Five Tathāgatas

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Tathāgatas (Skt: पञ्चतथागत, pañcatathāgata; (Ch: 五方佛, Wǔfāngfó) or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas (Ch: 五智如来, Wǔzhì Rúlái), are the five cardinal male and female Buddhas that are inseparable co-equals,^[1] although the male cardinal Buddhas are more often represented. Collectively, the male and female Buddhas are known as the Five Buddha Families (pañcabuddhakula). The five are also called the Five Great Buddhas, and the Five Jinas (Skt. for "conqueror" or "victor").

The Five Buddha Families are a common subject of Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhist mandalas and they feature prominently in various Buddhist Tantras as the intrinsically inseparable^[2][1] father and mother Buddhas. Various sources provide different names for these male and female Buddhas, though the most common names today are: In the east, Vairocana and Buddha Locana; in the south Ratnasambhava and Buddha Mamaki; in the west Amitābha Panadaravasini; in the north Amoghasiddhi and Samayatara; and in the center Akshobhya and Dhatvisvari.^[3][2] They are sometimes seen as emanations and representations of the five qualities of the Adi-Buddha or "first Buddha", which is associated with the Dharmakāya.^[3] Some sources also include this "first Buddha" as a sixth Buddha along with the five.^[3]

In Japanese Buddhism, the Five Tathagathas are the primary objects of realization and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a school of Vajrayana Buddhism founded by Kūkai. In Chinese Buddhism, veneration of the five Buddhas has dispersed from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism into other Chinese Buddhist traditions like Chan Buddhism and Tiantai. They are regularly enshrined in many Chinese Buddhist temples, and regularly invoked in rituals such as the Liberation Rite of Water and Land and the Yoga Flaming Mouth ceremony (瑜伽焰口法會), as well as in general prayers and chants.^[4][5]

They are also sometimes called the "Dhyani-buddhas", which is a term first recorded in English by Brian Houghton Hodgson, a British resident in Nepal,^[6] in the early 19th century, and is unattested in any surviving traditional primary sources.^[7]

The Five Wisdom Buddha families are a development of the mature Buddhist Tantras. The now standard five Buddhas first appear in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha sutra (Compendium of Principles, c. late 7th century) and Vajrasekhara Sutra.^[3][8]

However, the tradition of various Buddhas corresponding to the main cardinal directions is not new to the Buddhist tantras. The idea appears in Mahayana sutras like the Sutra of Golden Light (c. 5th century) and the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.^[8] The Golden Light for example, has a mandala with Shakyamuni in the center, surrounded by Ratnaketu (south), Amitayus (west), Dundubhisvara (north) and Aksobhya (east) Buddhas.^[8] This set already includes three of the main five Buddha family Buddhas found in the tantras.

Furthermore, examples of four Buddhas arranged in the four cardinal directions are found in Indian Buddhist stupas like Sanchi stupa, Udayagiri stupa, Jajpur stupa (Pushpagiri) and Dekhinath stupa (Gyaraspur). The Udayagiri stupa for example, houses Vairocana, Amitabha, Aksobhya and Ratnasambhava in the four cardinal directions of the stupa.^[8]

According to Kimiaki Tanaka, this basic four cardinal directions Buddha model, combined with Vairocana Buddha from the Avatamsaka sutra, developed into the later tantric five Buddha families (which changed the other two Buddhas' names to Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava).^[8]

Before the set of the Compendium of Principles became the most popular, there were numerous slightly different schemas with different Buddha names. The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra for example contains a slightly different set of Buddhas, with Samkusumitarajendra, and Ratnaketu in place of Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava.^[8] Similarly, the Amoghapāśakalparāja (Sovereign Ritual of Amoghapāśa) has a similar schema as the Compendium, except that Shakyamuni is at the center, not Vairocana, and furthermore Amoghasiddhi is replaced by Lokendraraja Buddha.^[8]

Later Buddhist tantras adopted the basic five Buddha family schema. The Māyājālatantra for example, adopts it wholesale. Other tantras would often modify the basic schema to suit their needs. For example, the Guhyasamaja literature places Aksobhya Buddha (or, depending on the tradition, Mañjuvajra, the tantric Mañjusri Buddha) at the center of the mandala instead of Vairocana.

The Mother Tantras (i.e. Yoginitantras), like the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, adopt the basic idea of the five family mandalas, but are more different than the Father tantras in their structure and make use of different deities, including many more female ḍākinī deities. The Cakrasaṃvara for example, contains six main Buddhas with their own corresponding mandalas: Heruka, Vairocana, Vajrasūrya, Padmanarteśvara, Paramāśva, and Vajrasattva.^[9]

The Hevajratantra's mandala is even more ḍākinī centric, with a mandala focused on Hevajra surrounded by eight ḍākinīs, with no obvious connection to the standard five Buddha family schema. However, some later tantric commentators to the Hevajra tantra (like Abhayakaragupta) do indeed map these Hevajra deities to the five families. This shows that the five family schema remained an important one even in the later period of Buddhist tantra as the Yoginitantras were moving away from the standard schemas of the Yoga tantras.^[10]

In the tantric Buddhist literature, each of the five Buddhas have extensive qualities and features, including different directions, colors, mudrā, symbol, aspects, klesha, element; consort and spiritual son, as well as different animal vehicles (elephant, lion, peacock, harpies or garuda, or dragon).^[11]

The cardinal positions of Akshobhya and Vairocana can alter depending on specific teachings. In a classic schema, Vairocana may be seen as embodying sovereignty as the lord of the mandala and thus is at the central place of the mandala.^[11] Akshobhya then may face east as the second Buddha, and embodies steadfastness. He may be seated in the Vajraparyanka (also known as Bhūmisparśa) pose, with the right hand on the right knee, palm turned inwardly, and middle finger touching the ground.^[11][12][13] Amitābha (Japanese: Amida), embodies measureless light and faces west. A statue of Amitābha, when seated, has a samadhi mudrā with both palms face up, on top of each other, in his lap.^[11][14][15]

When these Five Buddhas are represented in mandalas of distinct Buddhist traditions, they may not always have the same colour or be related to the same direction. As mentioned, Akshobhya and Vairocana may be switched, as in the Guhyasamaja system which has Aksobhya in the center, and as in the Longchen Nyingtig tradition where Akshobhya is also in the center.^[2][16]

In other cases, different Buddhas may take the center place as well depending on the teaching cycle or tantra which is being depicted.

When represented in a Vairocana mandala of the Vajradhatu, the Buddhas are arranged as follows:

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  Ancient painting of Pancha Maha Thathagatas, Amoghasiddhi (green), Akshobhya (blue), Amitabha (red), Vairocana (white), Ratnasambhava (yellow) (date 1100–1200) in Nepal.
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  Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Amoghasiddhi in Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Amitabha in Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Vairocana in Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Ratnasambhava in Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Akshobhya in Shanhua Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Amoghasiddhi in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Amitabha in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Vairocana in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Ratnasambhava in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Ming dynasty (1368-1644) statue of Akshobhya in Huayan Temple in Datong, Shanxi, China
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  Five Thathagatas painting (Date 1400-1500), Ratnasambhava, Akshobhya, Vairocana, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi / Himalayan art resources foundation in Nepal
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  Shrine to the Five Tathagathas in Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian, China
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  Shrine to the Five Tathagathas in Bixia Temple on Mount Wutai in Shanxi, China
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  Chinese shrine to the Five Tathagathas in Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong, Australia
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  Five Tathagatas in Shinshoin Temple (Shibamata, Katsushika, Tokyo) . From the right side, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Vairocana, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi
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  Painting of the Five Buddhas, circa the 6th year under Injo of Joseon Dynasty (1628), Korea
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  Gilt copper crown with five buddhas, Tibet, 1644-1911 CE.
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  Ritual Diadem with the Five Jina Buddhas, Northern Nepal or Tibet, 19th century
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  Five Buddhas, Nepal, 16th century
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  Statues of the Five Tathagathas, Tri Ratna Buddhist Centre, Pekanbaru, Sumatra
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  Renge-in Tanjō-ji