Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s2.t13.1

c7.s2.t13.1

The three kāyas, of which we have so far spoken, belong strictly, to the realm of Saṃvṛti, worldly and transcendental, and as such they were treated as Rūpa- or Nirmāṇa-kāya by the early Mahāyānists, including Nāgārjuna. The only real kāya of Buddha is the Reality as conceived by the Mahāyānists, and is not different from the things or beings of the universe.² Though an attempt to define it by the current words and expressions is bound to be not only incorrect but misleading, the Mahāyānic texts tried to give an idea of it as far as the language permitted. The Kārikā and the Siddhi call it Svābhāvika or Svabhāva kāya. It is, according to them, immeasurable and illimitable. It fills all space. It is the basis of the Sambhoga- and Nirmāṇa-kāyas. It is devoid of all marks (i.e. mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇas) and is inexpressible (niṣprapañca). It is possessed of eternal, real and unlimited guṇas. It has neither citta nor rūpa, and again it is not different from them. There is one and only one Dharmakāya. Buddhas may have their individual Sambhogakāyas but they have all one Dharmakāya.³ It can only be realised within oneself and not described, for that would be like the attempt of the blind man to describe the sun, which he has never seen.¹