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'''Dharmakāya''' (devanāgarī: धर्म काय) is a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning "truth body" or "reality body". In Mahayana Buddhism it is one of the three bodies (Trikayas) of the [[Buddha]]. Dharmakaya constitutes the unmanifested, "inconceivable" aspect of a Buddha, out of which Buddhas arise and to which they return after their dissolution.
#redirect [[Dharmakaya]]
 
== In Mahayana Buddhism ==
 
== In Theosophy ==
 
In Theosophical literature the term Dharmakāya has being used mainly in two ways: a) as a "glorified spiritual body", in terms the [[Mahayana Buddhism|Mahayana Buddhist]] teaching of the [[trikāya]], and b) as a universally diffused essence, similar to the concept found in some schools of [[Vajrayana Buddhism]].
 
There is, however, an instance where term was also used as an adjective (in the phrase "Dharmakâya intellect") to point out to the quality of the mind in which [[ālaya]], the universal soul, can be reflected:
 
<blockquote>Ālaya, or Nying-po, being the root and basis of all, invisible and incomprehensible to human eye and intellect, it can reflect only its reflection—not Itself. Thus that reflection will be mirrored like the moon in tranquil and clear water only in the passionless Dharmakâya intellect, and will be distorted by the flitting image of everything perceived in a mind that is itself liable to be disturbed.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 439.</ref></blockquote>
 
=== Glorified spiritual body ===
 
In [[The Theosophical Glossary (book)|''The Theosophical Glossary'']] Mme. Blavatsky wrote:
 
<blockquote>Dharmakâya (Sk). Lit., “the glorified spiritual body” called the “Vesture of Bliss”. The third, or highest of the Trikâya (Three Bodies), the attribute developed by every “Buddha”, i.e., every initiate who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the “fourth Path” (in esotericism the sixth “portal” prior to his entry on the seventh). The highest of the Trikâya, it is the fourth of the Buddhakchêtra, or Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented figuratively in Buddhist asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous Spirituality.<br>
In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are:<br>
(1) Nirmanakâya  (2) Sambhogakâya (3) and Dharmakâya the last being the highest and most sublimated of all, as it places the ascetic on the threshold of Nirvâna.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 100.</ref></blockquote>
 
However, she says this is the [[exotericism|exoteric]] view. A more [[esotericism|esoteric]] view is offered in the Glossary of [[The Voice of the Silence (book)|''The Voice of the Silence'']]:
 
<blockquote>The Dharmakâya body is that of a complete Buddha, i.e., no body at all, but an ideal breath: Consciousness merged in the Universal Consciousness, or Soul devoid of every attribute. Once a Dharmakâya, an Adept or Buddha leaves behind every possible relation with, or thought for this earth.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Voice of the Silence'' (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1992), 96-97.</ref></blockquote>
 
Those who attain the Dharmakâya are Jîvanmuktas or Nirvâṇîs "without remains";<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 376.</ref> they are "the pure Arupa, the formless Breaths".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 436.</ref> The "perfect [[Initiation|Initiate]]" who during [[Samādhi]] separates his [[Higher Self]] entirely from his [[sthūla-śarīra|body]], can attain momentarily the Dharmakâya, experiencing a state of [[Nirvāṇa]] “without remains”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 439, fn.</ref></blockquote>
 
=== Dhyani-Buddhas ===
 
Mme. Blavatsky also refers to a different class of Dharmakāyas. They are known as [[Dhyāni-Buddha]]s in the [[Theosophy|Theosophical literature]]:
 
<blockquote>. . . a “Son of Light” from a still higher sphere, Who being Arupa, has no personal astral body of His own fit for this world. Such “Sons of Light,” or Dhyâni-Buddhas, are the Dharmakâyas of preceding Manvantaras, who have closed their cycles of incarnations in the ordinary sense and who, being thus Karmaless, have long ago dropped their individual Rūpas, and have become identified with the first Principle.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XIV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1995), 397.</ref></blockquote>
 
=== Universally diffused essence ===
 
Samuel Beal, a scholar of late nineteenth century, wrote in 1871:
 
<blockquote>So again, when the idea of a universally diffused essence (dharmakaya) was accepted as a dogmatic necessity, a further question arose as to the relation which this 'supreme existence' bore to time, space, and number. And from this consideration appears to have proceeded the further invention of the several names Vairochana (the Omnipresent), Amitabha (for Amirta) the Eternal, and Adi-Buddha (yih-sin) the 'one form of existence.'<ref>Samuel Beal, ''A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese'' (London: Trubner & Co., 1871), 373.</ref></blockquote>
 
In one of the [[Mahatma Letter No. 67|Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett]], Master [[Koot Hoomi|K.H.]] defines Dharmakāya in a similar way, as "the mystic, universally diffused essence", and also identifies it with Yin Sin ("the one form of existence") and [[Ādi-Buddha#Adi-Buddhi|"Adi-Buddhi"]].<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 67 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 182.</ref> In [[Mahatma Letter No. 111|letter No. 111]] we find a similar reference to Yi-hsin (a more correct spelling) but now it is said to be "the child of Dharmakaya".<ref>Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., ''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence'' No. 111 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 378-379.</ref> This view of Dharmakāya is related to the idea of the "[[Elements#The One element|one element]]" in [[Theosophy]].
 
A similar correlation has been shown to exist in the Jonangpa school of [[Tibetan Buddhism]] by David Reigle. He quotes the text ''Ratna-gotra-vihhaga'' about "the element" or dhatu (which is permanent, stable, quiescent, and eternal), and adds:
 
<blockquote>As noted earlier, this one thing, dhatu or element, may be called tathagata-garbha or Buddha-nature when obscured, and dharma-kaya or body of the law when unobscured.<ref>[http://easterntradition.org/book%20of%20dzyan%20research%20report%202-theosophy%20in%20tibet-the%20teachings%20of%20the%20jonagpa%20school.pdf# Theosophy in Tibet: The Teachings of the Jonangpa School] by David Reigle</ref></blockquote>
 
== Notes ==
 
<references/>
 
==Further reading==
 
[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]

Latest revision as of 19:16, 5 July 2017

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