nonsectarian movement

Sutra