Item: Vajradhara Buddha

Vajradhara, Buddha (Tibetan: dor je chang, sang gye. English: the Vajra Holder, Enlightened One). The primordial buddha, personification of the dharmakaya - truth body of enlightenment and progenitor of the Vajrayana system of Buddhism. This is one of twelve illuminations from the manuscript text, volume two, of Gyurme Dechen.

The New (Sarma) Schools, from the 11th century onward, believe that Vajradhara is the secret, or inner, form of Shakyamuni Buddha and the combined essence of all the buddhas of the ten directions and three periods of time gathered as one. In Anuttarayoga Tantra it is Vajradhara who emanates forth the forms of the Five Symbolic Buddhas and Vajrasattva followed by the meditational deities such as Guhyasamaja, Shri Hevajra and Chakrasamvara.

Jeff Watt 8-2011