The Trikāya (, lit. "three bodies"; , Jyutping: saam1 san1, ) is a fundamental Buddhist doctrine that explains the multidimensional nature of Buddhahood. As such, the Trikāya is the basic theory that grounds the Mahayana buddhology, that is, the theology of Buddhahood.de la Vallée Poussin, Louis. (1906). "XXXI. Studies in Buddhist Dogma. The Three Bodies of a Buddha (Trikāya)." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 38(4), 943–977. doi:10.1017/S0035869X0003522X
This concept posits that a Buddha has three types of kayas or "bodies", aspects, or ways of being, each representing a different facet or embodiment of Buddhahood and ultimate reality. The three are the Dharmakāya (Sanskrit; Dharma body, the ultimate reality, the Buddha nature of all things), the Sambhogakāya (the body of self-enjoyment, a blissful divine body with infinite forms and powers) and the Nirmāṇakāya (manifestation body, the body which appears in the everyday world and presents the semblance of a human body). It is widely accepted in Buddhism that these three bodies are not separate realities, but functions, modes or "fluctuations" (Sanskrit: vṛṭṭis) of a single state of Buddhahood.
The Trikāya doctrine explains how a Buddha can simultaneously exist in multiple realms and embody a spectrum of qualities and forms, while also seeming to appear in the world with a human body that gets old and dies (though this is merely an appearance). It is also used to explain the Mahayana doctrine of non-abiding nirvana (apratiṣṭhita-nirvana), which sees Buddhahood as both unconstructed (asaṃskṛta) and transcendent, as well as constructed, immanent and active in the world. This idea was developed in early Yogācāra school sources, like the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra. The doctrine's interpretations vary across different Buddhist traditions, some theories contain extra "bodies", making it a "four body" theory and so on. However, the basic Trikāya theory remains a cornerstone of Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings, providing a comprehensive perspective on the nature of Buddhahood, Buddhist deities and the Buddhist cosmos. The Buddhist triple body theory was also adopted into Daoist philosophy and modified using Daoist concepts.
Overview
The Trikāya doctrine sees Buddhahood as composed of three bodies, components or collection of elements (kāya): the Dharma body (the ultimate aspect of Buddhahood), the body of self-enjoyment (a divine and magical aspect) and the manifestation body (a more human and earthly aspect).
The term kāya was understood to have multiple meanings simultaneously. The three main ways it was understood by Indian exegetes were: Body as a collection or accumulation of things or parts (Sanskrit: samcaya), mainly referring to the "corpus" of all of Buddha's qualities Body as a basis or substratum (asraya) of all phenomena, or as the basis for all the Buddha's qualities. Body in the sense of embodiment of the real nature of reality (dharmata)
The relationship among the three Mahayana sources emphasize that the three bodies are ultimately not separate from other, that is to say, they are non-dual. However, these different embodiments of the same reality can be described in different ways due to their relative functions or activities (vrttis). Thus, Śīlabhadra's Buddhabhūmi-vyākhyāna states ''the body of the Tathagatas (=dharmakaya), which is the purified dharma realm (dharmadhātuviśuddha), is undivided. However, because it functions as distinguished into three embodiments, it is said to have functional divisions." In Yogācāra literature, the whole unified reality which includes all three embodiments is termed "the purified Dharma-real" (Dharmadhātuviśuddhi), which is the totality of all phenomena as seen by Buddha knowledge.
Furthermore, according to Yogācāra sources like the Madhyāntavibhāga, the non-duality of a Buddha's nirvana also means that Buddhahood is both conditioned and unconditioned at the same time. Thus, the Madhyāntavibhāga says of Buddhahood "Its operation is nondual (advaya vṛtti) because of its abiding neither in saṃsāra nor in nirvāṇa (saṃsāra-nirvāṇa-apratiṣṭhitatvāt), through its being both conditioned and unconditioned (saṃskṛta-asaṃskṛtatvena)." Thus, while there is an element of Buddhahood which is transcendent, free from all worldly conditions and quiescent (dharmakaya), there is also an element which compassionately manifests for the good of all beings and thus is engaged in worldly conditions (the other two bodies). This transcendent and immanent character is described in the Buddhabhūmi-sūtra as follows:In space, there appear the arising and ceasing of diverse forms. Yet space neither arises nor ceases. Likewise, within the purified dharma realm (dharmadhātuviśuddha) of the Tathagatas, there appear the arising and ceasing of awareness, manifestation, and performance of all the activities for sentient beings. Yet the purified dharma realm has neither arising nor ceasing.The longer edition of the Golden Light Sutra, which contains a whole chapter on the triple body theory, states that while the manifestation body is singular (appearing as one form, as one being), the enjoyment body is multiple since "it has many forms in accord with the aspirations of beings". Furthermore, the Dharma body is to be understood as neither singular or multiple, "neither the same nor different".
The Trikāyasūtra preserved in the Tibetan canon contains the following simile for the three bodies:the dharmakāya of the Tathāgata consists in the fact that he has no nature, just like the sky. His saṃbhogakāya consists in the fact that he comes forth, just like a cloud. His nirmāṇakāya consists in the activity of all the buddhas, the fact that it soaks everything, just like rain. Furthermore, this sutra explains that the three bodies can be understood as relative to those who see them:That which is seen from the perspective of the Tathāgata is the dharmakāya. That which is seen from the perspective of the bodhisattvas is the saṃbhogakāya. That which is seen from the perspective of ordinary beings who conduct themselves devotedly is the nirmāṇakāya. The Buddhabhūmi-vyākhyāna also explains the bodies through the various types of beings who have access to them in the same way. Only Buddhas see the dharma body, only bodhisattvas see the enjoyment body, and sentient beings are able see the manifestations.
The Golden Light sutra also associates different kinds of wisdom to each body and with the different elements of the eight consciousnesses. The Dharma body is the mirror-like wisdom (ādarśajñāna), the pure state of the "basis-of-all" (alaya); the enjoyment body is discriminating wisdom (pratyavekṣaṇājñāna), the pure state of mental cognition; while the nirmāṇakāya is "all-accomplishing wisdom" (kṛtyānuśṭhānajñāna), which is the pure state of the five sense consciousnesses.
Dharmakāya
The Dharmakāya (Ch: 法身; Tib. chos sku; "Dharma body," "Reality body", "Truth body"; sometimes also called Svabhāvikakāya - the intrinsic body) is often described through Buddhist philosophical concepts that describe the Buddhist view of ultimate reality like emptiness, Buddha nature, Dharmata, Suchness (Tathātā), Dharmadhatu, Prajñaparamita, Paramartha, non-duality (advaya), and original purity (ādiviśuddhi).Gadjin, Nagao, and Hirano Umeyo. “On the Theory of Buddha-Body (Buddha-Kāya).” The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 6, no. 1, 1973, pp. 25–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44361355. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024. The Dharmakāya is also associated with the "body of the teachings", that is to say, the Buddhadharma, the teachings of the Buddha, and by association, with the nature of reality itself (i.e. the Dharma and the nature of the dharmas - all phenomena), which the teachings point to and are in accord with.
In several Mahayana sources, the Dharma body is the primary and ultimate Buddha body, as well as "the foundation and basis for the two other bodies" according to Gadjin Nagao. For example, the Golden Light sutra states that:The first two bodies are merely designations, while the Dharma body is true and the basis for those two other bodies. Why is that? It is because there is only the true nature of phenomena and nonconceptual wisdom, and there are no other qualities that are separate from all buddhas. All buddhas have a perfection of wisdom, and all their kleśas have completely ceased and ended so that the buddhas have attained purity. Therefore, all buddha qualities are contained within the true nature and the wisdom of the true nature. The Dharma body embodies the true nature of Buddhahood itself and all its inconceivable powers and qualities. It is generally understood as impersonal, without concept, words or thought. Even thought it is without any intention or thought, it accomplishes all Dharma activities spontaneously. Indeed, various Mahayana sources describe the Buddha bodies are being without thought or cognition. The Golden Light Sutra uses the analogy of the sun, moon, water, mirrors and light, which are without thought and yet they cause reflections to appear: "in the same way that through a combination of factors the reflections of the sun and moon appear, through a combination of factors the enjoyment bodies and the emanation bodies manifest their appearances to beings who are worthy."
The Dharma body is also the true nature of all things (dharmas) and the true nature of all beings, equivalent to the Mahayana concept of emptiness (śūnyatā), the lack of inherent essence in all things. It is permanent, unceasing and unchanging. According to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra:Dharmata-Buddha is Buddhahood in its self-nature of perfect oneness in whom absolute tranquillity prevails. As Noble Wisdom, Dharmata-Buddha transcends all differentiated knowledge, is the goal of intuitive self-realisation, and is the self-nature of the Tathagatas. As Noble Wisdom, Dharmata-Buddha is inscrutable, ineffable, unconditioned. Dharmata-Buddha is the Ultimate Principle of Reality from which all things derive their being and truthfulness, but which in itself transcends all predicates. Dharmata-Buddha is the central sun which holds all, illumines all.
The Dharma-body is often described in apophatic terms (especially in Madhyamaka sources), as formless, thought-less and beyond all concepts, language and ideas - including any idea of existence (bhava) or non-existence (abhava), or eternalism (śāśvata-dṛṣṭi) and annihilation (ucchedavāda). The Golden Light Sutra says: Noble one, the Dharma body is revealed nonduality. What is nonduality? In the Dharma body, there are neither characteristics nor the basis for characteristics, and so there is neither existence nor nonexistence; the Dharma body is neither single nor diverse; it is neither a number nor numberless; and it is neither light nor darkness. According to Paul Williams, the Hymn to the Ultimate (Paramārthastava) by Nagarjuna describes the Buddha in negative terms. Buddha is thus beyond all dualities, "neither nonbeing nor being, neither annihilation nor permanence, not noneternal, not eternal." He is without color, size, location, and so on. Because of this negative buddhology that is often used to describe the Dharmakaya, it is often depicted with impersonal symbols, like the letter A, some other mantric seed syllable, the disk of the moon or sun, space (Sanskrit: ākāśa), or the sky (gagana). However, iconic representations of the Dharmakaya are also common, as with the depiction of the Buddha Mahavairocana in East Asian esoteric Buddhism and the Buddha Vajradhara or Samatabhadra in Tibetan Buddhism.