Buddhist Deities
Buddhist Deities
Buddhism includes a wide array of divine beings that are venerated in various ritual and popular contexts.
Initially they included mainly Indian figures such as vedic devas and yakshas, but later came to include
other Asian spirits and local gods. They range from enlightened Buddhas to regional spirits adopted by
Buddhists or practiced on the margins of the religion. Notably, Buddhism lacks a supreme creator deity
however.
Buddhists later also came to incorporate aspects from countries such as China and Japan into their
pantheons.[1] As such, it includes many aspects taken from other mythologies of those cultures. For
example, Saraswati is a Hindu Deva from Gandhara and the kami[1] are considered to be local, Japanese
bodhisattvas by many Japanese Buddhists.
Contents
Buddhas
Bodhisattvas
Wisdom Kings
Yidam
Fierce deities
Divine beings
Devas
Asuras
Māra
Cāturmahārājakāyika devas
Yaksha
See also
References
Further reading
Buddhas
A Buddha is a being who is fully awakened, and has fully comprehended the Four Noble Truths. In the
Theravada tradition, while there is a list of acknowledged past Buddhas, the historical Buddha Sakyamuni is
the only Buddha of our current era and is generally not seen as accessible or as existing in some higher plane
of existence. Mahayana Buddhists however venerate several Buddhas, including Maitreya and Amitābha,
who are seen as beings of great wisdom and power who preside over pure lands that one can travel to after
death.
In Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana), there are five primary Buddhas: Vairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava,
Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi. Each is associated with a different consort, direction, aggregate (or, aspect of
the personality), emotion, element, color, symbol, and mount.[2] Other Buddhas besides these five include
Bhaisajyaguru (the Buddha of medicine) and Nageshvara Raja (the king of the Nāgas).
There is also the idea of the Adi-Buddha, the "first Buddha" to attain
Buddhahood. Variously named as Vajradhara, Samantabhadra and
Vairocana, the first Buddha is also associated with the concept of
Dharmakaya.
Bodhisattvas
In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is any being that has aroused
bodhicitta (mind of awakening) and is thus working towards full Mandala of the five Buddha families
Buddhahood. Bodhisattvas who are seen as powerful and highly
advanced are also venerated in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
The most popular bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism is
Avalokiteshvara also known as Guanyin (Japanese: Kannon) in East
Asia, known as the bodhisattva of compassion.[3]
In Japanese Buddhism, major bodhisattvas include: Miroku, Kannon, Kongō-Haramitsu, Fugen, Monju, and
Jizō.
Followers of Tibetan Buddhism consider reborn tulkus such as the Dalai Lamas and the Karmapas to be
emanations of bodhisattvas.
Wisdom Kings
The Wisdom Kings (Vidyārāja) are beings that are venerated in East Asian Buddhism and in Vajrayana
Buddhism. They are often depicted with an aggressive or fierce appearance which symbolizes their power to
get rid of negative forces. They are therefore an expression of the Buddha's compassion.
In East Asian Buddhism, The Five Wisdom Kings are often seen as
emanations of the Buddhas. These five are:
Kongō-Yasha (Vajrayakṣa)
Fudō-Myō (Acala)
Gosanze (Trailokyavijaya)
Gundari (Kuṇḍali)
Daiitoku (Yamantaka)
Yidam
The Yidam, or Ishta-devata, is a personal meditation deity. The
Sanskrit word iṣṭadevatā or iṣṭadevaḥ is defined by V. S. Apte as "a
favorite god, one's tutelary deity."[7] Though this term is used in
many popular books on Buddhist Tantra, the term işţadevatā has not
been attested in any Buddhist tantric text in Sanskrit. The unrelated Close-up of a statue depicting
Maitreya at the Thikse Monastery in
Tibetan version of the term, possibly of entirely native origin, is yi-
Ladakh, India. Depictions of Maitreya
dam[8] is said to be a contraction of Tib. yid-kyi-dam-tshig,[9]
vary among Buddhist sects.
meaning "samaya of mind"- in other words, the state of being
indestructibly bonded with the inherently pure and liberated nature
of mind.
Divine beings
Devas
Devas are divine beings, though they are not all necessarily wise or The Buddha with protector Vajrapāni
on the Buddhist path and hence not final objects of refuge. They in Greek style resembling Heracles
have very long lives which have much less suffering than humans, or Zeus, second-century.
but are not immortal or immune from suffering. Some devas have no
physical form and exist in the formless realms. None of the devas
are creator gods, since Buddhism generally does not have a creator
deity. They are also neither omniscient nor are they omnipotent, and
so their knowledge and power is limited.
Asuras
Cāturmahārājakāyika devas
These are the lowest level of divinity. The name refers to the Four
Heavenly Kings (Cāturmahārāja) who rule over this world along
with the assemblage or multitude (kāyika) of beings that dwell there.
The Four Heavenly Kings are the leaders of various beings who
reside here:
There are numerous other worldly spirits and legendary creatures found in Buddhist texts and Buddhist
mythology. Many of these are shared with Hindu Mythology. These include:
Garuḍas
Apsaras
Kinnaras
Mahoragas
Kumbhanda
Parjanya
Maṇimekhalā
Yaksha
See also
Buddhism in Japan
Buddhist cosmology
Chinese Buddhism
Karma in Buddhism
Hindu deities
Japanese Buddhist pantheon
Tibetan Buddhism
Religion in Asia
Further reading
Campbell, Joseph (2003). Myths of light: Eastern
Metaphors of the Eternal (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=OWdqt29UDGYC). Novato, California: New World
Library. ISBN 1-57731-403-4.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.