continues to cause trouble, and he figures prominently
in later texts, iconography, and local traditions
throughout the Buddhist world.
Especially active in the world are the nagas, yaksas,
pis ́acas,and gandharvas,divinities generally thought to
have been incorporated into Buddhism from non-
Vedic, indigenous traditions. Nagas (female, naginl)
are snakelike beings who in early texts typically live at
the base of trees and are associated with both chaos
and fertility. Likewise, YAKSAs (Pali, yakkha) are in-
digenous Indian tree spirits, wild, demonic, and sexu-
ally prolific beings who live in solitary places and are
hostile toward people, particularly monks and nuns,
whose meditation they disturb by making loud noises.
Frequently, both nagas and yaksas are converted to
Buddhism and “tamed,” becoming active, positive
forces in the world and protectors of Buddhism; for
instance, when the Buddha-to-be was meditating just
prior to his enlightenment, it was a naga who sheltered
him from the elements.
The range of divinities in the Buddhist world is stag-
gering when local traditions are taken into account. In
Burma (Myanmar), such divinities are known collec-
tively as nats,in Thailand as phi,in Sri Lanka as yakas;
they are extremely important in popular Buddhist
practice and frequently associated with kingship, since
all serve as guardians of Buddhism. In Burma, for in-
stance, there are thirty-seven official nats(although in
practice there are many more), regarded as invisible,
magical personal forces who inhabit trees, and in most
villages there are small shrines in trees thought to be
inhabited. These shrines, brightly decorated with col-
ored cloth and tinsel, are tended and worshiped to en-
sure that the natsprotect the village and provide
prosperity, fertility, and other benefits. In Thailand,
the various forms of phiinclude phi dong,which are
the guardian spirits of the forest, the phi puya tayai
(ancestral spirits), and the truly horrific phi mae mai
(widow ghosts), who kill human men in their search
for husbands.
In Sri Lanka, Hindu gods are frequently worshiped
by Buddhists. Thus the god Kataragama, a local vari-
ant of the god Skanda, is typically regarded as a bod-
hisattva. Kataragama is extremely popular, to the point
that the divinity’s main shrine, in the southeastern cor-
ner of the island, is probably the most popular reli-
gious site in the entire country. Buddhists (as well as
Hindus, Muslims, and Christians) go to Kataragama
for special requests—protection, fertility, financial
success, even vengeance—and repay his favors by per-
forming a variety of penances, including body pierc-
ing, walking on hot coals, and hanging from hooks.
As the MAHAYANAschools developed in both India
and in East Asia, so did the pantheon of divine figures,
and with this expansion the very conception of divin-
ity also expanded. Bodhisattvas such as Mañjus ́r,
Avalokites ́vara, and Maitreya become extremely im-
portant, using their skillful means actively to spread
wisdom and to save beings in peril. Likewise, as the
conception of the Buddha and buddhahood became
more complex, the so-called celestial Buddhas (pañ-
catathagatas) emerge, a group of five manifestations of
the Buddha’s divine qualities. In the PURE LAND
SCHOOLS, the cosmos is imagined as an infinite collec-
tion of world systems, each of which is a Buddha field
where a fully enlightened being resides; these become
divinities, with whom especially accomplished devo-
tees can continuously interact.
Avalokites ́vara in particular becomes extremely
popular in East Asia, where he is known as Guanyin
in China, Kannon in Japan, and Kwanu ̆m in Korea; in
the case of Guanyin, the divinity is manifested as a fe-
male figure. The female divinity Tara—perhaps origi-
nally a local divinity herself—also emerges as a divine
savior who protects and nurtures her devotees; she is
popular throughout the Mahayana and VAJRAYANA
world, particularly in Nepal and Tibet. The perfection
of wisdom texts (prajñaparamitasutras) become per-
sonified in the figure of Prajñaparamita, wisdom in-
carnate, the divine “mother” of all enlightened beings.
With the rise of the Vajrayana, the divine pantheon
expands to a seemingly limitless degree, with a vast
range of buddha families, bodhisattvas, goddesses, yo-
gins, and all manner of fierce divinities. MANDALASfre-
quently depict these buddha families and their
associated divinities. Meditations and rituals focused
on such divinities are too numerous to mention and
are frequently intended to bring the divinity to life. In
the practice of deity yoga, for instance, the meditator
can bring the divinity to life in him or herself by real-
izing the inseparability of the self and the divinity.
In sum, the Buddhist understanding of divinities
must be seen as fluid and expansive. Divine beings
multiply markedly as the tradition develops. New
divinities are introduced at both the local and pan-
Buddhist level, and the characteristics of the various
divinities also shift, with new qualities—both abstract
(passive) and concrete (active)—constantly being in-
troduced. The Buddha himself took on increasingly
complex divine characteristics as the tradition devel-DIVINITIES