Akṣobhya

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Akṣobhya (Skt., ‘imperturbable’). In Buddhism, one of the five Jinas or Dhyāni-Buddhas who inhabits the pure land of the East (Abhirati). Akṣobhya is mentioned briefly in the earliest Mahāyāna sources but comes to prominence in later Tantric Buddhism. His paradise in the East is described, in a manner similar to the pure land of Amitābha/Amida in the West, as a utopia without evil, ugliness, or suffering, wherein the virtuous are reborn.

In Tantric Buddhism he is the father of the spiritual lineage which has Vajrapāni for bodhisattva and Kanakamuni as the earthly Buddha. His consort is the earth goddess Locanā, and he is usually depicted in iconography in the gesture (mudra) of touching the earth to call witness to his enlightenment. He is symbolically associated with the colour blue and with the aggregate (skandha) of consciousness.

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