I saw Dzogchen mentioned the other day, and wanted to look it up. In doing so I came across a really good bit of information in a Dzogchen text about the Three Bodies (dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya.) I wanted to share that, so I'll provide the information below about the sambhogakaya from the book I mentioned (called Fearless Lion's Roar), but first, what is the unifying principle between Dzogchen and Zen?
This is from the essay Zen and Dzogchen: Unifying the Ground and Result:
This “state of presence” that is Buddha mind or Buddha gnosis (innate gnosis, sahajajnana) is transmitted directly, from master to prepared student, then practiced by the student. Again, Buddha Nature is the essential Nature of Mind, the very essence of the primordial ground or base or source (kun-gzhi). According to the Prasangika Madhyamikas, this vast emptiness base is not just a negative void, a “non-affirming emptiness,” but a luminous clarity, a brightness that is an affirming emptiness, and it pervades all phenomena including all us sentient beings. We are luminous beings of light! As this state of presence is originally and perfectly pure (kadag), from the very beginning, obstructing thoughts, desires and karmic actions need not be denied, renounced or transformed, but merely allowed to self-liberate (rang grol, zenkan, kensho, satori)—at the very instant of their arising—into their “primordially pure” source condition, the already present nondual awareness ground that is always our actual original identity, our Zen mind-Buddha mind. Therefore, all of the “slings and arrows” of our outrageous relative conventional existence are openings—an aperture—into the blissful primordial ground of being. The knowing (prajna), and feeling (bhakti) realization of this is the vast expanse of our Primordial Awareness Wisdom (jnana, yeshe, gnosis), always already present here and now. Thus it is told by the radical nondual wisdom teaching of Zen and Dzogchen.
Now, onto the Sambhogakaya stuff! This is from The Fearless Lion's Roar: Profound Instructions on Dzogchen, the Great Perfection by Nyoshul Khenpo:
In order to benefit sublime beings on the spiritual levels (bhumi; sa) as well as all sentient beings, the dharmakaya Buddha emanates in a form that can be perceived and experienced by beings. For this, the rupakaya or "body of enlightened form" is emanated, as the display of the dharmakaya buddha. The rupakaya refers to both the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya buddha emanations. First, from the vast expanse of the dharmakaya, due to the blessings, compassion, and power of that state of enlightenment, the boundless sambhogakaya buddha fields appear, arrayed like lights throughout infinite space.
The "sambhogakaya" is the "spirit", and the idea of people being the lights throughout infinite space is sweet, that we're each "stars" in space on a metaphorical level.
If one would ask what the purpose and benefit the sambhogakaya buddha fields serve, they manifest for the sake of beings who are on the first to tenth spiritual levels. They appear for the sake of beings who are on the first to tenth spiritual levels. They appear for the sake of male and female bodhisattvas, dakas and dakinis, vidyadharas, yogins and yoginis, the noble beings on the first to tenth spiritual levels. Those who have attained any of the first through tenth levels have reached the third and fourth of the five paths or stages of enlightenment, and thus they abide on the path of seeing or on the path of meditation.
Within the sambhogakaya buddha field are the five buddha families and their entourages of bodhisattvas, dakas, and dakinis. All these infinite buddhas and buddha fields of the sambhogakaya realms are complete and perfect, endowed with the five certainties of the sambhogakaya. If we speak of the five certainties (nges pa Inga) of the sambhogakaya buddha field, it means that the sambhogakaya possesses five special attributes that make it ideal for the attainment of complete enlightenment. These five are the perfect place, perfect form of the teacher, perfect teaching, perfect entourage, and perfect time.
Submitted June 14, 2017 at 11:36PM by Dillon123 http://ift.tt/2spl5dg
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