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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. The Trikaya is symbolised by the Gankyil. Briefly the doctrine says that a Buddha has three ''kayas'' or ''bodies'': the ''nirmanakaya'' or ''created body'' which manifests in time and space; the ''sambhogakaya'' or ''body of mutual enjoyment'' which is an archetypal manifestation; and the ''Dharmakaya'' or ''reality body'' which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or boundaries.

Contents

Origins

Trikaya and Mahayana

Variations & qualifications

See also

References

Additional Sources

External links

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:^[1]

...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.

Trikaya and Mahayana

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:^[2]

★ The Niramanakaya 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 Dharamakaya, 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.

Variations & qualifications

Vajrayana sometimes refers to a fourth body, called the ''Svabhavikakaya''.

See also

★ Satchitananda

★ Rainbow body

References

1. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.5-6.than.html See footnote #3
2. A Raft from the Other Shore : Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism, , Sho-on, Hattori, Jodo Shu Press, 2001,

Additional Sources

★ Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 1, , David, Snellgrove, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1987,

★ Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Vol. 2, , David, Snellgrove, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1987,

External links

★ Khandro: The Three Kayas

★ Kagyu: The Three Kayas

★ 32 marks of the Buddha