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The Trikāya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally "Three bodies"; 三身 Chinese: Sānshēn Vietnamese:Tam

thân, Japanese: Sanjin or Sanshin, Tibetan:�་ག�མ, Wylie: sku gsum) is a MahayanaBuddhist teaching on both the

nature of reality and the nature of the Buddha.

Contents [hide]

1 Definition

2 Origins

2.1 Pāli Canon

2.2 Mahāyāna

3 Interpretation in Buddhist traditions

3.1 Chinese Mahayana

3.1.1 Pure Land

3.1.2 Chán

3.2 Tibetan Buddhism

3.2.1 Fourth Body - Svabhavikakaya

3.2.2 Dzogchen

3.2.3 Mahamudra

3.2.4 Anuyoga

3.2.5 Dakinis

3.3 Western Buddhism

3.3.1 Theosophy

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 Sources

8 External links

Definition [edit]

The doctrine says that a Buddha has three kāyas or bodies:

1. The Dharmakāya or Truth body which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or

boundaries;

2. The Sambhogakāya or body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation;

3. The Nirmāṇakāya or created body which manifests in time and space.[1]

Origins [edit]

Pāli Canon [edit]

Even before the Buddha's Parinirvāṇa the term Dharmakāya was current. Dharmakāya literally means Truth body,

or Reality body.

In the Pāli Canon the Buddha tells Vasettha that the Tathāgata (the Buddha) wasDharmakāya, the 'Truth-body' or the

'Embodiment of Truth', as well as Dharmabhuta, 'Truth-become', 'One who has become Truth' [2][3]

The Buddha is equated with the Dhamma:

... and the Buddha comforts him, "Enough, Vakkali. Why do you want to see this filthy body? Whoever

sees the Dhamma sees me; whoever sees me sees the Dhamma."[4]

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Putikaya, the "decomposing" body, is distinguished from the eternal Dhamma body of the Buddha and

the Bodhisattva body.

In the Aggañña Sutta the Buddha advises Vasettha that whoever has strong, deep rooted, and established belief in

the Tathagatha, he can declare that he is the child of Bhagavan, born from the mouth of Dhamma, created from

Dhamma, and the heir of Dhamma. Because the titles of the Tathagatha are: The Body of Dhamma, The Body of

Brahma, the Manifestation of Dhamma, and the Manifestation of Brahma.

Mahāyāna [edit]

The Dharmakāya-doctrine was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā(The Perfection of

Insight In Eight Thousand Verses), composed in the 1st century BCE.

Mahayan Buddhism introduced the Sambhogakāya, which conceptually fits between theNirmāṇakāya [note 1] and the

Dharmakaya. The Sambhogakaya is that aspect of the Buddha, or the Dharma, that one meets in visions and in deep

meditation. It could be considered an interface with the Dharmakaya.

The Trikaya-doctrine and the Tathagatagarbha bring the transcendental within reach, by placing the transcendental

within the plane of immanence.

Around 300 CE, the Yogacara school systematized the prevalent ideas on the nature of the Buddha in the Trikaya

or three-body doctrine.[5]

Interpretation in Buddhist traditions [edit]

Schools have different ideas about what the three bodies are.[6][7]

Chinese Mahayana [edit]

Pure Land [edit]

The Three Bodies of the Buddha from the point of view of Pure Land Buddhist thought can be broken down like so:[8]

The Nirmaṇakāya is a physical body of a Buddha. An example would be Gautama Buddha's body.

The Sambhogakāya is the reward-body, whereby a bodhisattva completes his vows and becomes a

Buddha. Amitābha, Vajrasattva and Manjushri are examples of Buddhas with the Sambhogakaya body.

The Dharmakāya is the embodiment of the truth itself, and it is commonly seen as transcending the forms of

physical and spiritual bodies. Vairocana Buddha is often depicted as the Dharmakāya, particularly in esoteric

Buddhist schools such as Shingon,Tendai and Kegon in Japan.

As with earlier Buddhist thought, all three forms of the Buddha teach the same Dharma, but take on different forms to

expound the truth.

Chán [edit]

According to Schloeg, in the Lin-ji yu-lu ("Zen teachings of Rinzai") the Three Bodies of the Buddha are not taken as

absolute. They would be "mental configurations" that "are merely names or props" and would only perform a role of

light and shadow of the mind.[9][note 2]

The Lin-ji yu-lu advises:

Do you wish to be not different from the Buddhas and patriarchs? Then just do not look for anything

outside. The pure light of your own heart [i.e., 心, mind] at this instant is the Dharmakaya Buddha in

your own house. The non-differentiating light of your heart at this instant is the Sambhogakaya Buddha

in your own house. The non-discriminating light of your own heart at this instant is the Nirmanakaya

Buddha in your own house. This trinity of the Buddha's body is none other than he here before your

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eyes, listening to my expounding the Dharma.[11]

Tibetan Buddhism [edit]

Fourth Body - Svabhavikakaya [edit]

Vajrayana sometimes refers to a fourth body, called the Svabhavikakaya (Tibetan: ང་ོབ་ོཉདི་�་ི�,Wylie: ngo bo nyid kyi

sku, THDL: ngo wo nyi kyi ku), meaning essential body.[12][13][14]

The Svabhavikakaya is simply the unity or non-separateness of the three kayas.[15]

The term Svabhavikakaya is also known in Gelug teaching, where it is one of the assumed two aspects of

dharmakaya: Essence Body/Svabhavikakaya and Wisdom Body or Body of Gnosis/Jnanakaya.[16]

Haribhadra (Seng-ge Bzang-po) claims, that Abhisamayalankara chapter 8 is describing Buddhahood through four

kayas: svabhavikakaya, [jnana]dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya.[17]

Dzogchen [edit]

In dzogchen teachings, "dharmakaya" means the buddha-nature's absence of self-nature, that is, its emptiness of a

conceptualizable essence, its cognizance or clarity is the sambhogakaya, and the fact that its capacity is 'suffused

with self-existing awareness' is the nirmanakaya.[18]

Mahamudra [edit]

The interpretation in Mahamudra is similar: when the mahamudra practices come to fruition, one sees that the mind

and all phenomena are fundamentally empty of any identity; this emptiness is called dharmakāya. The essence of

mind is seen as empty, yet having potential which takes the form of luminosity; the nature of the sambhogakāya is

understood to be this luminosity. The nirmanakāya is understood to be the powerful force with which the potentiality

effects living beings.[19]

Anuyoga [edit]

In the view of Anuyoga, the 'Mindstream' (Sanskrit: citta santana) is the 'continuity' (Sanskrit:santana; Wylie: rgyud)

that links the Trikaya.[1] The Trikāya, as a triune, is symbolised by the Gankyil.

Dakinis [edit]

A dakini (Sanskrit: डा�कनी ḍāk inī; Standard Tibetan: མཁའ་འ�་ོམ་ khandroma, Wylie: mkha' 'gro ma, TP: kanzhoima;

Chinese: 空行母) is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language,

dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the

term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'.

Dakinis can also be classified according to the Trikaya, or three bodies of a Buddha. Thedharmakāya dakini, which

is Samantabhadrī, represents the dharmadhatu where all phenomena appear. The sambhogakāya dakinis are

the yidams used as meditational deities for tantric practice. The nirmanakaya dakinis are human women born with

special potentialities, these are realized yogini, the consorts of the gurus, or even all women in general as they may

be classified into the five Buddha-families.[20]

Western Buddhism [edit]

Theosophy [edit]

In the 19th century Theosophy took an interest in Buddhism. It regarded Buddhism to contain esoteric teachings. In

those supposed esoteric teachings of Buddhism, "exoteric Buddhism" believes that Nirmanakaya simple means the

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physical body of Buddha. According to the esoteric interpretation, when the Buddha dies he assumes the

Nirmanakaya, instead of going into Nirvana. He remains in that glorious body he has woven for himself, invisible to

uninitiated mankind, to watch over and protect it.[21]