gochi nyorai 五智如来

Lit. Five Wisdom *nyorai 如来 (Sk: Tathagatas); this refers to the Five Buddhas gobutsu 五仏 of the *Kongōkai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅. In Japan, the Kongōkai mandara is associated with wisdom (in contrast with the *Taizōkai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅, which is associated with ri 理 or ultimate principle), and each of its Five Buddhas is associated with one of the five wisdoms gochi 五智. The correspondences between the Five Wisdom nyorai and the five wisdoms are as follows: *Dainichi 大日 (Sk: Mahavairocana; center) and hokkaitai shōchi 法界体性智 (Sk: dharmadhatusvabhava-jnana : wisdom of the essence of the Dharma-realm); *Ashuku 阿しゅく (Sk: Aksobhya; east) and daien kyōchi 大円鏡智 (Sk: adarsa-jnana : great perfect mirror wisdom); Hōshō 宝生 (Sk: Ratnasambhava; south) and byōdō shōchi 平等性智 (Sk: samata-jnana : wisdom of equality); *Amida 阿弥陀 (west) and myōkan zatchi 妙観察智 (Sk: pratyaveksana-jnana : wisdom of wondrous observation); and Fukū jōju 不空成就 (Sk: Amoghasiddhi; north) and jōsho sachi 成所作智 (Sk: krtyanusthana-jnana : wisdom of accomplishing that which is to be done). The five wisdoms represent a development of the four wisdoms posited by the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism, with the fifth (that attributed to Dainichi) having evolved within the doctrines of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教 to embrace the other four, and they all represent aspects of the wisdom held to be attained upon enlightenment. Examples of sets of images of Gochi nyorai include those at Anjōji 安祥寺 in Kyoto (9th century; at present on view at Kyoto National Museum), Henmyōin 遍明院 (9th century) in Okayama Prefecture, Kongōzanmaiin 金剛三昧院 on Mt. Kōya 高野 (13th century) in Wakayama Prefecture, and Tōji 東寺 (16th century) in Kyoto. The gochi nyorai also appear on the five wisdom bejeweled crown *gochi hōkan 五智宝冠 to be seen worn by Dainichi, Kongōsatta 金剛薩た (Sk: Vajrasattva), *Miroku 弥勒, and certain other bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩. In the Shingon 真言 sect it is also placed on the head of the initiated in the Dharma-transmission initiand, denbō kanjō 伝法潅頂, the initiation ceremony which confers upon the initiand the rank of a master ajari 阿闍梨 of Esoteric Buddhism, and the headgear tōkin 頭襟 worn by practitioners of mountain asceticism shugendō 修験道 is also identified with the gochi hōkan; in both these cases it indicates that the wearer is to realize the five wisdoms and attain a state equal to that of Vairocana.