In
Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, the Ādibuddha is most often expressed as one of three forms: the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra in the
Nyingma and
Bön traditions (not to be confused with the
bodhisattva Samantabhadra), the ultimate Buddha
Vajradhara in the
Kagyu,
Gelug and
Sakya traditions, or the supreme manifestation of Buddhahood
Kalachakra in the
Jonang tradition. While each tradition has its own principal form of the Adibuddha (Samantabhadra, Vajradhara or Kalachakra), the
Rime movement (impartiality, universality) has resulted in each tradition acknowledging and even practicing the tantras originating within other traditions.
In the Nyingma (Ancient) school . In the Nyingma school, the Adi-Buddha is called Samantabhadra (Skt.; Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་,
Kuntu Zangpo; Wyl.
kun tu bzang po), not to be confused with the
bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Nyingma art often depicts this figure as a naked blue Buddha. According to
Dzogchen Ponlop: The color blue symbolizes the expansive, unchanging quality of space, which is the ground of all arisings, the basis of all appearances, and the source of all phenomena. The absence of robes symbolizes the genuine reality beyond any dualistic, conceptual, or philosophical clothing. That is the dharmakaya buddha: the genuine body of absolute truth. In Nyingma, Samantabhadra is also considered to be the source of all Dzogchen teachings. The
Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra calls Samantabhadra the "All-Creating King" (Tib.
Kunjed Gyalpo), because all phenomena are said to be manifestations or displays of Samantabhadra. According to
Namkhai Norbu, this does not mean there is some being called Samantabhadra that creates the universe, instead what it refers to is that all things arise from "the state of consciousness Samantabhadra, the state of
Dharmakaya." In this sense, Samantabhadra is seen as being a symbolic personification of
the ground or basis (ghzi) in
Dzogchen thought. Namkhai Norbu explains that the Dzogchen idea of the Adi-Buddha Samantabhadra "should be mainly understood as a metaphor to enable us to discover our real condition." He further adds that: If we deem Samantabhadra an individual being, we are far from the true meaning. In reality, he denotes our potentiality that, even though at the present moment we are in samsara, has never been conditioned by dualism. From the beginning, the state of the individual has been pure and always remains pure: this is what Samantabhadra represents. But when we fall into conditioning, it is as if we are no longer Samantabhadra because we are ignorant of our true nature. So what is called the primordial Buddha, or Adibuddha, is only a metaphor for our true condition. Karl Brunnhölzl states: Longchenpa's
Treasure Trove of Scriptures...explains that Samantabhadra—one of the most common Dzogchen names for the state of original buddhahood—is nothing other than the primordial, innate awareness that is naturally free, even before any notions of "buddhas" or "sentient beings" have emerged. In Dzogchen thought, there are said to be five aspects of Samantabhadra.
Longchenpa explains these as follows: •
Samantabhadra as teacher: "Means that all buddhas while residing in the forms of the
sambhogakaya and the
dharmakaya in
Akaniṣṭha, promote the welfare of all sentient beings through sending forth countless emanations to all the distinct realms of those to be guided." •
Samantabhadra as ground: "Is the
dharmata of all
phenomena — suchness. This is also called "Samantabhadra as nature". •
Samantabhadra as adornment: "The appearance of all phenomena, which are self-arising as the play of the bearers of the nature of phenomena. This consists of all that is completely pure, in that its nature is illusory." •
Samantabhadra as awareness: "self arising wisdom, the sugata heart," i.e. the
Buddha-nature described in the
Uttaratantra. •
Samantabhadra as realization: "The fundamental basic nature. Through realizing it well, the eyes of freedom are found. This is also called "Samantabhadra as the path."
In the Sarma (New Translation) traditions The Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism generally practice Indian tantras like the
Kalacakra Tantra and the
Guhyasamāja Tantra and their commentaries. In these Indian works, the Ādibuddha takes various forms, including Vajradhara, Kalacakra, Manjuvajra,
Aksobhya, and
Hevajra. The most universal depiction of the Ādibuddha in the Sarma schools is as
Vajradhara, but different tantras depict the Ādibuddha differently (emphasizing different aspects of Buddhahood) resulting in many names for this underlying, primordial Buddha.
Alex Wayman notes that the
Pradīpoddyotana, a tantric commentary, explains that the "three vajras" are the three mysteries of Body, Speech, and Mind, which are the displays of the Ādibuddha. Wayman further writes:
Tsong-kha-pa's ''Mchan-'grel'' explains the "lord of body": displays simultaneously innumerable materializations of body; "lord of speech": teaches the Dharma simultaneously to boundless sentient beings each in his own language; "lord of mind": understands all the knowable which seems impossible. According to the
14th Dalai Lama, the Ādibuddha is also seen in Mahayana Buddhism as the "ultimate reality", the "ultimate source", and the "clear light". He states that, "If a sutra describes the Primordial Buddha as an autonomous entity, we must be able to interpret the assertion without taking it literally." == In East Asian Buddhism ==