abstract
| - Vajradhara displaced Samantabhadra who remains the 'Primordial Buddha' in the Nyingma, or 'Ancient School' and the Sakya school. However the two are metaphysically equivalent. Achieving the 'state of vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation. According to Kagyu Vajradhara, the primordial buddha, is the dharmakaya buddha, depicted as dark blue in color, expressing the quintessence of buddhahood itself and representing the essence of the historical Buddha's realization of enlightenment.. As such Vajradhara is thought to be the supreme essence of all (male) Buddhas (his name means the bearer of the thunderbolt). It is the Tantric form of Sakyamuni which is called Vajradhara. Tantras are texts specific to Tantrism and are believed to have been originally taught by the Tantric form of Sakyamuni called Vajradhara. He is an expression of Buddhahood itself in both single and yabyum form.. Vajradhara is considered to be the prime Buddha of the Father tantras (tib. pha-rgyud) such as Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, and so on . From the primordial Vajradhara/Samantabhadra were manifested the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Dhyani Buddhas):
* Akshobhya
* Amoghasiddhi
* Amitabha
* Ratnasambhava
* Vairocana Vajradhara and the Wisdom Buddhas are often subjects of mandala. Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are cognate deities in Tibetan Buddhist cosmology with different names, attributes, appearances and iconography. Both are Dharmakaya Buddhas, that is primordial Buddhas, where Samantabhadra is unadorned, that is depicted without any attributes. Conversely, Vajradhara is often adorned and bears attributes, which is generally the iconographic representation of a Sambhogakaya Buddha. Both Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are generally depicted in yab-yum unity with their respective consorts and are primordial buddhas, embodying void and ultimate emptiness.
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