In Tantric Buddhism, Amitābha is one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas (the other four being Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, and Amoghasiddhi respectively). Each of these Meditation Buddhas inhabits a cardinal direction; Amitābha resides in the West. There he dwells in a celestial realm known as Sukhāvatī; i.e., the Pure Land of “Ultimate Bliss” (Sanskrit: sukhāvatī). From […]
Born from a ray of clear light emitted by Buddha Amitabha, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (also known as Chenrezig in Tibet) made the vow to continuously look after all sentient beings who are in need of help. Thus, the lord looks down from the heavens with the spiritual wisdom eye of compassion, constantly on the look […]
In Tibetan esoteric Buddhism there are said to be eight ‘Wisdom Kings’ (Sanskrit: vidyādhara) that manifest themselves as wrathful deities in order to benefit sentient beings. The tantric teachings of Tibet also refer to these enlightened beings as ‘heruka’. In this context Heruka Hayagrīva is considered to be the embodiment of enlightened speech. Furthermore, Hayagīva […]
