Buddhas

A Buddha is literally an awakened one: someone who has attained enlightenment and is thereby released from the cycle of reincarnation (samsara) or one who has attained complete liberation. Such a one has removed all obscurations veiling the mind and has developed all of the virtues (paramitas) to perfection. According to the mahayana perspective, there are innumerable Buddhas, with Shakyamuni Buddha being a single example.  In addition to Shakyamuni Buddha, the main Buddhas in our practice include Adharma Buddha, the primordial Buddha; Buddha Vajradhara (Dorje Chang); the five transcendent Buddhas who represent the various aspects of enlightened consciousness or wisdom—Akshobhya Buddha (mirror-like wisdom), Ratnasambhava Buddha (wisdom of equanimity), Amitabha Buddha (discriminating wisdom), Amoghasiddhi Buddha (all-accomplishing wisdom), and Mahavairocana Buddha (all-encompassing or universal wisdom of the dharmadhatu); Kalachakra Buddha, a wrathful form of Shakyamuni Buddha; Hevajra Buddha, a wrathful form of Akshobhya Buddha; the Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajya-guru); Amitayus Buddha, the Longlife Buddha and an emanation of Amitabha Buddha; and the various emanations of Tara, a female Buddha. Maitreya Bodhisattva will be the next Buddha to come to this world.