Amitabha Buddha Main Page - Updated
There are many different Buddhas represented in Buddhist art. Following after the many images of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni the next most common Buddha form to appear in art is likely to be Amitabha (immeasurable light). His popularity is based in the Mahayana Sutra literature of which there are many texts specifically devoted to him.
In art depictions Amitabha has two appearances and two names that differentiate those appearances. When referred to as Amitabha he has the appearance of a standard buddha form, although red in colour, wearing the traditional patchwork robes of a monk. In his other appearance he has a different name, Amitayus (immeasureable life), and wears the clothing and jeweled adornments of a peaceful heavenly god according to the classical Indian system of divine aesthetics.
In the Mahayana Tradition of Buddhism a buddha is described as having three bodies: a form body (nirmanakaya), an apparitional body (sambhogakaya) and an ultimate truth body (dharmakaya). Amitabha and Amitayus are the same person, the first is the form body and the second the apparitional body. The ultimate truth body is without description.
The important iconographic difference between the two, Amitabha and Amitayus, is that Amitabha has Buddha Appearance and Amitayus has Bodhisattva Appearance.
Forms & Iconography:
- As a solitary Buddha seated in front of a tree
- Seated in Sukhavati
- Seated in Sukhavati surrounded by the Eight Great Bodhisattvas
- Seated in Sukhavati surrounded by the Sixteen Great Bodhisattvas and other figures
- Surrounded by lineage teachers and/or various deities (artist & patrons choice)
- Amitabha included with the Five Symbolic Buddhas of the Tantra System
- Others...