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Someone posted on an online Buddhist forum, and said that they did not understand the three bodies teaching (the “Triakaya”)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wikipedia describes this teaching as follows:<\/p>\n “The doctrine says that a Buddha has three kayas or bodies:<\/p>\n So, what does that<\/em> all mean?\u00a0 It is perhaps understandable that it is difficult for people who are not Buddhist scholars to make heads or tails of this teaching.<\/p>\n But “The Three Bodies” is one those old-tyme-y religious-y Buddhist teachings that seem dry and inaccessible when we first hear about them, but are so juicy and informative when we finally do get it.\u00a0 So, I responded online and said that my understanding of the kayas is as follows:<\/p>\n Originally, the Three Bodies were considered three different spiritual forms that the historical Buddha<\/a>, the guy that we call “The Buddha”, could take.\u00a0 Manifesting as three different types of bodies – one composed of Pure Truth, one of blissful light, and one as a physical body – was considered to be one of his mythical miraculous powers, like his \u201call seeing wisdom eye\u201d or some such. As Buddhism got more religious, around the time of the Christ and the rise of the\u00a0Mahayana school<\/a> of Buddhist, however, mythical God-like Buddhas of past, future, and other realms became part of the worship, and they were also seen as being able to take on those three bodies.<\/p>\n Eventually, though, the three bodies became something different\u00a0 than simply just three different bodily forms that a Buddha could take.\u00a0 They grew to have a wider meaning, a metaphysical description of different levels of reality:<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big> The “Nirmanakaya” is manifest reality: our bodies, the food we eat and the air we breathe, other people, trees, mountains, june bugs, computers, Toyotas, hamburgers, clouds, paper clips, oceans, chicken mcnuggets, sprained ankles, bills to pay, Tom Hanks movies, half off dinner specials, nuclear reactors, MC Hammer CDs, galaxies, etc.\u00a0 It’s everything that we see, feel, hear, smell, and touch.<\/p>\n In the mystical branch of Hinduism (Advaita Vedanta<\/a>), this is known as “jagrata”, or the state of “waking” – it is the world that we encounter when we are awake.\u00a0 In Christianity, the symbol for this realm is “Jesus the Christ” – Divinity in human form, able to be seen, heard, and touched.<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big> The “Sambodakaya” is the level of psychic experiences: dreams, visions, psychic powers<\/a>, visionary journeys, gods and goddesses, angels, and demons.\u00a0 It is the realm where everything is fluid and trippy, swirling and vibrating.<\/p>\n In Advaita, this is known as “svapna”, or “dreaming”.\u00a0 In Christianity, it is “The Holy Spirit” – the subtle, uncapturable Divine energy bubbling and flowing through all things.<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big>\u00a0The “Dharmakaya” is The Absolute.<\/p>\n Part of the aspect of the Dharmakaya is what in Christianity is called “God”, and what in Advaita is called “Turiya” – Pure Absolute Consciousness and Pure Absolute Love, the cosmic-Meta Mind, the mysterious Source of All That Is, the Dreamer of the World-Dream.<\/p>\n Another way of talking about the Dharmakaya is what is called in Buddhism “Shunyata<\/a>“, or Zero, nothingness, and The Cosmic Void. In Advaita, this is called “susupti”, or dreamless sleep.\u00a0 What is real to us when we are in dreamless sleep?\u00a0 What is a dream made out of, and where does a dream happen?\u00a0 If “God” does not exist, then what is “God” made out of?\u00a0 Nothing, a void.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, that’s an … interesting<\/em> way of looking at things.<\/p>\n How do the three fit together?\u00a0 Well, to (over)simplify things, my understanding is:<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big>\u00a0Many of us grow bored just living in the Nirmanakaya, everyday life.\u00a0 So, we take drugs, have sex, get “runner’s high”, and alter consciousness in other ways trying to have an experience of the trippy realm of the Sambodakaya.\u00a0 This is also the path of many traditional Shamanistic religons.<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big>\u00a0In the path of the arahant<\/a> in\u00a0Theravada<\/a> (“Vipassana”) Buddhism, as with Western Monotheism, the goal is to leave the Nirmanakaya, drill through the Sambhogakaya as quickly and with as few detours as possible, and manifest the deepest level of the Dharmakaya as rapidly as possible, and then to never come back.<\/p>\n \u2022<\/big>\u00a0The path of the Bodhisattva<\/a> in\u00a0Zen<\/a> Buddhism, and the path of the gnani in Advaita, is to do the same as the adhant in Theravada Buddhism, except to not just stay in the Dharamkaya once arrived.\u00a0 The ideal in Zen or Advaita is to travel back and forth between Nirmanakaya, the Sambodakaya, and the Dharmakaya, without any preference, clinging, viscosity, or friction, so as to help other beings to also wake up from the dream of just being caught in the Nirmanakaya.<\/p>\n This is illustrated in the famous Zen series ox herding picture series<\/a>, where the seeker practices on a more and more deep and subtle level until he disappears into the Cosmic Void of the Dharmakaya.\u00a0 The wise man then comes back into the world, however, as a jolly friendly fellow full of kindness and wisdom.<\/p>\n\n
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