Рет қаралды 8,346
Mandala of the Five Buddhas
Mandala is ‘Circle’ in Sanskrit and here refers to a sacred geometric figure inscribed in a circle. This is usually a square, but could be a hexagon, as in the Mandala of Vajrayogini, or a series of triangles as in the Hindu “Sri Yantra”.
The Five Buddhas are said to be aspects of Shakyamuni Buddha arrayed in a mandala as a square of circles oriented to the cardinal directions, along with a central Buddha called Vairocana, the ‘Radiant’ the white light Buddha. At the bottom of the diagram is the blue Buddha, Akshobhya, the ‘Unshakeable’, in the East.
To the left is the yellow Buddha, Ratnasambhava, ‘Jewel Born’ in the South. Above is the red Buddha Amitabha, ‘Boundless Light’ in the West. To the right is the green Buddha Amoghasiddhi, ‘Unobstructed Success’ in the North.
The mudra that is exhibited by blue Unshakable Akshobhya is called the ‘Earth Touching’ mudra. That associated with yellow Jewel Born Ratnasambhava is the ‘Giving’ mudra. Boundless Light Amitabha has the ‘Meditation’ mudra; Unobstructed Success Amoghasiddhi has the ‘Fearlessness’ Mudra. The central Buddha
Vairocana makes the ‘Teaching’ mudra (Dharma Wheel).
These 5 Buddhas have many other attributes that comprise a web of meanings. For example:
There are mantras for each Buddha:
Om Vairocana Hum
Om Vajra Akshobhya Hum
Om Ratnasambhava Tram
Om Amideva Hrih
Om Amoghasiddhi Ah Hum
The associate female Buddhas correspond to the 5 material elements. Thus:
Vairocana/ Vajradhatishvari- space
Akshobhya/ Locana- water
Ratnasambhava/ Mamaki- earth
Amitabha/ Pandara- fire
Amoghasiddhi/ Tara- air
Finally, there are five associated Bodhisattvas:
Vairocana-Samantabhadra
Akshobhya-Vajrapani
Ratnasambhava-Ratnapani
Amitabha-Avalokiteshvara ( Chenrezi )
Amoghsiddhi-Vishvapani
Prepared for Nalanda Institute Olympia by
Bob Harris