From a perspective of the conservative form of Buddhism (i.e. pre/non-Mahāyāna), the
idea of what are known as the “Five Dhyani Buddhas”—a designation first said to
be recorded in English by the British Resident in Nepal, Brian
Hodgson, in the early 19th century, and is unattested in any surviving
traditional primary sources—is bound to be a suspect. A natural and
understandable question would be whether it has anything to do with Buddhism.
The concept of the “Five Kinds or Families of Victorious Ones” (rgyal ba rigs lnga; cf. 金刚界五智如来 / 五方佛, or 五智如来Wǔzhì
Rúlái) is, however, well known in the Vajrayāna or Mantrayāna form of Mahāyāna
Buddhism. At least according to the Tibetan tradition that I know, five-Jina
scheme is not equally pervasive in all forms or systems of Mantrayāna. For example,
the Kriyā system, which perhaps represents the earliest layer of Mantrayāna,
knows of or follows only a three-Jina scheme. The question for a student of
history of Buddhist ideas would be when, how, and why did the concept of such
ahistorical, atemporal, and aspatial Buddhas come into being. As a seed for further
exploration, perhaps one might reasonably assume that the concept of each of
the five Jinas did not arise at the same time, at the same place, and for the
same reason although they have been later formed into a cluster. We may
consider first the idea of Akṣobhya. As pointed out by Conze (Conze 1967 =
2000: 137), the figure of Buddha Akṣobhya occurs already in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, which is considered one
of the earliest Prajñāpāramitā scriptures. It seems that the remaining four
have not yet been mentioned there. He also reports that in the later part of Aṣṭasāhasrikā, a few Bodhisattvas have
been mentioned as residents of the Buddhafield of Akṣobhya, namely, Ratnaketu,
Śikhin, and Gandhahastin.
