The 5 Buddha Families

The Buddha families as presented by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (author) in his book 'The Five Buddha Families and The Eight Consciousnessess are a description of five qualities of energy we all have. Each Buddha family has an emotion associated with it, which can be transmuted into wisdom as well as a color, element, landscape, direction, season and even a time of the day. Our predominant Buddha family can change, influenced by our age or circumstances. Each can manifest in its wisdom aspect or in its neurotic forms.

This is because we all embody and have access to all the five Buddha energies. The 5 families are: Buddha(white), Vajra(blue), Ratna(yellow), Padma(red) and Karma(green).

Buddha has the quality of All-encompassing space. If you ask a Buddha person which movie, he or she would respond 'Oh, either one'. It is not that you don't care. You just have no strong likes and dislikes.Your mode of being is even and does not tend to react to excitement. The neurosis of Buddha is dullness. Buddha neurosis ignores the vividness of life because it does not want to see.

The Vajra family is known for precision and intellectual exactness. If it were a Vajra person who asked the Buddha friend which film he would prefer, the attitude of the 'either one' would be puzzling and require investigation. 'How can you have no preference?'

Vajra neurosis tends to have a short fuse, ready to criticize or at least analyse what is wrong with an idea or situation. But the clarity of anger can turn into expressing intelligently and without blame concerns and insights. Finding a skillful way to express yourself without botteling it up or emoting all over the place.

The Ratna personality tends to be proud and loves to collect and draw in richness. Ratna literally means jewel or precious gem. Such a person enjoys being surrounded by companions. A Ratna lady's home may be like a comfortable fortress full of various rich collections. She can have the tendency to be prideful and to defend herself to maintain ego's way of doing things elaborately but can positively be inspired to be generous and hospitable to everyone in her world. She likes to give parties and spread abundance.

The Padma family is proactive and magnetizing. Padma literally means lotus. This family is connected with fire and the burning red of the setting sun. Many artists are of this family. They tend to be attractive and warm but Padma neurosis is prone to fascination and seduction, followed by desinterest because the desire is to attract more than to have. This neurotic form of passion can be transformed into genuine compassion and discriminating awareness instead of the cycle entrapment-rejection.

The Karma family, represented by a sword is the most efficient and active family. It literally means action or activity. Karma people like things to work, to be functional, to be timely. They are pragmatic, with a tendency towards competition. The neurosis of Karma is speed, restlessness and jealousy. Karma neurosis feels that if something is not functional or fit a predetermined scheme it should be destroyed. But again, recognizing this and slowing down, action can become appropriate. Then one can learn to delegate and this is the beginning of All-Accomplishing Action!

Have you allready discovered which energy in you is predominant? If you like to learn more about the five Buddha families I invite you to read this wonderful book!

#Buddha