Dhyani Buddhas ?

[shrikant bahulkar]

The term Dhyanibuddhas is also used by Benoytosh Bhattacharyya in his
book "An
Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism", ( 2nd edn., The Chowkhamba Sanskrit
Series Office, Varanasi, 1964, pp. 128ff.). Alex Wayman remarks: " In
illustration, some questionable terms have been applied to the Buddist
Tantras. (1) There is no expression 'Dhyaani Buddhas' in the texts; one
finds
instead the words Tathaagata, Buddha or Jina, as in the compound
pancatathaagata ('five Tathaagatas'),..." (Yoga of the
Guhyasamaajatantra,
Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, reprinted, 1991, p. 54). The term 'panca
tathaagataa.h' frequently occurs in the Buddhist Tantras, such as the
Guhyasamaaja.

S. S. Bahulkar

Peter Wyzlic wrote:

> On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Stephen Hodge wrote:
>
> > they are doing ?  In my own limited reading of texts, I have never
> > come across any mention of Buddhas engaging in dhyaana and, in my
> > understanding, there is a qualitative difference between dhyaana and
> > samaadhi.   Still, some people seem very attached to the term so I am
> > probably fighting a lost cause -- looks like heuristic neologisms win
> > out over terminological accuracy.
>
> It has been said that Brian H. Hodgson introduced the therms
> "dhyanibuddha" and "dhyanibodhisattva". You find them, for instance, in
> Hodgson's "Notices of the languages, literature, and religion of Nepal and
> Tibet", first published in: Asiatic Researches (1828). I am using here the
> collective volume of Hodgsons articles published under the same title
> (Repr.: New Delhi: Manjusri Publ. House, 1972 [Bibliotheca Himalayica.
> Ser. II, vol. 7]), p. 28 seqq.). Probably on the authority of Hodgson it
> was used by Burnouf (see the index of his "Le Lotus de la Bonne Loi",
> s.v.) and, among others, by Carl Friedrich Köppen: Die Religion des
> Buddha. Vol. 2. Berlin 1859, p. 25 seqq. (many instances in the index,
> s.v.).
>
> In a note to his work "Monk, householder, and tantric priest : Newar
> Buddhism and its hierarchy of ritual" (Cambridge 1992), p. 373, n. 1 to
> chap. 9), David Gellner writes: "Hodgson introduced the term 'Dhyani
> Buddha' which has become current in Western writings"; Gellner doubts that
> it is actually used by Newar Buddhists today.
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> Peter Wyzlic
>
> --
> Peter Wyzlic
> Indologisches Seminar, Universitaet Bonn
> Regina-Pacis-Weg 7
> D-53113 Bonn
> Germany / Deutschland