Dhyāni-Buddha

Dhyāni-Buddha is a Sanskrit compound term from dhyāni ("contemplative, one who meditates") and Buddha (an "awakened one" or "the enlightened one"), which could be translated as "Buddha of Contemplation". In Vajrayana Buddhism, there are five Dhyani-Buddhas, namely Akṣobhya, Amitābha, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasaṃbhava, and Vairocana.

The five Dhyani-Buddhas are based on the Yogācāra teachings concerning the Trikaya (Sanskrit Tri: "three", and kaya: "body") doctrine, which posits three "bodies" of the Buddha. The Dhyani-Buddhas are all aspects of the dharmakaya or "truth-body", which embodies the principle of enlightenment.

The Theosophical literature talks about seven Dhyani-Buddhas ("or, rather, the Seven Hierarchies of these Dhyanis"), although "five only have hitherto manifested, and two are to come in the sixth and seventh Root-races. They are, so to speak, the eternal prototypes of the Buddhas who appear on this earth, each of whom has his particular divine prototype."

The Dhyani-Buddhas, also called the anupadakas are not related to the personality but to the individuality: "The 'Dhyani-Buddhas' are concerned with the human higher triad in a mysterious way that need not be explained here", Each monad is said to be part of the essence of a Dhyani-Buddha.

H. P. Blavatsky explains:

In the esoteric, and even exoteric Buddhism of the North, Adi Buddha (Chogi dangpoi sangye), the One unknown, without beginning or end, identical with Parabrahm and Ain-Soph, emits a bright ray from its darkness.
This is the Logos (the first), or Vajradhara, the Supreme Buddha (also called Dorjechang). As the Lord of all Mysteries he cannot manifest, but sends into the world of manifestation his heart—the “diamond heart,” Vajrasattva (Dorjesempa). This is the second logos of creation, from whom emanate the seven (in the exoteric blind the five) Dhyani Buddhas, called the Anupadaka, “the parentless.” These Buddhas are the primeval monads from the world of incorporeal being, the Arupa world, wherein the Intelligences (on that plane only) have neither shape nor name, in the exoteric system, but have their distinct seven names in esoteric philosophy. These Dhyani Buddhas emanate, or create from themselves, by virtue of Dhyana, celestial Selves—the super-human Bodhisattvas. These incarnating at the beginning of every human cycle on earth as mortal men, become occasionally, owing to their personal merit, Bodhisattvas among the Sons of Humanity, after which they may re-appear as Manushi (human) Buddhas. The Anupadaka (or Dhyani-Buddhas) are thus identical with the Brahminical Manasaputra, “mind-born sons”—whether of Brahmâ or either of the other two Trimurtian Hypostases, hence identical also with the Rishis and Prajâpatis.

Further reading

• Dhyāni-Buddha at Theosopedia