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In Vajrayana Buddhism, a Yidam (Tibetan) or Ishta-devata (Sanskrit) is a fully enlightened being who is the focus of personal meditation, during a retreat or for life. The term is often translated into English as meditational deity.

The Tonglen and Mind Training Site (2007) defines Yidam in relation to Buddha-nature, patron saint, power animal, totem and fairy godmother as follows:

Visualized representative of your enlightened energy, or Buddha-nature. Tricky concept for Westerners; closest concept might be that of a patron saint in Catholicism, except that a yidam is not a historical figure and is not necessarily supposed to 'exist' in the same way human beings do. Other related concepts might be a totem or power animal in the Native American tradition, or even the fairy godmother in children's tales.^[1]

Brennan (2006) links "yidam" to "tulpa" (Tibetan) and its English rendering "thoughtform" as well as the sacred architecture of their instrumentation, the magic circle (Tibetan: kylkhor; kyil khor).^[2]

A Yidam is an enlightened being with whom one identifies during meditation: one perceives his or her own Buddha nature through such identification. Some common Yidams include Hayagriva, Vajrakilaya (Dorje Phurba), Samputa, Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, Hevajra, Kurukulle, Cakrasamvara, Vajrayogini, and Kalachakra. Also, other enlightened beings such as the regular forms of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Guru Rinpoche, certain Dharmapalas, Wealth Deities, and yab-yum representations, among others, can also be practiced as a Yidam.

Yidams are both a specific Buddha-form and the student's basic nature or potential to become a Buddha. The student visualizes the outstanding characteristics of the yidam until he achieves complete union with it. The yidam, which can be masculine or feminine, may refer to the personal deity, the nature of which corresponds to the individual psychological temper of each adept.

Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Manjusri and particularly Kalachakra, Hevajra and consort Nairatmya, Heruka-Chakrasamvara and consort Vajravarahi, etc. are frequently chosen as Yidam, but any deity of the tantric pantheon may be adopted as such. The yidam is used as a means or a goal of transformation towards full enlightenment. According to certain traditions, the yidam are considered as the emanation of the adept's own mind. The term yi-dam is said to be a contraction of Tib. yid-kyi-dam-tshig^{[citation needed]}, meaning "samaya of mind"- in other words, the state of being indestructibly bonded with the inherently pure and liberated nature of mind.

• Five Dhyani Buddhas
• Thoughtform
• Wisdom Kings

1. ^ Source: [1] (accessed: December 6, 2007)
2. ^ Brennan, Herbie (2006). "How to Make a Ghost: Magic and Mysticism in Tibet". New Dawn Magazine. No. 96 (May-June 2006). Source: [2] (accessed: December 6, 2007

• A View on Buddhism - Tantric practice
• Songs and Meditations of the Tibetan Dhyani Buddhas