The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (105 page)

 
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(Skt., ‘imperturbable’). In Buddhism, one of the five Jinas or
Dhy
ni-Buddhas
who inhabits the pure land of the East (
Abhirati
). Ak
obhya is mentioned briefly in the earliest
Mah
y
na
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 Amit
bha/
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 Vajrap
ni for
bodhisattva
and Kanakamuni as the earthly Buddha. His consort is the earth goddess Locan
, 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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