Trikāya Skt., lit. “three bodies”; refers to the three bodies possessed by a buddha according to the Mahāyāna view. The basis of this teaching is the conviction that a buddha is one with the absolute and manifests in the relative world in order to work for the welfare of all beings. The three bodies are:
I . Dharmakāya (body of the great order); the true nature of the Buddha, which is identical with transcendental reality, the essence of the universe. The Dharmakāya is the unity of the Buddha with everything existing. At the same time it represents the “law” (dharma), the teaching expounded by the Buddha.
2. Sambhogakāya (“body of delight”); the body of buddhas who in a “buddha-paradise” enjoy the truth that they embody.
3. Nirmānakāya (“body of transformation”); the earthly body in which buddhas appear to men in order to fulfill the buddhas’ resolve to guide all beings to liberation.
The dharmakāya was initially identified with the teaching expounded by the historical Buddha Shākyamuni. Only later was it brought together with the other two bodies to form a series. It is timeless, permanent, devoid of characteristics, free from all duality; it is the spiritual body of the buddhas, their true nature, which all buddhas have in common. Various names are applied to the dharmakāya depending on whether it is being taken as the true nature of being (dharmatā, dharmadhātu, tathatā, bhūtatathatā, shūnyatā, ālaya-vijñāna) or as the true nature of the buddhas (buddhatā., buddha-nature, tathāgatagarbha). In many schools the dharmakaya is regarded as something impersonal, in others as something personal (for example, Lankāvatāra-sūtra, Buddhāvatamsaka-sūtra). The dharmakāya is realized through prajñā.
The sambhogakāya is the result of previous good actions and is realized, as a result of a bodhisattva’s accumulated merit, in enlightenment. It exhibits the thirty-two major marks (dvātrimshadvara-lakshana) and the eighty minor marks of a buddha and can be perceived only by bodhisattvas who have attained the last stage (bhūmi) of a bodhisattva’s development. This “body of delight” represents the Buddha as an object of devotion. The descriptions of the buddhas introduced in the Mahāyāna sūtras refer to this aspect. The buddhas in their sambhogakāya manifestations populate the buddha-fields (Sukhāvati, Abhirati); to be reborn in these buddha fields is the hope of many Buddhists (Pure Land school, Jōdo-shū).
The nirmānakāya is embodied in the earthly buddhas and bodhisattvas projected into the world through the meditation of the sambhogakāya buddhas as a result of their compassion. The task of the nirmānakāya manifestations is to expound the teaching. They are guides on the way to liberation from suffering, but cannot bring beings to this liberation directly. Like all human beings, they are subject to the misery of illness, old age, and death, but possess the divine eye and divine hearing. The individuality of nirmānakāya buddhas dissolves after their deaths.
The teaching of the three bodies of a buddha seems to have first reached full development with Asanga, but derives originally from the views of the Mahāsānghikas, who did much to shape Mahāyāna Buddhology. For them the emphasis was on the supramundane, absolute nature of a buddha; the figure of the historical Buddha faded increasingly into the background. The buddha is physically and spiritually pure, possesses eternal life and limitless power. Buddhas as experienced by human beings are, according to this view, only magical projections of mind, which appear among men in order to liberate them.
The notion of endless space filled with countless worlds plays a major role in the development of this doctrine. In order for all the beings in all the worlds to be liberated, the number of liberators must be greatly increased. This explains the great number of bodhisattvas.
In Zen the three bodies of buddha are three levels of reality, which stand in reciprocal relationship to each other and constitute a whole. The dharmakāya (Jap., hosshin) is the cosmic consciousness, the unified existence that lies beyond all concepts. This substrate, characterized by completion and perfection, out of which all animate and inanimate forms as well as the moral order arise, is embodied in Vairochana (Jap., Birushana).
The sambhogakāya (Jap., hōjin) is the experience of the ecstasy of enlightenment, of the dharma-mind of the Buddha and the patriarchs, and of the spiritual practices transmitted by them. It is symbolized by Amitābha (Jap., Amida).
The nirmānakāya (Jap., ōjin) is the radiant, transformed buddha-body personified by Shākyamuni Buddha.
The reciprocal relationship between the three bodies is illustrated in Zen by the following analogy: the dharmakāya can be compared to medical knowledge; the sambhogakāya to the education of the doctor through which he gains this knowledge; and the nirmānakāya to the application of this knowledge in treating patients, who through it are changed from sick to healthy persons.
In the Vajrayāna the trikāya concept serves to express different experiential levels of enlightenment. The dharmakāya stands for the fundamental truth of emptiness (shūnyatā), the all-pervading supreme reality, enlightenment itself. The sambhogakāya and the nirmānakāya, the “form bodies,” are seen as means for conveying the experience of the absolute. In Tibetan Buddhism, the body, speech, and mind of the master (guru) are equated with the three bodies and symbolized by the mantra om ah hum.
The all-pervading and all-embracing power of the dharmakāya is here embodied as Samantabhadra. The mahāmudrā and dzogchen teachings are intended to lead to this holistic experience of the limitless openness of mind. The sambhogakāya represents the qualities of the dharmakāya and is considered to arise directly out of it. Its forms are expressed in iconography as the five buddhakulas, which in sādhanas, as visualized deities, become a means of communication with the highest reality. This “body of delight” can manifest in either peaceful or wrathful forms (forms of manifestation), including the various yidams and dharmapālas.
The nirmānakāya is the intentional embodiment of the dharmakāya in human form . Though in Mahāyāna this generally means the historical Buddha Shākyamuni, in the Vajrayāna the nirmānakāya is any person who possesses the spiritual capabilities of a teacher who has previously died (tulku).
The three bodies are not different entities but rather constitute a unity that is called the svābhāvikakāya (“essence body”). In certain Tantras, a further level of experience is described-the emotional fulfillment of existence or mahāsukhakāya (“body of great bliss”).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Trikāya documents
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