Trikaya

File:Buddha1234.jpg

Statue of Gautama Buddha

The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, meaning "Three Bodies" of the Buddha) refers to an important Mahayana Buddhist teaching about the nature of awakening, which is said to be manifested in three different ways. According to this doctrine, a Buddha has three kayas or bodies that reconcile the various (potentially conflicting) teachings about the Buddha. These bodies are known as: 1) the nirmanakaya ( created body), which manifests in time and space; 2) the sambhogakaya (body of mutual enjoyment), which is an archetypal manifestation; and, 3) the Dharmakaya (reality body), which embodies the very principle of enlightenment knowing no limits or boundaries.

The number "three" is a significant number in human history and cosmological understanding. It is an interesting historic fact that the number three has such positive symbolic resonance across different cultures and religions. For example, Christian theologians formulated the concept of the Trinity, while Hindu pundits also speak of the Trimurti (the three main forms of God).

The Trikaya doctrine became an important part of Mahayana teaching by the 4th century CE.

Origins

Buddhism has always recognized more than one Buddha. In the Pali Canon twenty-eight previous Buddhas are mentioned, and Gautama Buddha, the historical Buddha, is simply the Buddha who has appeared in our world age. Even before the Buddha's Parinirvana the term Dharmakaya was current. Dharmakaya literally means Truth body, or Reality body. However all of these Buddha are unified in two ways: firstly they share similar special characteristics. All Buddhas have the 32 major marks, and the 80 minor marks of a superior being. These marks are not necessarily physical, but are talked about as bodily features. They include the 'ushinisha' or a bump on the top of the head; hair tightly curled; a white tuft of hair between the eyes, long arms that reach to their knees, long fingers and toes that are webbed; his penis is completely covered by his foreskin; images of an eight-spoked wheel on the soles of their feet etc. Clearly if these were physical marks the Buddha would have been a strange looking individual. But since not everyone was able to discern these marks on him, we can assume that they were either metaphorical, or a psychic phenomenon.

The other thing that all Buddhas have in common, is the Dharma that they teach, which is identical in each case.

In the Pali Canon The Buddha tells Vasettha that the Tathagata (the Buddha) was Dharmakaya, the 'Truth-body' or the 'Embodiment of Truth', as well as Dharmabhuta, 'Truth-become', that is, 'One who has become Truth' (Digha Nikaya).

On another occasion, Ven. Vakkali, who was ill, wanted to see the Buddha before the passed away from old age. The text from the Samyutta Nikaya (SN 22.87) is as follows:

"...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."

Similarly in this same text, the term Putikaya meaning "decomposing" body is distinguished from the eternal Dhamma body of the Buddha and of course the Bodhisat body. So in the Tipitika we have the following early Trikaya parallels which were never formally taught as "trikaya" in a singular framework as it later became in the Mahayana and found in later Mahayana sutras expounded as a complete doctrine of Trikaya:

• Putikaya - the material body of the Buddha that is used to teach and is present amongst us, but is subject to decay.
• Bodhisat - the reward body marked with the 32 marks of a great man, these marks are present in the Bodhisat and identifiable from birth in the Tipitika. This is the body which gains enlightenment.
• Dhammakaya - the eternal body of the Buddha.

In the Pali Canon The Buddha tells Vasettha that the Tathagata (the Buddha) is Dhamma-kaya, the 'Truth-body' or the 'Embodiment of Truth', as well as Dharmabhuta, 'Truth-become', that is, 'One who has become Truth' (Digha Nikaya). On another occasion, the Buddha told Vakkali:'He who sees the Dhamma (Truth) sees the Tathagata, he who sees the Tathagata sees the Dhamma (Samyutta Nikaya). That is to say, the Buddha is equal to Truth, and all Buddhas are one and the same, being no different from one another in the Dharma-kaya, because Truth is one.'

During the Buddha's life great reverence and veneration was shown towards him by persons from the highest to the lowest social classes. The Buddha understood that this veneration was sometimes misguided based on superficialities and appearances and he warned people against turning him into an object of worship. Thus he forbade carvings and sculptures that represented his physical form. Nonetheless, a mythology developed concerning the physical characteristics of Universal Buddhas. In the Pali scriptures it is claimed that all Buddhas have the 32 major marks, and the 80 minor marks of a superior being. These marks are not necessarily physical, but are talked about as bodily features. They include the 'ushinisha' or a bump on the top of the head; hair tightly curled; a white tuft of hair between the eyes, long arms that reach to their knees, long fingers and toes that are webbed; his penis is completely covered by his foreskin; images of an eight-spoked wheel on the soles of their feet, forty teeth, etc. Clearly if these were physical marks the Buddha would have been a strange looking individual. But since not everyone was able to discern these marks on him, we can assume that they were either metaphorical, or a psychic phenomenon.

After the Buddha's Parinirvana a distinction was made between the Buddhas physical body, rupakaya; and his Dharmakaya aspect. This was an understandable and necessary development. As the Buddha told Vakkali, he was a living example of the 'Truth' of the Dharma. Without that form to relate to, the Buddha's followers could only relate to the Dharmakaya aspect of him. Despite the growth of the stupa cult in which the remains, or relics, of enlightened beings were worshipped, Buddhism sees such things as symbols of the Truth, rather than the Truth itself.

Later Mahayana Buddhists were concerned with the transcendent aspect of the Dharma. So therefore if the Dharma is transcendental, totally beyond space and time, then so is the Dharmakaya. One response to this was the development of the Tathagatagarbha Doctrine. Another was the introduction of the Sambhogakaya which conceptually fits between the Nirmanakaya (which is what the Rupakaya came to be called according in the Buddhist Canon) and the Dharmakaya.

The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally "Three bodies or personalities"; 三身 Chinese: Sānshén, Japanese: sanjin) is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. By the 4th century CE the Trikaya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know. Briefly the doctrine says that a Buddha has three 'bodies': the nirmana-kaya or created body which manifests in time and space; the sambhoga-kaya or body of mutual enjoyment which is an archetypal manifestation; and the Dharma-kaya or 'Reality body' which 'embodies' the very principle of enlightenment and is omnipresent and boundless.

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. What it does, and what the Tathagatagarbha doctrine also does, is bring the transcendental within reach, it makes it immanent.

Description of Bodies

2. The Sambhogakāya (Sanskrit: "body of enjoyment", Tib: longs.sku) is the supramundane form that a fully enlightened Buddha appears in following the completion of his career as a Bodhisattva. This body is an ideal form, similar to that seen in Buddhist iconography and in meditational visualizations, of a human figure manifesting all of the thirty-two marks of a Buddha. The place where the Sambhogakāya body appears is an extra-cosmic realm called Akaniṣṭha, similar to but perhaps distinct from the Akaniṣṭha that is the highest realm of the Śuddhāvāsa devas.

3. The Dharmakaya (lit. Truth Body or Reality Body) is a central concept in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was first expounded in the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra (The Lotus Sutra), composed in the first century B.C.E. It constitutes the unmanifested aspect of a Buddha out of which Buddhas and indeed all phenomena arise and to which they return after their dissolution. Buddhas are manifestations of the Dharmakaya called Nirmanakayas. Unlike ordinary unenlightened persons, Buddhas (and arhats) do not die (though their physical bodies undergo the cessation of biological functions and subsequent disintegration). In the Lotus Sutra (sixth fascicle) Buddha explains that he has always and will always exist to lead beings to their salvation. This eternal aspect of Buddha is the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya may be considered the most sublime or truest reality in the Universe corresponding closely to the post-Vedic conception of Brahman and that of the Father in the Christian Trinity.

Mahayana Perspectives

Later Mahayana Buddhists were concerned with the transcendent aspect of the Dharma. One response to this was the development of the Tathagatagarbha Doctrine. Another was the introduction of the Sambhogakaya, which conceptually fits between the Rupakaya, now renamed Nirmanakaya and the Dharmakaya.

The Three Bodies of the the Buddha in Mahayana thought can be broken down like so:

• The Nirmanakaya is the historical, physical Buddha
• The Samboghakaya is the reward-body, whereby a bodhisattva completes his vows and becomes a Buddha. Amitabha is traditionally seen as a Samboghakaya.
• The Dharmakaya is the embodiment of the truth itself. Vairocana Buddha is often depicted as the incomprehensible Dharmakaya, particularly in esoteric Buddhist schools such as Shingon 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.

Other Views

Vajrayana sometimes refers to a fourth body, called the Svabhavikakaya (Tib. ngo wo nyi kyi ku), engl. meaning is body of essence, or essential. In the book Embodiment of Buddhahood Chapter 4 the subject is: Embodiment of Buddhahood in its Own Realization: Yogacara Svabhavikakaya as Projection of Praxis and Gnoseology.

Characteristics of the Buddha

Physical characteristics

Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics. He was at least six feet tall. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "The 32 Signs of the Great Man."

Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the first century C.E. (see Buddhist Art), his physical characteristics are described by Yasodhara to his son Rahula in one of the central texts of the traditional Pali canon, the Digha Nikaya. They help define the global aspect of the historical Buddha.

Having been born a kshatriya, he was probably of Indo-Aryan ethnic heritage and had the physical characteristics most common to the Aryan warrior castes of south-central Asia, typically found among the Vedic Aryans, Scythians and Persians. This stands in contrast to the depictions of him as East Asian looking, which are generally created by Buddhists in those areas, similar to the way Northern Europeans often portray the Semitic Jesus as blonde and blue-eyed.

Spiritual realizations

All traditions hold that a Buddha has completely purified his mind of greed, aversion, and ignorance, and that he has put an end to samsara. A Buddha is fully awakened and has realized the ultimate truth of life (dharma), and thus ended (for himself) the suffering which unawakened people experience in life. Also, a Buddha is complete in all spiritual powers that a human being can develop, and possesses them in the highest degree possible.

Nine characteristics

Buddhists meditate on (or contemplate) the Buddha as having nine excellent qualities:

The Blessed One is:

1. a worthy one
2. perfectly self enlightened
3. stays in perfect knowledge
4. well gone
5. unsurpassed knower of the world
6. unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed
7. teacher of the Divine Gods and humans
8. the Enlightened One
9. the Blessed One or fortunate one

These nine characteristics are frequently mentioned in the Pali canon, and are chanted daily in many Buddhist monasteries.

The Nature of Buddha

The various Buddhist schools hold some varying interpretations on the nature of Buddha.

Pali canon: Buddha was human

From the Pali canon emerges the view that Buddha was human, endowed with the greatest psychic powers (Kevatta Sutta). The body and mind (the five khandhas) of a Buddha are impermanent and changing, just like the body and mind of ordinary people. However, a Buddha recognizes the unchanging nature of the Dharma, which is an eternal principle and an unconditioned and timeless phenomenon. This view is common in the Theravada school, and the other early Buddhist schools. However, the Buddha did not deny the existence of Gods, who feature in his biography, only that they can help one escape samsara. They can grant worldly favors, though. Buddhism has thus been characterized as a "self-help" system—people have to "wake up" themselves; no savior-type figure will do this for them.

Eternal Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism

Some schools of Mahayana Buddhism believe that the Buddha is no longer essentially a human being but has become a being of a different order altogether, and that the Buddha, in his ultimate transcendental "body/mind" mode as Dharmakaya, has an eternal and infinite life. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha declares: "Nirvana is stated to be eternally abiding. The Tathagata [Buddha] is also thus, eternally abiding, without change." This is a particularly important metaphysical and soteriological doctrine in the Lotus Sutra and the Tathagatagarbha sutras. According to the Tathagatagarbha sutras, failure to recognize the Buddha's eternity and—even worse—outright denial of that eternity, is deemed a major obstacle to the attainment of complete awakening (bodhi).

Types of Buddhas

Since Buddhahood is open to all, the Buddhist scriptures distinguish various types or grades of Buddhas.

In the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, there are considered to be two types of Buddhas: Samyaksambuddha (Pali: Sammasambuddha) and Pratyeka Buddha (Pali: Paccekabuddha).

Samyaksambuddhas attain Buddhahood and decide to teach others the truth that he or she has discovered. They lead others to awakening by teaching the dharma in a time or world where it has been forgotten or has not been taught before. The Historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is considered a Samyaksambuddha.

Pratyekabuddhas, sometimes called “Silent Buddhas,” are similar to Samyaksambuddhas in that they attain Nirvana and acquire the same powers as a Sammasambuddha does, but they choose not to teach what they have discovered. They are second to the Buddhas in their spiritual development. They do ordain others; their admonition is only in reference to good and proper conduct (abhisamācārikasikkhā).

Some scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism (and one twelfth-century Theravadin commentary) distinguish three types of Buddhas. The third type, called a Shravakabuddha, describes the enlightened disciple.

Shravakabuddhas (Pali: Savakbuddha or Anubuddha) are disciples of a Sammasambuddha, meaning shravakas (hearers or followers) or arhants (noble ones). These terms have slightly varied meanings but can all be used to describe the enlightened disciple. Anubuddha is a rarely used term, but was used by the Buddha in the Khuddakapatha as to those who become Buddhas after being given instruction. Enlightened disciples attain Nirvana just as the two types of Buddhas do. However, the most generally used term for them is “arhant.”

In this case, however, the common definition of the meaning of the word Buddha (as one who discovers the Dhamma without a teacher) does not apply anymore.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Makransky, John J. Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet, Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0791434321
• Snellgrove, David (1987). Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 1. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc.. ISBN 0 87773 311 2. 
• Snellgrove, David (1987). Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 2. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc.. ISBN 0 87773 379 1. 
• Xin, Guang. The Concept of the Buddha; Its evolution from early Buddhism to the trikaya theory. Taylor & Francis, 2007.

External links

• Khandro: The Three Kayas Retrieved Dec. 5, 2007.

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