God of Time, Maya, Creation, Destruction and Power - Mahakala

Mahakala is a deity common to Hinduism and Buddhism. He is also being referred to as the God of Time, Maya, Creation, Destruction, and Power. 

In Buddhism, Mahakala is regarded as a Dharmapala ("Protector of the Dharma") and a wrathful manifestation of a Buddha, while in Hinduism, Mahakala is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and the consort of the goddess Mahakali he most prominently appears in the Kalikula sect of Shaktism. 

Mahakala appears as a protector deity in the various traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism, like Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism. He is known as  the Great Black One(大黑天)

Numerous traditions of Mahayana Buddhism rely on Mahakala as a guardian deity (Dharmapala, "Dharma protector"). 

Mahakala is one of the most popular protector deities in Tibetan Buddhism, and he is also sometimes used as a meditational deity (yidam) in tantric Buddhist yogas. 

He is depicted in a number of variations, each with distinctly different qualities and aspects. He is generally depicted as a wrathful deity. 

Mahakala is also an important deity in East Asian Buddhism, where he is generally known as a protector figure. In Japanese Buddhism, Mahakala transformed into a more friendly wealth and luck deity, known as Daikokuten. 

Mahakala is commonly regarded as the emanation of different beings in different cases, such as Hevajra, Vajradhara, Amitabha, and Avalokiteshvara or Akshobhya Buddha. Different tantric cycles, like Guhyasamaja and Chakrasamvara, each contain Mahakala as an emanation of their central Buddha deity. 

Mahakala is almost always depicted with a crown of five skulls, which represent the transmutation of the five klesas (negative afflictions) into the five wisdoms.

He also wears a garland consisting of fifty severed heads; the number fifty is in reference to the number of letters in the Sanskrit alphabet and is symbolic of the pure speech of Buddha. 

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For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisenMay it arise and not decrease. But increase further and further. 

Dedication of Merit 

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then. 

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoing. May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.
With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

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