The History of Buddhist Thought c26.57

c26.57

The body of Buddhas is threefold. The essential body is the dharma-body (dharma-kāya), and it is distinguished by revulsion of the support, i.e. the revulsion which has turned from everything illusory to ultimate reality. It is the same for all Buddhas. It is said to be the “ support ” of the two others, for ultimately only it exists, and is hence called essential (svābhāvika). The second, the body of enjoyment (sambhoga-kāya), is “ that through which Buddha affords enjoyment of the doctrine in assemblies ”. As Buddhas are described in the sūtras as existing in all universes and preaching to great assemblies of bodhisattvas and gods, this body of enjoyment was a concept which made it possible to harmonize the doctrine of these sūtras with the apparently contradictory teaching about his Nirvāna. This body is said to be different in all Buddha-fields and assemblies. Buddhas reveal themselves to bodhisattvas in this body in the Akanishtha heaven, the highest of the heavens of form. The transformation-body (*nirmāṇa-kāya*) is “that by which he works the good of all creatures”, i.e. the person of the historical Buddha, who passed through all the stages of his existence, taught the doctrine, and attained Nirvāṇa. The doctrine that Buddha could appear with a mind-formed body is very old, and the Mahāsaṅghikas converted it into the doctrine that his earthly appearance was never anything else. Here it appears to harmonize the teaching of works like the *Lotus* and the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa*, that the Tathāgata has always existed, with the historical facts about Śākyamuni.