The Twelve Celestial Deities
Vedic Devas were adopted by Buddhism since its early stages, this trend would continue alongside the spread of Mahāyāna Buddhism across Asia.
By the time of the rise of Vajrayāna Buddhism, Vedic and Hindu Deities were already deeply engrained into the Estoteric Buddhist pantheons, some of wich could include even a hundred of them or more.
One of the best examples of this is found in the Japanese Shingon school of Buddhism, which emphasizes the role of the Twelve Devas in their cosmological view. Using the term Ten, an equivalent of the Sanskrit Deva, these deities are considered the sustainers of the cosmos and Buddhist Dharmapāla .
These Twelve Devas are:
Indra-Śakra (Taishakuten)
Brahmā (Bonten)
Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamonten)
Agní (Katen)
Yama (Enmaten)
Rākṣasa (Rasetsuten)
Varuṇa (Suiten)
Vāyu (Fūten)
Īśāna (Ishanaten)
Pṛthivī (Jiten)
Sūrya (Nitten)
Candra (Gatten)
Vedic Devas were adopted by Buddhism since its early stages, this trend would continue alongside the spread of Mahāyāna Buddhism across Asia.
By the time of the rise of Vajrayāna Buddhism, Vedic and Hindu Deities were already deeply engrained into the Estoteric Buddhist pantheons, some of wich could include even a hundred of them or more.
One of the best examples of this is found in the Japanese Shingon school of Buddhism, which emphasizes the role of the Twelve Devas in their cosmological view. Using the term Ten, an equivalent of the Sanskrit Deva, these deities are considered the sustainers of the cosmos and Buddhist Dharmapāla .
These Twelve Devas are:
Indra-Śakra (Taishakuten)
Brahmā (Bonten)
Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamonten)
Agní (Katen)
Yama (Enmaten)
Rākṣasa (Rasetsuten)
Varuṇa (Suiten)
Vāyu (Fūten)
Īśāna (Ishanaten)
Pṛthivī (Jiten)
Sūrya (Nitten)
Candra (Gatten)