The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (174 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
5.77Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Ammann, Jacob
:
see
AMISH
.
Amoghasiddhi
(Skt., ‘the unerring achiever of the goal’). One of the five transcendent
Buddhas
in
Mah
y
na
and
Zen Buddhism
. His
mudra
is that of fearlessness, and his emblem is
vajra
, the absolute and indestructible, as a diamond.
Amoghavajra
(Chin.,
Pu-k’ung Chin-kang;
Jap.,
Fuk
(
kong
)). An influential teacher of esoteric Buddhism in 8th cent. China, 6th patriarch of Chen-yen (
Shingon
). He studied under Vajra-bodhi, and the two together went to China in 720 and established esoteric Buddhism there. He spent about five years in India from 740, collecting Skt. texts, and on his return, he engaged in a major work of translation, numbering in the end more than 100 works. He based his own teaching especially on
Vajra
e-khara-S
tra
, a wisdom text. He was given the title Kuang-chih San-tsang (K
chi Sanz
) in 765.

Other books

The Letter Killeth by Ralph McInerny
True Magics by Erik Buchanan
Small Treasures by Kathleen Kane (Maureen Child)
The Thief by Nakamura, Fuminori
Sleeping Around by Brian Thacker
Sorority Girls With Guns by Cat Caruthers