page_title: Five Tathagatas
hierarchical_section_title: Five Tathagatas
caption_attribution_description: 'The Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya', Tibetan thangka, late 13th century, Honolulu Museum of Art accession 6191.1. The background consists of multiple images of the Five Dhyani Buddhas.
context_page_description: In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Tathāgatas or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas, the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas, are emanations and representations of the five qualities of the Adi-Buddha or "first Buddha" Vairocana or Vajradhara, which is associated with the Dharmakāya.
  They are also sometimes called the "dhyani-buddhas", a term first recorded in English by Brian Houghton Hodgson, a British Resident in Nepal, in the early 19th century, and is unattested in any surviving traditional primary sources. These five Buddhas are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas.
  These five Buddhas feature prominently in various Buddhist Tantras and are the primary object of realization and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a school of Vajarayana Buddhism founded in Japan by Kūkai.
context_section_description: In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Tathāgatas (pañcatathāgata) or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas (Chinese: 五智如来; pinyin: Wǔzhì Rúlái), the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Sanskrit for "conqueror" or "victor"), are emanations and representations of the five qualities of the Adi-Buddha or "first Buddha" Vairocana or Vajradhara, which is associated with the Dharmakāya. 
  They are also sometimes called the "dhyani-buddhas", a term first recorded in English by Brian Houghton Hodgson, a British Resident in Nepal, in the early 19th century, and is unattested in any surviving traditional primary sources.  These five Buddhas are a common subject of Vajrayana mandalas. 
  These five Buddhas feature prominently in various Buddhist Tantras and are the primary object of realization and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a school of Vajarayana Buddhism founded in Japan by Kūkai.
caption: 'The Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya', Tibetan thangka, late 13th century, Honolulu Museum of Art. The background consists of multiple images of the Five Buddhas.
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