The Five Buddha Families

Dhyani-Buddha, in Mahayana Buddhism, and particularly in Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism, any of a group of five “self-born” celestial buddhas who have always existed from the beginning of time. The five are usually identified as Vairochana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi.

Scholars in recent years have pointed out that the term Dhyani-Buddha does not appear in the original texts, but the nomenclature continues to be commonly used, particularly in describing groups of images composed of five meditating buddhas—as in mandalas (ritual meditation designs), on the four sides and top of votive stupas (commemorative monuments), or on the terraces of the great monument at Borobudur in Indonesia.

The five are almost identically represented in art, all dressed in monastic garments, seated with folded legs, with the same hairdress and long-lobed ears, but are distinguished by characteristic colours, symbols, poses of hands, and the directions they face. The five eternal Buddhas are correlated to other groups of five, so that the entire cosmos is seen as divided between them and as emanating from them. Thus, each represents one of the five skandhas, or mental and physical aggregates that make up the whole of cosmic as well as individual existence.

According to the full exposition of this scheme, most of the other deities in the vast Buddhist pantheon are related to one of the five buddhas as members of his “family”; reflect his distinguishing characteristics, such as colour, direction, and symbol; and when represented in art often carry an image of the “parent” buddha in their crown. Each of the “self-born” buddhas is also said to have manifested himself as an earthly buddha and as a bodhisattva (buddha-to-be). Each has his own consort, mount, sacred syllable, natural element, particular sense organ, special sense perception, and symbolic location in the human body.

In order to counter any tendency toward polytheism suggested by the fivefold scheme, some sects elevated one of the five, usually Vairochana, to a position of an Adi-Buddha (first, or primal, buddha). Sometimes a sixth deity is worshiped as the Adi-Buddha. Tibetan Buddhists identify the Adi-Buddha as Vajradhara; some Buddhist sects of Nepal give this position to Vajrasattva.

(From https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dhyani-Buddha)

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Tathāgatas (Skt: पञ्चतथागत, pañcatathāgata; (Ch: 五方佛, Wǔfāngfó) or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas (Ch: 五智如来, Wǔzhì Rúlái), are the five cardinal male and female Buddhas that are inseparable co-equals, although the male cardinal Buddhas are more often represented. Collectively, the male and female Buddhas are known as the Five Buddha Families (pañcabuddhakula). The five are also called the Five Great Buddhas, and the Five Jinas (Skt. for "conqueror" or "victor").

The Five Buddha Families are a common subject of Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhist mandalas and they feature prominently in various Buddhist Tantras as the intrinsically inseparable father and mother Buddhas. Various sources provide different names for these male and female Buddhas, though the most common names today are: In the east, Vairocana and Buddha Locana; in the south Ratnasambhava and Buddha Mamaki; in the west Amitābha Panadaravasini; in the north Amoghasiddhi and Samayatara; and in the center Akshobhya and Dhatvisvari. They are sometimes seen as emanations and representations of the five qualities of the Adi-Buddha or "first Buddha", which is associated with the Dharmakāya. Some sources also include this "first Buddha" as a sixth Buddha along with the five.

In Japanese Buddhism, the Five Tathagathas are the primary objects of realization and meditation in Shingon Buddhism, a school of Vajrayana Buddhism founded by Kūkai. In Chinese Buddhism, veneration of the five Buddhas has dispersed from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism into other Chinese Buddhist traditions like Chan Buddhism and Tiantai. They are regularly enshrined in many Chinese Buddhist temples, and regularly invoked in rituals such as the Liberation Rite of Water and Land and the Yoga Flaming Mouth ceremony (瑜伽焰口法會), as well as in general prayers and chants.

[The Five Buddha Families] are also sometimes called the Dhyani-buddhas, which is 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.

(From Wikipedia)

Elements of the Five Families

In the tantric Buddhist literature, each of the five Buddhas have extensive qualities and features, including different directions, colors, mudrā, symbol, aspects, klesha, element; consort and spiritual son, as well as different animal vehicles (elephant, lion, peacock, harpies or garuda, or dragon).

The cardinal positions of Akshobhya and Vairocana can change depending on specific teachings. In a classic schema, Vairocana may be seen as embodying sovereignty as the lord of the mandala and thus is at the central place of the mandala. Akshobhya then may face east as the second Buddha, and embodies steadfastness. He may be seated in the Vajraparyanka (also known as Bhūmisparśa) pose, with the right hand on the right knee, palm turned inwardly, and middle finger touching the ground. Amitābha (Japanese: Amida), embodies measureless light and faces west. A statue of Amitābha, when seated, has a samadhi mudrā with both palms face up, on top of each other, in his lap.

When these Five Buddhas are represented in mandalas of distinct Buddhist traditions, they may not always have the same colour or be related to the same direction. As mentioned, Akshobhya and Vairocana may be switched, as in the Guhyasamaja system which has Aksobhya in the center, and as in the Longchen Nyingtig tradition where Akshobhya is also in the center.

In other cases, different Buddhas may take the center place as well depending on the teaching cycle or tantra which is being depicted.

When represented in a Vairocana mandala of the Vajradhatu, the Buddhas are arranged as follows:

Main aspects of the Five Families

There is an expansive number of associations with each element of the Five Buddhas mandala, so that the mandala becomes a cipher and mnemonic visual thinking instrument and concept map; a vehicle for understanding and decoding the whole of the Dharma.

In numerous Vajrayana sources, each Buddha Family or Division has numerous symbols, secondary figures including bodhisattvas, protectors, etc., abilities, and aspects.

Some of the main esoteric associations of each family include:

Family	Buddha	Colour	Element	Aggregate	Klesha	Mudra	Throne	Bijasyllable	Wisdom
Buddha	Vairocana	white	earth	form (or consciousness)	aversion (or ignorance, ávidyā)	teaching mudra	lion	om	Perfectly Pure Dharma sphere Jñana
Vajra	Akṣobhya	blue	space	consciousness (or form) (rupa)	ignorance (or aversion)	earth-touching mudra	Elephant throne	hum	Mirror-like Jñana
Ratna (Jewel)	Ratnasambhava	yellow	water	feeling (vedana)	pride (or greed)	Giving mudra	Horse	tram	Sameness Jñana
Padma (Lotus)	Amitābha	red	fire	perception (saṃjñā)	craving	meditation mudra	peacock throne	hrih	Discriminating Jñana
Karma	Amoghasiddhi	green	wind	volition (samkhara)	envy	fearlessness mudra	Garuda throne	ah	Perfect practice Jñana

Five female Buddhas and the families

Each male Buddha is paired with a female Buddha, often called mothers, prajña, vidya, or consort. Together, each family also presides over their own pure land or buddhafield. Although all five families abide in pure lands, it appears that only Sukhavati of Amitābha, and to a much lesser extent Abhirati of Akshobhya, where great masters like Vimalakirti and Milarepa are said to dwell, were popularly venerated. Some temples include all five Buddhas in their mandalas and statuary.

The Five Tathāgathas are protected by five Wisdom Kings called Vidyārājas, and in China and Japan they are frequently depicted together in the Mandala of the Two Realms. In the Shurangama Mantra revealed in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, an especially influential dharani in the Chinese Chan tradition, the Five Tathāgathas are mentioned as the hosts of the five divisions which control the vast armies of the five directions.

In an early Indian Yoga Tantra of the Five Families, the five prajña consorts or five mothers (Tib. ཡུམ་ལྔ་, Wyl. yum lnga), the associated bodhisattvas and their pure lands that correspond to the Five Tathagatas are:

Buddha (Skt.)	Wisdom Consort (prajña)	Bodhisattva	Vidyārāja protector	Pure land and direction
Vairocana	Ākāśadhātvīśvarī, also known as Vajradhātvisharī, Buddhaḍākinī or Sparśavajrī	Vajraparamita or Vajrasattva	Acala	Akaniṣṭha-Ghanavyūha (Center)
Akṣobhya	Locanā, also known as Buddhalocanā, Tathāgatalocanā	Vajrapani or Samantabhadra	Trailokyavijaya	Abhirati (East)
Amitābha	Paṇḍāravāsinī, also known as Sitavāsinī	Avalokiteśvara	Yamāntaka	Sukhāvatī (West)
Ratnasaṃbhava	Māmakī	Mañjusri, Ratnapani	Kuṇḍali	Śrīmat (South)
Amoghasiddhi	Tara, Samayatārā	Maitreya, or Viśvapāni	Vajrayakṣa	Karmaprasiddhi or Prakuṭā [es] (North)

Other tantras and commentaries provide alternative families and listings of the male and female Buddha pairings. In some systems, like the Guhyasamāja Tantra, Akṣobhya appears at the center of the mandala, with Sparśavajrī as consort. Sometimes Tara may appear as associated with the Lotus family, since one tradition states that she was born of Avalokitesvara.

Each female Buddha also has their own mantra.

The Sixth Buddha, the dharma-body

The Five Buddhas may also be seen as aspects of the Dharmakāya or dharma-body, which reflect all apparent phenomena. The Vajrasekhara Sutra also mentions a sixth Buddha, Vajradhara, a Buddha (or principle) seen as the source, in some sense, of the five Buddhas. This idea later developed into a tantric idea of the Adi-Buddha, which generally came to be seen as the ground of all the Five Buddhas, as the Dharmakāya itself, the ultimate reality which spontaneously manifests the Five Buddha families. Different Buddhist traditions understand and name their highest Buddha in various ways.

In the Nyingma school, the highest Buddhas are known as Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri. In Shingon Buddhism, it is Mahavairocana. In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, they understand all Buddhas as manifestations of Amitābha.