From our other sites
The story
A thread on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board asking about the difference between “bodhisattva,” “nyorai (Buddha),” “Shaka,” and “Kannon” turned into a crowdsourced lecture on Buddhist hierarchy. Posters explained a four-tier ranking — Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Kings, and Devas — with Dainichi Nyorai at the very top and Shaka Nyorai, Yakushi Nyorai, and Amida Nyorai each handling their own role beneath him. But whether bodhisattvas count as “Buddhas,” and how Jizo Bodhisattva relates to Kannon Bodhisattva, sparked disagreement from post to post, with corrections and pushback flying throughout the thread.
What people said
"Nyorai" is just another word for Buddha
Shaka and Kannon (Avalokiteshvara) are individual names
Bodhisattvas are Buddhas too, you know
Buddhas (Nyorai)
Bodhisattvas
Wisdom Kings
Devas ← that's tier 4, they're outsiders after all
Well, in 5.67 billion years he becomes a Buddha, so…
The Buddhist hierarchy from the top: Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Kings, Devas
Wisdom Kings and Devas are the armed ranks that guard against enemies of the faith
Ashura is one of the Eight Legions, so he counts as a Deva
Ashura was originally a Hindu god
who ended up surrendering to Buddhism
so he's at the bottom tier
probably
But when Kannon Bodhisattva switches into battle mode,
she copies the form of Ashura, the god of war, to fight
That's the "Ashura Kannon"
probably
Like a warrior monk or something?
More like an imperial guard than mercenaries
The elite of the Buddhist world
Besides the Eight Legions, the Devas also include heavy hitters like the Four Heavenly Kings and the Twelve Divine Generals
My mistake
You're right, they're basically like warrior monks
And the battle mode is Ashura Kannon?
Kannon takes on all sorts of forms to save sentient beings,
so there are statues of her in all kinds of guises
So basically "[X] Kannon" just refers to different forms of the same underlying Kannon?
"Foul-Mouthed Kannon" sounds like she'd be built for online flame wars
also known as Rushana Butsu, who presides over the entire universe
That's the Great Buddha of Nara
Amida Nyorai saves souls in the afterlife
That's the Great Buddha of Kamakura
Where does Shaka (the historical Buddha) rank, roughly?
Kind of like Zeus and Hades
Shaka — i.e. Shaka Nyorai — is one of the Four Great Buddhas alongside Dainichi Nyorai, Yakushi Nyorai, and Amida Nyorai
Dainichi Nyorai tops even that group; the other three are equals
This is really hazy knowledge, but
if Shaka is like Christ or Muhammad,
then Dainichi Nyorai is like God — basically Yahweh — right?
Pretty much, though the difference is Dainichi Nyorai isn't a sole god like Yahweh or Allah
Each Buddha has a distinct role
Shaka Nyorai = spreads the Buddha's teachings to the people
Yakushi Nyorai = governs health, protecting people from illness and injury
Amida Nyorai = saves people after death and in the next life
Honestly, Shaka Nyorai
was really just a device to fold Shaka and early Buddhism into the later religion,
so I don't think there's much real hierarchy to it
I've never seen it clearly ranked anywhere
I see
Now that you mention it, Shinto gods work the same way — Amaterasu is treated as identical to Dainichi Nyorai, and Hachiman is identified with Amida Nyorai
That's a case of shinbutsu-shugo (Shinto-Buddhist syncretism)
Like how Aphrodite in Greek myth was considered equivalent to Venus in Roman myth — objects of worship with similar roles got treated as the same being
Well, Jizo Bodhisattva is also said to be one of Kannon Bodhisattva's incarnations
No way that's true
It's complicated. Taken in the narrowest sense, "Buddha" means just the Buddha himself — Shaka Nyorai alone. But other accomplished practitioners said to have attained enlightenment the same way as the Buddha were also called Nyorai and treated as Buddhas.
Beyond that, there's a long history of bodhisattvas who haven't become Nyorai but are close to it — Miroku Bodhisattva especially, since he's foretold to be the next to complete his training — along with many other objects of worship, being popularly treated as "Buddhas" in the broad sense, even if that's technically inaccurate.
Though exactly how far that extends varies a bit by sect.
If they're not Buddhas, then what exactly are bodhisattvas?
So even Shiva, the strongest god in Hinduism, gets demoted pretty far down the ranks as Daikokuten
Like I wrote above, that's because Buddhism absorbed the Hindu gods and slotted them in as revered but subordinate figures (though some of those gods became bodhisattvas or Wisdom Kings, and some Nyorai are also said to trace back to Hindu gods)
But ranking low on paper doesn't mean low in popularity — it's common for a Deva to be far more beloved than some Nyorai who's technically ranked higher but feels totally unrelatable
→ An actual historical person who lived in India
→ Called "Shaka Nyorai" because he attained enlightenment.
Kannon
→ A bodhisattva known as Kannon Bodhisattva.
→ Worshipped as a being who saves those who suffer.
Nyorai
→ The group name for "Buddhas who have completed enlightenment."
Bodhisattva
→ A being who "strives toward enlightenment while saving others."
So which one is "the Buddha" then?
Go read the Heart Sutra
Moderation in all things is what matters most
Pushing yourself too hard is no good
Just saying
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The four-tier classification of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Kings, and Devas comes mainly from how figures are positioned in the mandalas of Esoteric Buddhism (the Shingon school) — it isn’t an official hierarchy shared across all Buddhist sects. The claim that Miroku Bodhisattva will become a Buddha in 5.67 billion years traces back to the “Miroku descent” belief, which holds that Miroku (Maitreya) will be reborn in the far-distant future, long after Shakyamuni’s death, and attain enlightenment there. The idea raised in the thread that Amaterasu is identified with Dainichi Nyorai, and Hachiman with Amida Nyorai, reflects shinbutsu-shugo, the historical framework blending Shinto and Buddhism that was widespread before the Meiji-era decree separating the two religions. On the other hand, claims like “Ashura Kannon” or “Jizo Bodhisattva is an incarnation of Kannon Bodhisattva” are folk notions not found in standard Buddhist scholarship — as posters themselves pointed out and corrected within the thread — so they shouldn’t be taken at face value.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyo G”) thread “The difference between “bodhisattva,” “nyorai (Buddha),” “Shaka,” and “Kannon”.”
Leave a Reply