Akashagarbha (Tibetan: Namkhai Nyingpo)
Matrix of the Sky
Akashagarbha is the principal Bodhisattva of the Jewel family. He is
associated with the Eastern wisdom through the dawning of light from that
direction. He wears a white robe and holds a lotus with a large sword shedding
that light in his left hand. He is known for his generosity and meritorious
acts. As Namkhai Nyingpo, Akashagarbha appears as a female deity.
Akashagarbha
(Tibetan: Namkhai Nyingpo) Matrix of the Sky
or Womb-of-SpaceAt Kharchu
in Lhodrak in the Glorious Cavern
You accomplished the Immaculate Mind directly,
And with consummate skill of the Mind you rode the sun's rays:
Homage to Namkhai Nyingpo. |
Akshobya is the second of the Transcendental
Buddhas. He originates from the blue seed syllable HUM and represents the
primordial cosmic element of consciousness; immutable and imperturbable. The
path to enlightenment through the Vajra family is one of breaking free of
constraints and obstacles, transmuting negativity, and is generally more
dynamic and proactive. He sits in the earth touching mudra with his left hand
resting on his lap face up and his right hand resting on the right knee with
the tip of the middle finger touching the earth with palm drawn inwardly as he
faces the East. He is often depicted with his consort Lochana who expresses
the mirror-like primordial wisdom.
Amitaba (Tibetan: Opame) Buddha of Infinite
Light.
He is the fourth and most ancient of the five Transcendental Buddhas that
embody the five primordial wisdoms meditation. He presides over the Buddha
realm Sukavati (Tibetan: Dewachen), a Pure Land which is the expression
of his own field of pure expression and nothing else. Amitaba is the Lord of
the Padma or Lotus family and is the pure expression of the wisdom of
discriminating awareness, which transmutes the poison of attachment and
desire. He and the other Lotus family members support the gradual unfolding of
one’s spiritual petals into enlightenment. Amitaba is red in color, sits in
the full-lotus posture with his two hands resting on his lap in the mudra
of meditative equipoise. He is most often depicted in thangkas flanked by
two eminent bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and
Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Power. It is the special vow of Amitaba that to
benefit beings who are caught in the realm of their own confusion and
suffering, that if they remember his name with faith at the time of their
death they will take rebirth in Sukatavi. Through this they will
achieve enlightenment and not again fall into a realm of suffering. This is
due to the power of the merit of Buddha Amitaba’s virtuous activities
accumulated throughout his countless lives as a bodhisattva. Because of this,
meditation upon Amitaba is widespread and very popular. He is the particular
focus of the faith of the Pureland Schools of Buddhism and of the
meditative training of Powas or Transference of Consciousness
that enables one to transfer their consciousness into the field of pure
perception of Sukhavati, the Realm of Great Bliss at the time of
their death. In some mandalas, Amitaba is depicted in union with his Wisdom
Consort Gokarmo, who embodies the pure element of fire.
Amitayus (Tibetan: Tsepagme) Buddha of
Limitless Life
Amitayus is the reflexive form of Amitaba and is the embodiment of infinite
life and therefore the focus of the life practices that remove the possibility
of untimely or premature death. He brings about a healing of sicknesses,
degeneration and imbalances in the five elements of the body due to karma,
excess and unclean living. He is known as the Buddha of long life. He is often
red but sometimes white in color. His two hands rest in his lap in the
mudra of equanimity with the palms facing each other holding the Vase
of Life, that is filled with the nectar of immortality. It is only in the
Tantric Buddhism of Tibet and Japan that Amitayus and Amitaba are considered
different deities.
Amogasiddhi (Tibetan: Donyo Drupa) Buddha
of Unfailing Accomplishment
The Buddha Amogasiddhi is the fifth of the Transcendental Buddhas that embody
the five primordial wisdoms. He is the Lord of the Karma family and embodies
the wisdom of all-accomplished activity that transmutes the poison of
jealousy. His recognition symbol is the double dorje (visvavajra),
representing his wisdom of all-accomplishing activity. His attributes
are power and energy that is both subtle and often hidden. Amogasiddhi is the
Supreme Siddhi—the magic power of enlightenment. In this way the inner and
outer world, and the visible and invisible are united as the body becomes
spirit and the spirit embodies. He is green in color, his left hand rests in
his lap in the mudra of equipoise and his right hand is held at chest
level facing outwards in the mudra of granting protection. He is often
depicted in union with is Wisdom Consort Damtsig Drolma, Green Tara, who
embodies the pure element of air.
Avalokitesvara (Tibetan: Chenrezi/Chenrezig)
Bodhisattva of Glancing Eyes.
Avalokitesvara is the embodiment of the compassion of all of the Buddhas and
is regarded by the Tibetan people as the guardian of the country.
Avalokitesvara is most often depicted white in color but sometimes red,
symbolizing his passionate concern for beings. He is one of the eight
Bodhisattvas and one of the two chief Bodhisattvas of Amitaba. He is one of
the Three Protectors of Beings, that of the Padma or Lotus family.
Through his sharing of mankind’s misery, he positions himself to help those in
distress and is considered a savior. In a sitting position, he is most often
seen in two-armed and four-armed embodiments. In his two-armed form, he
usually sits in the full lotus posture. The two arms represent his unfailing
skillful means and wisdom. His four-armed form, sitting in the full lotus
posture represents the four boundless qualities of a bodhisattva: equanimity,
love, compassion and joy. His thousand-armed form is depicted standing and has
eleven heads with three levels diminishing in size as they face outward and to
either side, representing his all-penetrating gaze. Upon these nine heads is
the wrathful head of the Bodhisattva of Power, Vajrapani, whose unfailing
dynamic strength and power assist Avalokitesvara in the benefit of beings.
Vajrapani’s head is crowned with that of Buddha Amitaba, the Lord of the Lotus
Family of whom Avalokitesvara is an emanation. The 1,000 arms represent the
appearance of 1,000 Buddhas during this Eon of Light, whose compassion
will guide beings from the darkness of ignorance and delusion into the light
of Great Awakening. The eyes on his 1,000 hands symbolize his all-seeing
compassionate gaze upon every being in existence throughout the past, present
and future. He symbolizes infinite compassion (Karuna) for his refusal of
accepting nirvana, which he considers selfish and instead choosing to
reincarnate so he can help mankind. The Dalai Lama and the Karmapa are
considered the living manifestations of Avalokitesvara.
Chakrasamvara (Tibetan: Khorlo Demchok)
Chakra of Supreme Bliss
Chakrasamvara is regarded as the most important Yidam or meditational deity of
Vajrayana Buddhism, the highest Tantric yidam. Chakrasamvara is the primary
Yidam of the Kagyu tradition that finds its origin in the meditation of the 84
Mahasiddhis of India. It passed to Tibet from the great siddha Naropa, to his
disciple Marpa, to Milarepa and this spread throughout the various meditative
traditions of the Geluk and Sakya. His body is blue in color with four faces,
each looking in one of the four cardinal directions and twelve arms. He is
often depicted in his more simple one-faced, two-armed form. He is in union
with his Wisdom Consort Vajravarahi. She is as simple as he is complex. She
holds a skullcap in her left hand and a vajra chopper (drigug) in her right,
both behind his back. Their embrace symbolizes the union of wisdom and
skillful means. They symbolize the sameness in the distinctions of relative
truth and the non-distinctions of absolute truth. Unity and diversity are one.
Dorje Drolo Crazy Wisdom Vajra
Dorje Drolo is a wrathful manifestation of Padmasambava and a subduer of
demons. Guru Padma arose in the wrathful form of Dorje Drolo in the famous
Tagstang or Tiger’s Nest Cave in Bhutan in order to subdue the negative and
demonic forces of these degenerate times. Ferocious in expression, amidst a
mass of primordial wisdom fire, he stands upon the back of a pregnant tigress
who is the wrathful form of his Wisdom Consort of enlightened activity, Tashi
Kye Dren, whose ferocity is unpredictable and wild. Dressed in a robe of
brocade, his body is purple in color and he wears a garland of severed heads
representing the cutting of the 52 levels of dualistic mind-concepts. In his
right hand he holds a vajra aloft emitting lightening bolts, and in his left a
kila-purba that severs the three poisons that are the source of all suffering.
The ferocious expression he wears while riding a tigress makes for a menacing
figure. His body is dark brown and surrounded by a halo of flames.
Ekajati (Tibetan: Tsechikma or Ralchikma)
Single plaited Mother
(Also known as Ngag Sungma, Mother Protectress of Mantra)
Ekajati is the supreme protectress of Ati Great Perfection Teaching, Dzogchen.
She is a guardian of the tantric path and protects it from those who are
unworthy. She removes obstacles to the life and accomplishment of those who do
practice on the Secret Mantra path. She is a guardian of mantras who keeps
them from those who are unworthy of using them and ensures those who have been
empowered to use them, do so for appropriate purposes. She is wrathful and can
assume a number of different forms and colors and the personal protector of
the Dalai Lama. She is wrathful and can assume a number of different forms and
colors. She can hold various implements and weapons. She wears a wreath of
severed heads, usually has one eye in the middle of her forehead, one fang and
one breast. She is nearly naked and menacing as she stands amidst a mass of
wisdom fire. Ekajti is the highest of protectors. She guides those whom she
protects upon the single path of unity of the innate Buddha nature. This is
symbolized by the single open eye of wisdom upon her forehead, while her two
eyes are sunken and dried, symbolizing the exhaustion of dualistic perception;
by the single plait of hair that flows straight upward, symbolizing the single
unified path of the Ati Great Perfection; by her single tooth of the
realization of the single nature of all. that pierces the aorta of dualistic
demonic forces; and by her single breast that nutures the pure practioner upon
the spiritual attainments of the single essence of ultimate truth.
Gampopa was trained as a physician who devoted
himself to the Dharma after the death of his wife. He became the heart son of
Milarepa and was the root guru of the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. It is his
synthesis of the traditions of Dharma teachings melded with the experiential
meditative teaching of Milarepa that formed the Kagyu tradition, as we know it
today. He wrote the "Jewel Ornament of Liberation" and is usually
depicted wearing robes and a red hat, which has become synonymous with the
Kagyu School.
Geysar of Ling is considered to be an
incarnation of Guru Rimpoche, incarnating to protect and propagate the dharma
during the darks times after the persecution of the dharma by the evil King
Lang Dharma, and before the reviving of the dharma once again to Tibet. This
formed the scholastic and meditative traditions of the Sarma of new schools,
as opposed to the original influx of teachings during the time of King Trisong
Detsun, Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambava) and Shantirakshita, which became known as
the Nyingma tradition. Amidst a mass of wisdom light, Geysar is depicted
wearing the armor of a warrior of that period, riding a horse, holding a spear
aloft in his right hand and a lasso in his left. He is most often propitiated
as a protector of the dharma, but is also meditated upon as the guru. The epic
tales of his heroic deeds are very popular and he is a national hero whose
battles against enemies of Tibet and Mongolia have become synonymous with the
defending and spreading of the Dharma itself. In this way, he is very similar
to the western legends of King Arthur.
Green Tara is the gentle and heartfelt
Bodhisattva Tara, born from the tears of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of
compassion. She offers us a hand to lift us up to a mountain of enlightenment
qualities. Tara belongs to the Karma family of unobstructed compassionate
activity, symbolized by her green color and is the Wisdom Consort of the
Transcendental Buddha Amogasiddhi. In a previous eon, in the presence of the
Buddha Nga Dra, the beat of the Drum, she took the vow to only incarnate in a
female form to ceaselessly protect beings from the fears of samsaric life and
to guide them upon the path of enlightenment. She is known as the Swift One,
due to her immediate response to those who request her aid. She is none other
than the mothers of the Buddhas of the past, present and future; the Great
Mother, the Prajnaparamita, the matrix of ultimate truth itself, Shunyata. She
sits on a lotus flower with her left leg resting on her right thigh and her
right leg steps down gracefully out in front of her. Her left hand is held in
front of her heart with palm outward, thumb and ring finger touching so the
other three fingers point upwards in the mudra of granting refuge. Her
right hand rests on her right knee with the palm facing upward in the mudra
of generosity.
See our Homage
to the 21 Taras
Continue to
Buddhist Deities 2
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