Buddhist Deity: Akshobhya Iconography Text Chronology

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Akshobhhya Iconography

Sutra Source Literature:

Toh 50. The Array of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya. མི་འཁྲུགས་པའི་བཀོད་པའི་མདོ། · mi 'khrugs pa'i bkod pa'i mdo/ akṣobhyatathāgatasya vyūhasūtra. [138 pages].

Toh 176. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ། · dri med grags pas bstan pa. Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa. [130 pages]. Chapter 11. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathagata Akshobhya, 11 - 11.22.

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Tantra Sadhana Source Literature:

Toh 743/1009. The Dhāraṇī “Purifying All Karmic Obscurations” The Collection The Kangyur Tantra Tantra Collection Action tantras (Toh 743). The Collection The Kangyur Dhāraṇī Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (Toh 1009). ལས་ཀྱི་སྒྲིབ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་སྦྱོང་བའི་གཟུངས། · las kyi sgrib pa thams cad rnam par sbyong ba’i gzungs. Sarva­karmāvaraṇaviśodhanī­nāma­dhāraṇī. [2 page].

Toh 2653. Akshobhya Sadhana Nama.

Solitary Akshobhya Buddha. Jowo Atisha Lineage (Nirmanakaya, Nartang Gyatsa).

Akshobhya Buddha Mandala of Nine Deities #1. Jowo Atisha Lineage. (Sambhogakaya).

Akshobhya Buddha Mandala of Nine Deities #2. Jowo Atisha Lineage. (Nirmanakaya).

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Collection of All Tantras: (rgyu de kun tus, 30 volumes)
Kriya Tantra Literature:
14. Akshobhya 9 Deity Mandala. Jowo Atisha Lineage. (Sambhogakaya).
15. Akshobhya Mandala 9 Deity Mandala. Jowo Atisha Lineage. (Nirmanakaya)

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Charya Tantra Literature: (No primary or secondary figures)

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Yoga Tantra Literature: (Secondary figure in the east only)
22. Vajradhatu 1037 Deity Mandala
24. Vajrashekara 1271 Deity Mandala
25. Paramadya 319 Deity Mandala
26. Paramadya Vajrasattva 77 Deity Mandala
29. Chitta Vajrapani Mandala
40. Dharmadhatu Vagishvari 219 Deity Mandala
41a. Guhyaka Manjushri 57 Deity Mandala #1
41b. Guhyaka Manjushri 57 Deity Mandala #2

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Anuttarayoga Tantra Literature: (Secondary figure in the east & west only)

Anuttarayoga has two categories of Akshobhya Buddha. The first is where he appears as a secondary figure in the eastern or sometimes western direction of a mandala. The second category of figure is where he is related to the central figure of the mandala.

45. Lokeshvara Guhyasamaja 19 Deity Mandala
89. Jinasagara Mahakarunika 9 Deity Mandala
91. Amitayus (Siddharajnyi) 33 Deity Mandala
111. Vajradhatu 37 Deity Mandala
130. Chintamani Jagaddamara Mandala
135. Mahakarunika (Lakshmi) 5 Deity Mandala

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Anuttarayoga Primary Figure Related:
42. Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja 32 Deity Mandala #1
43. Akshobhyavajra Guhyasamaja 32 Deity Mandala #2
44. Manjuvajra Guhyasamaja 19 Deity Mandala
- Chakrasamvara & Vajrayogini Mandalas
- Hevajra & Nairatmya Mandalas
- Vajrabhairava Mandalas
- Yamari Mandalas
- Vajrasattva Mandalas
- Mahakala Mandalas
- Others...

Jeff Watt, 5-2024

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).