The Three Bodies of a Buddha: Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya

Dharmakaya: The Body of Truth

The term “body” implies accumulation. Ordinary beings accumulate karmic consequences to form their bodies, experiencing the effects of their actions and perceiving the physical body composed of the four elements. In contrast, a Buddha has exhausted all karma and emptied all consciousness, possessing only a pure form, a body of wondrous essence. The Dharmakaya, or “Body of Truth,” is the accumulation of principle, the embodiment of the wonderful principle of Suchness (真如, zhēnrú). Suchness is complete purity, pervading all places; the Dharmakaya encompasses the vastness of space and the limitlessness of the universe. In Sanskrit, it’s called Vairochana, which translates to “pervading all places.” The pure Dharmakaya is like the void, complete and ubiquitous throughout the ten directions. The Dharmakaya is of two types: the self-nature pure Dharmakaya and the immaculate, wondrous, ultimate Dharmakaya. The self-nature pure Dharmakaya is the innate Buddha-nature possessed by all beings. In sentient beings, this is called Buddha-nature, and in non-sentient beings, it’s known as Dharma-nature. As the sutras say, “Sentient and non-sentient share one body; everywhere is the same true Dharma realm.” The immaculate, wondrous, ultimate Dharmakaya is attained by a Buddha through dedicated practice, overcoming the five afflictions and severing the two kinds of birth and death (the birth and death of ordinary beings and the birth and death of enlightened beings). This culminates in the realization of supreme enlightenment and the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood. A Chan Master, Xiangyan, upon hearing the sound of bamboo striking, suddenly realized enlightenment, proclaiming, “The striking bamboo is not something else, it is not dust horizontally or vertically, mountains, rivers and the earth are all manifestations of the Dharma King.” Su Dongpo said: “The sound of the stream is the long, wide tongue; the color of the mountains is none other than the pure body.” The pure body is the Dharmakaya Buddha.

Sambhogakaya: The Body of Bliss

The Sambhogakaya, or “Body of Bliss,” is the accumulation of wisdom, the embodiment of all-knowing wisdom. It is the complete and perfect wisdom where delusion and ignorance have been utterly eradicated. The Sanskrit term, Rocana, is translated to mean “pure and full,” representing wisdom that is both pure and complete. The Sambhogakaya is divided into the self-enjoyment Sambhogakaya and the other-enjoyment Sambhogakaya. The self-enjoyment Sambhogakaya is the Buddha’s wisdom and virtue, complete and supreme, having abandoned the two kinds of birth and death, realizing the joy of enlightenment, and the bliss of Nirvana. This is the fundamental wisdom with which the Buddha dwells in the true realm (常寂光淨土, chángjìguāng jìngtǔ, the Pure Land of eternal serenity), a Sambhogakaya enjoyed by the Buddha himself. The other-enjoyment Sambhogakaya is described in the Avatamsaka Sutra: “The Tathagata manifests his other-enjoyment body for the benefit of Bodhisattvas at the ten stages.” However, disciples of the Two Vehicles (those who seek individual liberation), with their limited perception, cannot see the Rocana body of the Buddha, nor can they hear the Buddha’s profound and complete teachings. Bodhisattvas of the ten stages, with their great capacity and wisdom, can perceive the immeasurable and glorious adornments of the Sambhogakaya Buddha. This is attained through subsequent wisdom. As a verse in praise of the Buddha states, “Amitabha Buddha’s body is golden, his glorious marks are unparalleled, the white curl between his eyebrows winds like five Sumeru mountains, his dark eyes are clear as the four great oceans.” These glorious marks of the Sambhogakaya Buddha are enjoyed by the Bodhisattvas of the ten stages, who have made great vows. This is the “other-enjoyment” aspect of the Sambhogakaya.

Nirmanakaya: The Body of Transformation

The Nirmanakaya, or “Body of Transformation,” is the accumulation of merit, the embodiment of immeasurable and boundless virtues. Buddhas cultivate boundless merit and wisdom over countless eons, and adorn themselves with glorious marks through hundreds of eons. Through their wondrous power of observation, Buddhas understand the capacities of beings and appear in various forms to liberate them. The Nirmanakaya has two aspects: the manifestation Nirmanakaya and the responsive Nirmanakaya. The manifestation Nirmanakaya appears according to the needs of beings, with great compassion and skillful means, manifesting from the Tushita Heaven to be born in the royal palace of King Suddhodana as Prince Siddhartha, demonstrating the eight stages of enlightenment. The eight stages of enlightenment include: descending from Tushita, entering the royal palace, entering the womb, being born from the womb, renouncing the world, vanquishing Mara, turning the wheel of Dharma, and attaining Buddhahood. These are the eight stages in the Hinayana teachings. In Mahayana Buddhism, the eight stages are the same except for vanquishing Mara, which is replaced with abiding in the womb. The Buddha renounced the world at nineteen, attained enlightenment at thirty, taught for forty-nine years, liberating all beings who were connected with him, and at the age of eighty, entered Parinirvana. Within the unarisen, he demonstrated birth; within the unceasing, he demonstrated passing away. As the opening lines of the “Record of Shakyamuni Buddha’s Enlightenment” state, “The body of the pure Dharma realm has no birth or death; through the power of great compassion and vows, he demonstrates birth.” This is the manifestation Nirmanakaya Buddha. The responsive Nirmanakaya appears in various forms according to the needs of beings, as described in the “Universal Gateway of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva” chapter of the Lotus Sutra: “For those who can be liberated by the appearance of a Buddha, he appears as a Buddha; for those who can be liberated by the appearance of a Bhikkhu, he appears as a Bhikkhu, and even if one needs to be liberated by the appearance of a Brahma King, he appears as a Brahma King.” Therefore, after attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha could manifest two forms of adornment. One form is the inferior response body, and the other is the superior response body. In the place of silence, he manifested the ten thousand foot tall body of Vairochana Buddha to expound the Avatamsaka Sutra for the Bodhisattvas, which is the superior response body. Simultaneously, in the Deer Park, he manifested an old Bhikkhu body, one and a half meters tall, to turn the wheel of the Four Noble Truths for the five Bhikkhus of Kondanna and others. (The Four Noble Truths are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering.) This is the inferior response body. Shakyamuni Buddha can manifest himself in all ten directions and in countless worlds to liberate all beings. This is how “one body can manifest everywhere without division, responding to all with no deviation”. Like a bell hanging on a stand that will sound when struck. Like the moon hanging in the sky that reflects in all water. As the ancients said, “In every river, there is a moon; in every cloudless sky, there is a vast expanse”. This is the inconceivable realm of effortless wondrous power. This is the Nirmanakaya Buddha.