Amoghasiddhi (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

: अमोघसिद्धि}) is one of the

Five Wisdom Buddhas 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

of the

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

and

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

tradition of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. He is associated with the accomplishment of the Buddhist path and of the destruction of the poison of

envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred b ...

. His name means ''Unfailing Accomplishment''. His consort is Tara, meaning ''Liberator'' and his mounts are

garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

s. He belongs to the family of

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

whose family symbol is the double ''vajra''.

Characteristics

Amoghasiddhi is associated with the conceptual (Skt: samskara)

skandha (Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also ...

or the conceptual mind (as opposed to the non-conceptual or sensational mind). His action towards the promotion of Buddhist paths is the pacification of evils. This is symbolised by Amoghasiddhi's symbol, the moon. He gestures in the

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

of fearlessness, symbolising his and his devotees' fearlessness towards the poisons or delusions. He is usually coloured green in artwork and is associated with the air or wind element. His season is autumn and his heavenly quarter is the northern buddha-kṣetra called Prakuta. In the Śūraṅgama mantra (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 楞嚴咒;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Léngyán Zhòu'') taught in the Śūraṅgama sutra (

: 楞嚴經;

: ''Léngyán Jīng''), an especially influential

dharani Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the Bud ...

in the Chinese Chan tradition, Amoghasiddhi is mentioned to be the host of the Karma Division in the North, one of the five major divisions which controls the vast demon armies of the five directions.

Gallery

File:Jin Dynasty statue of Amoghasiddhi (不空成就佛 Bùkōngchéngjiùfó), one of the Five Tathagathas (五方佛 Wǔfāngfó) or Five Wisdom Buddhas (五智如来 Wǔzhì Rúlái) at Shanhua Temple (善化寺) in Datong, Shanxi, China.jpg, Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) statue of Amoghasiddhi in

Shanhua Temple Shanhua Temple () is a Buddhist temple located in Datong, Shanxi Province, China. The temple was first founded during the early 8th century of the Tang dynasty, but its earliest surviving building dates from the 11th century. The temple was heavi ...

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cens ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, one out of a set of statues of the Five Tathagathas File:Ming era statue of Amoghasiddhi (不空成就佛 Bùkōngchéngjiùfó), one of the Five Tathagathas (五方佛 Wǔfāngfó) or Five Wisdom Buddhas (五智如来 Wǔzhì Rúlái) at Huayan Temple (華嚴寺 or 华严寺), Shanxi, China.jpg,

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368-1644) statue of Amoghasiddhi in

Huayan Temple Huayan Temple ({{zh, s=华严寺, t=華嚴寺, p=Huáyán Sì), may refer to: * Huayan Temple (Datong), in Datong, Shanxi, China * Huayan Temple (Meishan) in Renshou, Meishan, Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; a ...

, one out of a set of statues of the Five Tathagathas File:Periodo yongle nella din. ming, amoghasiddhi, uno dei 5 buddha celestiali, seduto nel gesto di meditazione e rassicurazione, 1403-24 ca.jpg,

figurine of Amoghasiddhi, made during the reign of the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

, early 1400s File:Po Lin 11 (9599620230).jpg,

Tian Tan Buddha The Big Buddha is a large bronze statue of Buddha, completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong. The statue is sited near Po Lin Monastery and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, peop ...

, a large

bronze statue Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements t ...

of Amoghasiddhi, located at

Ngong Ping Ngong Ping () is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34 m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. It is ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

, in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The statue is 34 metres (112 ft) tall, weighs over 250

metric tons The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States ...

(280

short tons The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The vari ...

) File:Amoghasiddhi1.jpg, Amoghasiddhi, depicted with green skin File:Tibetan Amoghasiddhi Buddha.jpg, Close up view of Amoghasiddhi from a Tibetan painting, 1300—1400 CE

References

External links

Symbolism of the five Dhyani BuddhasSacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Amoghasiddhi(see index) {{Authority control Buddhas

Characteristics

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links