Adi-Buddha

The Ādi-Buddha (Tibetan: དང་པོའི་སངས་རྒྱས།, Wylie: dang po'i sangs rgyas, THL: Dangpö Sanggyé, Ch: 本佛, Jp: honbutsu, First Buddha, Original Buddha, or Primordial Buddha) is a Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to the most fundamental, supreme, or ancient Buddha in the cosmos. Another common term for this figure is Dharmakāya Buddha. The term emerges in tantric Buddhist literature, most prominently in the Kalachakra. "Ādi" means "first", such that the Ādibuddha was the first to attain Buddhahood. "Ādi" can also mean "primordial", not referring to a person but to an innate wisdom that is present in all sentient beings. In East Asian Buddhism, the term 本佛 (běn fó, original Buddha, root Buddha) also appears in the works of Tiantai and Tendai school, referring to the original Buddha of the Lotus Sutra which was also later identified with the cosmic Buddha Mahāvairocana. It and similar terms were also used in the traditions of Zhenyan and Shingon Buddhism to refer to the cosmic Buddha Mahāvairocana.