It deals with the philosophy and psychology of the Theravada school of Buddhism. The “theravada”, however, refers to that school of Buddhism which, supposedly “adhere to the most original and purest form of the Buddhist teachings”, advocated by those theras (monks) who obtained the erudition directly through the Master. Further, they used the bhasa Magadhika or the mula bhasa (the original language)[1] to record the original text or the pariyaya, (the text of the canons). The term pariyaya, however, when abbreviated became ‘pari’ or ‘pali’; and in course of time was applied to denote the language of the entire gamut of the canons; and the exegeses and other compositions on those texts having the same language.

Aggam bahusuttadinam, kosarakkham mahesino
Sammannitvana attanam thero dhammam apucchi so
Tatha sammanniyattanam dhammasanagato sayam
Visajjesi tam Ananda-thero dhamm’ asesato. (Mahavamsa 34-35)

The other two Pitakas or the collection of the Buddhist canons are the Vinaya Pitaka (Collection of the codes and conducts for the monks and nuns) and Sutta Pitaka (the collection of the discourses of the Buddha).

The Buddha is a generic and appelative name, which must not be confused with a proper name. The term has a definite connotation, which refers to “one who has attained Enlightenment”. The Pali commentaries mention four categories of the Buddha, first being the category of the Sabbannu Buddhas or the Omniscient Buddhas, which refers to the class of the Enlightened Buddhas, who preach for the Nibbana for the others. The second category of the Buddhas is that of the Paccheka Buddhas, who are also Enlightened but do not preach for the spiritual evolution of the others. The third group of the Buddhas commonly designated by Chatusaccha Buddhas refers to the arahantas (i.,e., those who have destroyed their defilements or asavas); and finally the category of the Bahussuta Buddhas refers to the learned ones.

The Pali tradition gives the list of twenty-four Buddhas who were born before Sakyamuni Buddha or popularly known Gotama Buddha (Sanskrit: Gautama Buddha). They are Dipankara, Kondanna, Mangala, Sumana, Revata, Sobhita, Anomadassi, Paduma, Narada, Paduma Uttara, Sumedha, Sujata, Piyadassi, Atthadassi, Dhammadassi, Siddhattha, Tissa, Phussa, Vipassi, Sikhi, Vessabhu, Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa.

Further, the above tradition also adds the names of three Buddhas, namely, Tanhankara, Medhankara and Sarankara, who were born before Dipankara Buddha.

The Buddhavamsa gives the particulars of each of the Buddhas with the details on their first sermons; aura of their bodies; description as to which Bodhisatta became which Buddha and so on. (see Buddhavamsa Atthakatha for more details).

The Lalitavistara gives a list of fifty-four Buddhas; and the Mahavastu tenders a list of over hundred Buddhas.

The Chakkavatti Sihanada Sutta of the Digha Nikaya gives the particulars of Metteya Buddha or the Future Buddha. (The Sanskritised version of Metteya is Maitreya). Further, the Anagatavamsa gives a detailed account of the Future Buddha. Some Singhalese commentaries, however, come out with a list of another nine Future Buddhas in addition to Metteya. They are Uttama, Rama, Pasenadai Kosala, Abhibhu, Dighasoni, Sankaccha, Subha, Todeya, and Nalagiri Palaleyya.

The protagonist of every Jataka story is the Bodhisatta, which means a being who aspires to achieve the bodhi or Englightenment to become a Buddha. Further, after resolving thus without declaring his intention to others, i.e., manopanidhi he makes a solemn resolution before a Buddha (abhiniharakarana or mulanidhana) for the welfare and liberation of all creatures. As regard to Gotama Buddha his abhinihara was made before Dipankara Buddha; and at that time his name was Sumedha. The Buddha then approves of the abhinihara by the declaration (vyakarana) that the Bodhisatta shall become a Buddha. Then the Bodhisatta seeks to achieve the Buddhakarakadhamma (the qualities of the Buddhahood). These he discovers in ten perfections (dasa-parami), namely, dana (charity), sila (right-conduct), nekkhama, panna (wisdom), viriya (steadfastness), khanti (forbearance), saccha (truthfulness), aditthana, metta (loving compassion), upekkha (non-attachability). In the case of Sumedha Bodhisatta, who became Gotama Buddha, these perfections were best exemplified in Ekaraja, Khantivadi, Chulla Sankhapala, Maha Janaka, Mahasutasoma, Mugapakkha, Lomahamsa, Sattubhattaka, Sasa and Sutasoma Jatakas.

Further, a Bodhisatta has to develop four bhumis, namely, ussaha or viriya (zeal), ummagga or panna (wisdom), avatthana or adhitthana (resolution) and hitachariya or metta (compassion). Then he practices six ajjhasayas or the factors conducive to the maturing of the bodhi.

Budhaghosa: The greatest scholar of the Pali literature. Born in Bodh Gaya in the fifth century AD. He wrote commentaries on most of the texts of the Tipitaka. He translated many Singhalese commentaries into Pali. His mangnum opus is the Visuddhimagga, which is regarded as the “Encyclopedia of Buddhism”.

Each of the Mahayana schools, namely, Paramita, Yoga and Anuttara have their unique views of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. Yet for all practical purposes it may be said that they believe in the Adi Buddha (having no beginning and no end). The union of the Adi Buddha and the Adi Prajna (Wisdom-having-no-beginning-and-no-end) accounts for the hierarchies of the Buddhist deities.

Further, it is believed that there are five Dhyani Buddhas immersed in deep meditation. They are Vairochana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi, which also refer to the families (kula) of the Anuttara Tantra. Vajradhara is further added as the sixth family, which is believed to be of the highest kind. It may be noted that there are varieties of Tantras according to the various families; and kriyas. Eventually, there are Tantras embodying evocations (sadhana) and rites (vidhi) specifically meant for the individual families as well as for the families in general. Each of the family has a kulesha or lord of the family (Progenitor) and the progeny (kulika). In the above system of Tantra Vairochana is the Progenitor and Victor (Jina). The deities and their transformations created by his mudra (seal) are his progeny.

The five families of the Yoga Tantra are Tathagata, Ratna, Padma, Karma and Vajra. The family of the Tathagata is the highest.

Coming back to the five Dhyani Buddhas, who do not take part in the affairs of the world. They are seldom portrayed individually. They may appear on the tiara of the male and the female divinities emanated from them or round their heads in group of five. All the five Dhyani Buddhas are shown seated in Vajrasana, when the legs are closely crossed and locked and soles are visible. Each of the five Dhyani Buddhas has his unique distinctive mark and characteristics. For example, Varirochana is white; Akshobhya is blue; Ratnasambhava is yellow; Amitabha is red; and Amoghasiddhi is green. Further, each represents a direction and has a representative element and a sense-corresponding object.

Eugenia Jambolana.

Khandha (Aggregate Mara), Kilesa (Defilement) Mara, Abhisankhara (Accumulated Karma) Mara, Macchu (Death) Mara, and Devaputta (four archangels of Yama). Mara is called Namuchi as no one can escape him. He is called Vasavatti, because “he rules all”. Whenever, he finds some one treading the path of virtuosity he creates obstacles and hindrances.