Mahayana Buddhism developed in India several centuries after the Buddha and became the main form of Buddhism in China and East Asia. For Mahayana Buddhists framing the Buddha’s life in a historically recognisable setting did not fully express the scope and grandeur of his status as a perfectly enlightened being. They saw Enlightenment as a timeless state and envisaged a universe filled with Buddha figures, as well as bodhisattvas – beings who are destined for Enlightenment but have not yet reached it and respond compassionately to the needs of humanity.
The symbolism associated with each of these figures includes not just their appearance but the implements they carry and the mantra, or sacred sound, with which they are associated.
Tara, a bodhisattva figure, is represented in numerous forms (as are the other figures mentioned here), but the most common is Green Tara. In this form Tara takes the form of a beautiful young woman who is adorned with jewels and silks. Her skin is a deep, lustrous green and in her right hand she holds the stem of a blue lotus flower. Tara embodies kindness and love in a very immediate form that is a constant source of support and encouragement. In other forms, Tara may be white or red, and she is sometimes a mature woman rather than a girl. In all these forms, Tara is loved and revered throughout Tibetan culture and far beyond.
Tradition says that Padmasambhava, or Guru Rimpoche, was a real person who helped establish Buddhism in Tibet in the Eighth Century. His greatest act was subduing the demonic forces that were awake in the country and turning them into protectors of Buddhism. Stories such as this give Padmasambhava’s life a mythic quality that raises him to the level of an archetypal figure who embodies the qualities of a wizard.
In his right hand Padmasambhava holds a vajra, a symbolic implement that is both a diamond and a thunderbolt, representing his spiritual power and his ability to overcome obstructions.
Manjushri is the personification of wisdom in the form of an elegant, youthful male figure. In one hand he carries a sword, representing the wisdom that cuts through confusion and unhelpful beliefs, and in the other he holds the stem of a lotus flower that supports a volume of the Perfection of Wisdom scriptures.
Along with wisdom, Enlightenment includes compassion, and Avalokiteshvara (meaning ‘The Lord who Gazes Down’) is its embodiment. He is sometimes represented in the form of prince, but often he has many arms enabling him to reach out to beings in many ways. He sometimes has many heads, so he can look in all directions. In China Avalokiteshvara transformed into the elegant female figure of Quan Yin.
Avalokitesvhara’s mantra, om mani padme hum, is perhaps the best known of all Buddhist mantras.
While many of the best known bodhisattva figures are peaceful, some are ‘wrathful’. Their fierceness makes them guardians and protectors and symbolises the energy we need to break through the things that obstruct us from progressing on the spiritual path He is often black in colour, has a large pot-belly. Vajrapani’s name means ‘the holder of the vajra’ and in his right hand he holds a vajra, which symbolises that unstoppable power of the Enlightened mind.
The principal Buddhas of the Mahayana are five ‘archetypal’ figures, each of whom is associated with a rich symbolism. The best known of the Buddhas is Amitabha (also known in Japan as Amida), the red Buddha of the western direction, who is associated with meditation, the setting sun and the warmth of compassion.
The other Buddhas are:
The deep blue Buddha Akshobhya, whose name means ‘the imperturbable’, is associated with the rising sun. He touches the earth with his right hand to suggest the unshakeable strength he draws from it. His emblem is the vajra – the diamond/thunderbolt.
The golden Buddha Ratnasambhava, ‘the jewel-born one’, is associated with southern direction, the noonday sun and the qualities of abundance and generosity. He is sometimes called the Buddha of beauty.
The green Buddha Amoghasiddhi, whose name means ‘unobstructed success’, is associated with the northern direction, the midnight sun, the quality of fearlessness. Hs is the realm action, and he achieves results through mysterious means.
The white Buddha Vairocana, the Illuminator’, is sometimes seen as the supreme Buddha who includes the qualities of all the others, and he’s associated with the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. He possesses the Wisdom of the Dharmadhatu, which means seeing things with the eye of the truth.
Each of the Buddhas traditionally has a female counterpart who embodies their wisdom – they are sometimes called the Five Prajnas. These are:
Ākāśadhātvīśvarī, Green Tārā, Locanā, Māmakī and Paṇḍāravāsinī.
There's less awareness in general of these figures than their male equivalents, but that is begnning to change in some contemporary Buddhist communities.