Amoghasiddhi Buddha – The last of the five Dhyani Buddhas

This article is about Amoghasiddhi Buddha – Who is He? Why he is Amoghasiddhi, his iconography, and his doctrine & advantages of worshipping Him.

Who is Amoghasiddhi Buddha? And what does He represents?

Amoghasiddhi Buddha is the last among all five Dhyani Buddhas. The other Buddhas considered among Pancha Dhyani or five meditating Buddhas are Vairocana Buddha, Ratnasambhava Buddha, Akshobhya Buddha and Amitabha Buddha. Amoghasiddhi Buddha represents all accomplishing wisdom. His wisdom is unobstructed as He knows everything all the time. When someone attains all accomplishing wisdom the good deeds happen spontaneously.

Meaning of Amoghasiddhi Buddha and His Buddha-Field

The word Amoghasiddhi means infallible success or flawless accomplishments. Amoghsiddhi associates with energy. He is the Lord of Karma and is Karmasampat. He presides over Buddha-field known as Karmaprasidhi (realm of supreme accomplishment of actions) or Prakuta. His Buddha-field is located towards the North and also his position on stupas is towards North.

Amoghasiddhi Buddha – the lord of Activity

Amoghasiddhi is the lord of Supreme Siddhi – the magical power of success that sprouts with Buddha Activities. In the Buddha activities, the inner and the outer world, the visible and the invisible, are all united. The body is inspired. And the great spirit of Bodhicitta spontaneously embodies.

Why worship Amoghasiddhi Buddha

His worship defeats envy and jealousness and converts it to pure envy. Pure Envy is a positive emotion. It feeds ambition and pushes individual to reach higher. Pure envy never allows bitterness towards any individual. On the contrary, it motivates one to work hard and compete. When we avert the associated bitterness and understand that the object of our envy is merely an agent, we work harder and achieve better accomplishments. This is the essence of Amoghasiddhi’s message.

A story about how Amoghasiddhi Buddha calmed an elephant

A story goes that Devdutt an envious cousin of Amoghasiddhi Buddha once released a rampaging elephant towards him. Amoghasiddhi Buddha raised his hand and calmed the beast. He not only exhibited fearlessness but with His act also managed to convert the malice of His cousin who realized its futility.

What the followers of Amoghasiddhi Buddha achieve

The followers of Amoghasiddhi Buddha achieve accomplishment in Buddhist affairs and also in worldly matters. They perfect the work benefitting the sentient beings. His worship relinquish envy, calm anxieties and fear, and reveal wisdom needed for success and accomplishments.

Reference of Amoghasiddhi Buddha in old literature

The vows, activities and deeds of Amoghasiddhi Buddha are not in ancient Mahayana Buddhist literature. The earliest textual reference to Him is in the seventh-eighth century CE in Sarvathagata Tattvasamagraha Tantra.

Iconography of Amoghasiddhi Buddha

Amoghasiddhi Buddha is in calming green color. Green represents peace and tranquility of nature. He exhibits Abhaya mudra – the upraise hand that represents fearlessness. He has a canopy of seven hooded snake over His head. An umbrella is there in background. He sometimes resembles Shakyamuni Buddha with nine-headed Naga-king Mucalinda in paintings. Sometimes He is also carrying sword. His left hand is on his lap in Dhyana Mudra that opens upwards. He sits in Vajra-mudra – the cross-legged posture. He usually wears simple robes like a monk.

His consort is Green Tara. The devotees believe that she emanates from Amoghasiddhi Buddha. Like Amoghasiddhi Buddha she is also the deity of action in Buddhist pantheon.

Vehicle of Amoghasiddhi Buddha and its significance

He rides on Garuda (also represented as half man and half eagle). Garuda feeds on snakes and has an impeccable vision to sense serpent like negative delusions that affects our moral frame.

Amoghasiddhi Buddha and His resemblance to water-buffalo

Apart from Garuda, water-buffalos are also symbolic to Him. Water-buffaloes compete for first place in the herd. It symbolizes the mental affliction of jealousy that stimulates one to compete and be supreme above all others.

Double thunderbolt – the recognition symbol of Amoghasiddhi Buddha

The recognition symbol of Amoghasiddhi Buddha is Viswa Vajra or the double thunderbolt. The emblem points in four cardinal directions and represents that Amoghasiddhi Buddha can accomplish anything in any of these four directions.

References

Buddhist Deities and Masters – An introduction by Chandra B Sakya

The iconography of Nepalese Buddhism by Min Bahadur Shakya

For more information, please watch the video below

Series Navigation

<< Amitabha Buddha – the fourth Dhyani BuddhasRatnasambhava Buddha – The third of the five Dhyani Buddha >>