ADI-BUDDHA

among some sects of Mahayana Buddhism, the first, or self-existing, Buddha, from whom are said to have evolved the five Dhyani-Buddhas (see Dhyani-Buddha). Though the concept of an Adi-Buddha was never generally popular, a few groups, particularly in Nepal, Tibet, and Java, elevated Vairocana to the position of Adi-Buddha or named a new deity, such as Vajradhara or Vajrasattva, as the supreme lord. The Adi-Buddha is represented in painting and sculpture as a crowned Buddha, dressed in princely garments and wearing the traditional ornaments of a bodhisattva ("buddha-to-be").