Buddhist mythology

Buddhist mythology operates within the Buddhist belief system. It is a relatively broad mythology, as it was adopted and influenced by several diverse cultures such as of Gandhara. Later on, it also came to incorporate aspects from countries such as China and Japan. As such, it includes many aspects taken from other mythologies of those cultures. Saraswati is a Hindu Deva from Gandhara and the kami are considered to be local, Japanese bodhisattvas by many Japanese Buddhists).

One notable feature of Tibetan Buddhism and other Vajrayana traditions in particular is the use of Wrathful deities. While the deities have a hideous and ferocious appearance, they are not personifications of evil or demonic forces. The ferocious appearance of these deities is used to instill fear in evil spirits which threaten the Dharma.

Wrathful deities are used in worship and devotion with the practice dating to the 8th century having been instituted by Padmasambhava. The origin of these deities comes from mythology in Hinduism, Bon, or other folk deities.

The Yaksha are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. Having been worshiped in India since before the Vedic period, Hinduism adopted the worship of Yakshas like Kuber. Later their worship was adopted by Buddhism. In Jainism Yakshas were worshipped as Shasana Devatas from the beginning.

In Buddhism, it is believed that they reside deep within the Earth under the Himalayas where they guard the wealth of the Earth. The Yaksha are ruled over by Kubera, the Lord of wealth.

The Yidam, or Ishta-devata, is a personal meditation deity. The Sanskrit word iṣṭadevatā or iṣṭadevaḥ is defined by V. S. Apte as "a favorite god, one's tutelary deity." Though this term is used in many popular books on Buddhist Tantra, the term işţadevatā has not been attested in any Buddhist tantric text in Sanskrit. The unrelated Tibetan version of the term, possibly of entirely native origin, is yi-dam is said to be a contraction of Tib. yid-kyi-dam-tshig, meaning "samaya of mind"- in other words, the state of being indestructibly bonded with the inherently pure and liberated nature of mind.

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