Dharmakāya

Dharmakāya (T. chos sku ཆོས་སྐུ་; C. fashen; J. hosshin 法身) is translated as "dharma body," "truth body," etc. It refers to the kaya (i.e. corpus or collection) of the a buddha's qualities as well as to his teachings.

Rupert Gethin states:

To say that the Buddha is dharma-kāya means that he is at once the embodiment of Dharma and the collection or sum of all those qualities—non-attachment, loving kindness, wisdom, etc.—that constitute Dharma. Thus the nature of a buddha does not inhere primarily in his visible human body—it is not that which makes him a buddha—but in his perfected spiritual qualities.

The 84000 glossary states:

The ultimate nature or essence of the enlightened mind of the buddhas. It is said to be non-arising, free from the limits of conceptual elaboration, empty of inherent existence, naturally radiant, beyond duality, and spacious.

Dharmakāya is identified as:

• one of the two kayas described in the early Buddhist teachings
• one of the three kayas according to the Mahayana
• one of the four kayas according to the Mahayana
• one of the five kayas according to Buddhist tantra

Two kayas

The early Buddhist teachings presented a system of "two kayas". These are:

• rūpakāya - the form (rupa) body or "physical body"
• dharmakāya

In this context, dharmakāya refers to the body or corpus of the buddha's marvelous qualities, as well as corpus the buddhas teachings.

The 84000 glossary states:

In distinction to the rūpakāya, or form body of a buddha, [dharmakāya] is the eternal, imperceivable realization of a buddha. In origin it was a term for the presence of the Dharma, and it has since become synonymous with the true nature.

The The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism states:

...the term dharmakāya seems to have been coined to refer to the corpus or collection (kāya) of the auspicious qualities (dharma) of the Buddha, including his wisdom, his compassion, his various powers, etc.; it also referred to the entire corpus (kāya) of the Buddha’s teachings (dharma).

Three kayas

Further information: Trikāya

The Sanskrit Mahayana tradition identified two aspects of the rūpakāya:

• nirmāṇakāya or emanation body which manifests in time and space and is visible to ordinary beings
• sambhogakāya or enjoyment body which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation, and which is visible only to advanced bodhisattvas

Hence, the Mahayana identifies three kayas in total:

• nirmānakāya
• sambhogakāya
• dharmakāya

In this context, dharmakāya has the sense of a cosmic principle which is the true nature of the buddha, from which various other forms of the buddha arise.

Tulku Thondup states:

The dharmakaya, the ultimate body, constitutes the basis of all the qualities of the Buddha, and their capacity to function. The nature of the dharmakaya is pure from its primal state and pure from any adventitious defilements. Transcending thought and verbal expression, it dwells in freedom from characteristics, like space. Never moving from the state of the dharmakaya, it fulfills the needs of all living beings through the spontaneous presence of two form bodies.

Thinley Norbu states:

Dharmakāya in Tibetan is Chhos.sku. Chhos means all phenomena. sKu means body. The true nature of all phenomena is without substance, shape, color, or form, not coming or going, not dwelling any place. It is without any reality; it is great emptiness. All phenomena are completely pervaded by or entirely contained within great emptiness: this is the emptiness-body or dharmakāya.

Qualities of dharmakaya

Tulku Thondup states that dharmakaya possesses three great qualities:

1. Great purity (Wylie: spang pa chen po),
2. Great realization (Wylie: rtogs pa chen po),
3. Great mind (Wylie: sems pa chen po).

Samantabhadra

Tulku Thondup states:

In Nyingma icons, Dharmakāya is symbolized by a naked, sky-coloured (light blue) male and female Buddha in union, called Samantabhadra.

Four kayas

In the context of the four kayas is, Tsepak Rigdzin states:

The [dharmakaya is the] foundation of all qualities, the source of the four kāyas; the impersonal Buddha. It has two kinds—the natural truth body and the wisdom truth body of a Buddha.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Sawyer, Chad (2004) [1998], "Offerings to Mahakala", Mirrrs of the Heart-Mind, archived from the original on January 25, 2009, retrieved March 14, 2009 
• Thinley Norbu (1993), Small Golden Key, Shambhala 
• Tulku Thondup (1999), Masters of Meditation and Miracles, Boston: Shambhala 

Further Reading

• ཆོས་སྐུ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• dharmakāya, Buddha Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative
• Harrison, Paul (1992), "Is the Dharma-Kāya the Real "Phantom Body" of the Buddha?", Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 15 (1): 44–94 .
• Makransky, John J. (1997), Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-3432-X .
• Nagao, Gadjin (1973), "On the Theory of Buddha-Body", Eastern Buddhist, New Series, 6 (1): 25–53, JSTOR 44361355 .
• Palden Sherab Rinpoche; Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche (December 9, 1989), Craig Bialick (Pema Shugchang), ed., "The Three Kayas" (PDF), Pema Mandala (published 2005), retrieved 2024-01-06 .
• Sebastian, C. D. (2010), "Dharmakaya: the expression of the numinous in Mahayana Buddhism.", Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, 5 (1): 80–88, retrieved 2024-01-06 
• Thinley Norbu, The Small Golden Key (Shambhala Publications, 1999), ‘Chapter 14. Dharmakāya’.
• Traleg Rinpoche (1998), "The Three Kayas, the Bodies of the Buddha", Kagyu.org, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, archived from the original on 2006-07-24 .
• Yogi, P. G. (January 3, 2000), The Doctrine of Kaya (Trikaya), University of Cambridge, retrieved 2024-01-06 
• What Are the Three Kayas?, Lion's Roar