Acala, "the immovable" (Sanskrit: Acalanatha; Tibetan: Miyowa; Japanese: Fudō Myōō), is a wrathful protector who removes obstacles and cuts through delusion. He is honoured in Tibetan Buddhism and above all in Japan, where he is one of the best-known Buddhist figures. His name and his rock seat stand for steadfastness: a mind that nothing can shake.
How he is shown
- Blue or dark, stocky and fierce, with fangs and a frowning brow. In many Japanese images one eye looks up and the other down, and one fang points up and the other down; this is sometimes explained as reaching up towards awakening and reaching down to help beings.
- His right hand holds an upright sword: the sword of wisdom, which cuts through greed, hatred and ignorance. In Japan a dragon is sometimes coiled around the blade.
- His left hand holds a rope, to bind harmful forces and to draw in those who are hard to tame.
- Flames behind him, the fire of wisdom. In Japan they are called the "garuda flames", after the mythical bird.
- A rock seat in Japanese images, on which he sits or stands, for unshakeable stillness. In Tibetan paintings he usually kneels on one knee or strides forward.
- A braid falling over his left shoulder in Japanese images, which also often show two boy attendants, Kongara and Seitaka.
His fierce face is not anger at beings. In Japan it is described as righteous anger at the falsehoods that lead people astray, from a deity who is, at heart, benevolent.
In India and Tibet
Acala first appears in Indian Buddhist texts as an attendant of the Buddha Vairocana, and later became a major deity in his own right. Tibetan tradition places him in the vajra family of Akshobhya, the "unshakeable" Buddha, and paints him blue, sword raised, the rope held at his heart with the index finger pointing in the threatening gesture. In the 11th century the Indian master Atisha popularised a standing form of Acala in Tibet, and in the Kadampa school that grew from Atisha's teaching he is one of four principal deities, together with Chenrezig and Tara. He is above all a remover of obstacles.
Fudō Myōō in Japan
In Japan Acala is Fudō Myōō, the foremost of the Five Wisdom Kings, the wrathful protectors of esoteric Buddhism, and he is regarded as a manifestation of the cosmic Buddha Dainichi (Vairocana). He is especially important in the Shingon school but is honoured across Japanese Buddhism, and his image there, seated on a rock before a wall of flames, has become the best-known image of Acala.
In a painting
Acala looks simple: one figure, a sword, a rope and a wall of flames. That simplicity leaves nowhere to hide. Look for a sword that stands truly straight, flames with rhythm and movement, a solid, compact body, and a face that is fierce but steady, with the eyes and fangs carefully placed. You can recognise him at a glance by the upright sword in his right hand, the rope in his left and the flames behind him. Some of our paintings show him in the Japanese manner, seated on a rock, and some add a landscape with a dragon and a phoenix among the clouds.
