The buddha in the western realm of Sukhāvatī. Later and presently better known by his alternative name Amitābha.
Avaivartikacakranirghoṣā (Where the Wheel of Nonregression Is Proclaimed) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Padmaphullitagātra. “Nonregression” (Skt. avaivartika, Tib. phyir mi ldog pa) refers to a stage on the bodhisattva path where the practitioner will never turn back, or be turned back, from progress toward the full awakening of a buddha.
Bhadraśrī (Excellent Glory) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Padmaśrī.
A buddhafield is the particular world system over which a specific buddha presides. There are innumerable such fields in Mahāyāna Buddhist cosmology.
Candrabuddhi (Moon-Like Mind) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Color of the Mirror Disk.
Color of the Mirror Disk is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Candrabuddhi.
Dharmadhvaja (Dharma Banner) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Virajā.
Duratikramā (Difficult to Transcend) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Lotus Body Blooming from the Light of the Dharma.
Excellent Lamp is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Siṃha.
Kaṣāyadhvajā (Saffron-Colored Banners) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Vajrapramardin.
A bodhisattva who is the primary interlocutor for the “Scale of Life” chapter (Ch. 37) of the Buddhāvataṃsaka.
Light of All Supernatural Abilities is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Vyūhā.
Lotus Body Blooming from the Light of the Dharma is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Duratikramā.
Padmaphullitagātra (Blooming Lotus Body) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Avaivartikacakranirghoṣā.
Padmaśrī (Lotus Glory) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Bhadraśrī.
The name for our world system, the universe of a thousand million worlds, or trichiliocosm, in which the four-continent world is located. Each trichiliocosm is ruled by a god Brahmā; thus, in this context, he bears the title of Sahāṃpati, Lord of Sahā. The world system of Sahā, or Sahālokadhātu, is also described as the buddhafield of the Buddha Śākyamuni where he teaches the Dharma to beings.
The name Sahā possibly derives from the Sanskrit √sah, “to bear, endure, or withstand.” It is often interpreted as alluding to the inhabitants of this world being able to endure the suffering they encounter. The Tibetan translation, mi mjed, follows along the same lines. It literally means “not painful,” in the sense that beings here are able to bear the suffering they experience.
Samantabhadra (Entirely Excellent) is one of the eight principal bodhisattvas. He is known for embodying the conduct of bodhisattvas through his vast aspirations, offerings, and deeds for the benefit of beings.
Siṃha (Lion) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Excellent Lamp.
Sukhāvatī (Blissful) is the buddhafield to the west inhabited by the Buddha Amitāyus, more commonly known as Amitābha. It is classically described in The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra).
Suprabhā (Beautiful Light) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Vairocanagarbha.
Vairocanagarbha (Core of the Sun) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Suprabhā.
Vajrapramardin (Vajra Vanquisher) is a buddha who inhabits the buddhafield Kaṣāyadhvajā.
Virajā (Dustless) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Dharmadhvaja.
Vyūhā (Ornamented) is a buddhafield inhabited by the Buddha Light of All Supernatural Abilities.
tshe’i tshad kyi le’u ste sum cu bdun pa (sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo). Toh 44-37, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 393.a–394.b.
tshe’i tshad kyi le’u ste sum cu bdun pa (sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo). (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 36, pp. 825–27.
tshe’i tshad kyi le’u ste sum cu bdun pa (sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 31 (phal chen, ga), folios 351.b–352.b.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Cleary, Thomas. The Flower Ornament Sutra: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1984.
Hamar, Imre. “Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, edited by Jonathan Silk et al., vol. 1, Literature and Languages, 115–28. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Skilling, Peter and Saerji. “ ‘O, Son of the Conqueror’: A note on jinaputra as a term of address in the Buddhāvataṃsaka and in Mahāyāna sūtras.” Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology (ARIRIAB) at Soka University 15 (2012): 127–30.
Subhashita Translation Group, trans. Expounding the Qualities of the Thus-Gone Ones’ Buddhafields (Toh 104). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Subhashita Translation Group, trans. The Sūtra of King of the Inconceivable (Toh 268). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Vinītā, Bhikṣuṇī, ed. and trans. A Unique Collection of Twenty Sūtras in a Sanskrit Manuscript from the Potala. Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region 7/1. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2010.