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| Dipankara Buddha | |
|---|---|
_(8436396688).jpg) 7th century statue in a niche ofSwayambhunath,Kathmandu, Nepal | |
| Sanskrit | Dīpaṃkara |
| Pāli | Dīpaṅkara |
| Burmese | ဒီပင်္ကရာ ([dìpɪ̀ɰ̃kəɹà]) |
| Chinese | 燃燈佛 (Pinyin:Rándēng Fó) |
| Japanese | 燃燈仏 (romaji:Nentō Butsu) |
| Khmer | ព្រះពុទ្ធ ទីបង្ករៈ "Preah Puth Dipankara" |
| Korean | 연등불 (RR:Yeondeung Bul) |
| Mongolian | ᠵᠣᠯᠠ ᠢᠢᠨ ᠵᠥᠬᠢᠶᠠᠭᠴᠢ᠂ ᠳᠢᠸᠠᠩ᠋ᠭᠠᠷ; Зулын Зохиогч, Дивангар; Zula yin Zohiyagci, Divangar |
| Sinhala | දීපඞ්කර බුදුන් වහන්සේ Dipankara Budun Wahanse |
| Thai | พระทีปังกรพุทธเจ้า Phra Thipangkon Phutthachao |
| Tibetan | མར་མེ་མཛད་ Wylie: mar me mdzad THL: Marmedzé |
| Vietnamese | Nhiên Đăng Phật |
| Information | |
| Venerated by | Theravada,Mahayana,Vajrayana |
| Attributes | Causer of Light[citation needed] |
Preceded by Śaraṇaṃkara Buddha Succeeded by Kauṇḍinya Buddha | |
.svg) Buddhism portal | |
Dipankara (Pali:Dīpaṅkara;Sanskrit:Dīpaṃkara, "Lamp bearer") orDipankara Buddha is one of theBuddhas of the past. He is said to have lived on Earth fourasankheyyas and one hundred thousandkalpas ago.[1] According toBuddhists, Dipankara was a previous Buddha who attainedEnlightenmenteons prior toGautama Buddha, the historical Buddha.
Generally, Buddhists believe that there has been a succession of many Buddhas in the distant past and that many more will appear in the future. Dipankara was one of these previous Buddhas, whileGautama Buddha was the current and most recent Enlightened one, andMaitreya will be the next Buddha in the distant future.
Chinese Buddhism honors Dipankara as one of many Buddhas of the past. Dipankara, Gautama, andMaitreya are "the Buddhas of Three Times" inYiguandao.
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Dipankara is generally represented as a sitting Buddha, but his depictions as a standing Buddha are common inChina,Thailand, andNepal; with the right hand he generally forms a protectionmudra (abhaya mudra), and often he forms it with both hands.
Dipankara is rarely depicted alone; He is generally depicted with twobodhisattvas,Manjusri andVajrapani (common inJava) orAvalokiteśvara andVajrapani (common inSri Lanka); or with the Buddhas who come after him, Gautama and Maitreya.
One of theBuddhas of Bamiyan, destroyed by theTaliban government inAfghanistan in 2001, was said to portray Dipankara. Statues of Dipankara can also be found in theLongmen andYungang Grottoes in China.
One story shown inBuddhist art has Gautama Buddha in a formerincarnation known asSumedha, a rich Brahmana turned hermit kneeling and laying his long black hair on the ground, in an act of piety that the Dipankara Buddha could cross a puddle of mud without soiling his feet.[2][3]
This meeting between Dipankara and Sumedha occurred many lifetimes before Sumedha's eventual enlightenment as Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni). From this act, Dipankara told Sumedha "In the ages of the future you will come to be a Buddha called 'Shakyamuni'",[4] to which Sumedha replied, "I am to become a Buddha, awakened to enlightenment; may you tread with your feet on my hair - on my birth, old age, and death."
Dipankara then said, "Freed from human existence, you will become an effective teacher, for the sake of the world. Born among theShakyas, as the epitome of the Triple World, the Lamp of all Beings, you will be known as Gautama. You will be the son of KingSuddhodana and QueenMaya.Sariputta andMoggallana will be your chief disciples. Your caretaker will be namedAnanda."
In the 40-plus years of his life after enlightenment, Gautama Buddha is said to have recounted almost 554 past life stories, (calledJataka tales) of his prior existences. Gautama Buddha is quoted as sayinga person starts the journey to become a Buddha filling 10Paramita or "perfections". Some sources and scriptures recount that theBodhisattva Gautama was born as Prince Sumedha in the time of Dipankara, and was rich and gave away all his wealth to become a monk. It is said that Gautama Bodhisattva received his firstNiyatha Vivarana, (or definite foresighting by a Buddha) from Dipankara. This encounter, among many other predictions of Gautama Buddha's future enlightenment, can be found in the Mahayana textSangatha Sutra.[5]
By the 17th century, Dipankara had become a figure ofveneration inNepalese Buddhist communities. These followers consider him a protector of merchants and associate him with alms-giving. He is also considered the protector of sailors, and sometimes statues of Dipankara are found on the coastline to guide and protect the ships in their route.
SomeChinese folk religionists in Taiwan and Chinese overseas communities also worshipped Dipankara Buddha.
TheBuddhavamsa says that Dipankara achieved Nirvana inNandarama, where a stupa was built which was thirty sixyojanas high.[6]
| Past Buddhas | |
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| Future Buddha | |
