Three Kayas

The object of refuge

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

Three Jewels (dKon.mchhog gsum), the inner Three Roots (rTsa.ba gsum), and the secret Three Kāyas (sKu gsum).

1. The “Three Jewels” are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha.

Buddha in Tibetan is Sangs.rgyas. Sangs means dispelled: the Buddha has completely dispelled all ignorance and has awakened from the sleep of ignorance. rGyas means increase or expand: the Buddha has measurelessly expanded all wisdom infallible qualities.

Dharma in Tibetan is Chhos. In general, Chhos means all kinds of phenomena. According to worldly ego, Chhos means all phenomena which cause saṃsāra. But in this case, Chhos is the antidote to saṃsāra and consists of all spiritual wisdom appearance. According to the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Dharma is the Buddha’s teaching of the “path to liberation” (Lam.gi chhos), which includes the Dharma of precept and the Dharma of realization, as explained in chapter 10. In particular, for the Vajrayāna, Dharma includes the “Dharma of result” (‘ Bras.bu’i chhos) which is the complete purification of perceptions so that all appearances are the Buddha’s body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities, and the maṇḍala of the deities, buddhafields, etc. All these results are attained with the realization of the Vajrayāna teachings.

Saṅgha in Tibetan is dGe.’ dun. dGe means virtue. ’Dun means to strive toward one-pointedly. The Saṅgha are those who practice virtue on the path of Dharma. There are two kinds of Saṅgha: the Saṅgha of ordinary individuals (So.so’i skye.bo’i dge.’ dun) and the Saṅgha of sublime beings (’ Phags.pa’i dge.’ dun). The Saṅgha of ordinary individuals are those who practice the path of accumulation (Tshogs lam) and the path of application (sByor lam). The sublime Saṅgha are those who practice the path of seeing (mThong lam), which is the realization of the truth of dharmatā or natural mind, the path of development or meditation (sGom lam) and the path beyond practice (Mi.slob lam), which means all study or teaching and practice have been exhausted, as they are no longer necessary. There are two systems of explaining the path beyond practice: one system says that it is the final path to reach buddhahood; the other says that it is buddhahood itself, and there is no longer any path.

The Saṅgha who follow the Mahāyāna path are called the general outer Saṅgha (Thun.mong phyi.yi dge.’ dun). The Saṅgha who practice the Vajrayāna teaching are called the extraordinary inner Saṅgha (Thun.min nang.gi dge. ’dun), or inner Vidyādhara Saṅgha (Rig.’ dzin nang.gi dge.’ dun).

2. The Three Roots are the lama, the yidam, and the khadro.

Lama (guru): La means that which is most precious, life itself. “Ma” means mother. Just as a mother has great love and compassion for her children, and acts with this love and compassion for their benefit, so the lama acts with unobstructed compassion to benefit all sentient beings.

Yidam (deva): Yid means mind. Dam means an inseparable bond through pure samaya. According to the minds of all individual practitioners, there is a special deity with whom they have an inseparable connection.

Khadro (ḍākinī; Tib. mKha’.’ dro): mKha’ means sky; not the ordinary sky, but the sky or space of the dharmadhātu. ’Gro means to go. Wisdom mind goes without obstruction in the sky of the dharmadhātu. The khadro performs the activities of the Buddha.

3. The Three Kāyas are the dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya.

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.

Sambhogakāya in Tibetan is Longs.spyod.rdzogs.sku. Longs means wealth, spyod means to use or enjoy, rdzogs means complete, sku means body. Sambhogakāya means the body of complete enjoyment of the wealth of pure perceptions.

Nirmāṇakāya in Tibetan is sPrul.sku. sPrul means to emanate or create. sKu means body. The unobstructed compassion of the buddhas is the basis of the nirmāṇakāya because the emanation bodies of nirmāṇakāya come from this unobstructed compassion.

According to the view of the vehicle of cause, concerning the Three Jewels, the only perfect refuge is the Buddha. The Dharma is the path which one follows to attain buddhahood. Once this state has been attained, the path is transcended, just as the boat in which one crosses a river is left behind when the other shore is reached. The Saṅgha are the arhats and bodhisattvas, those who have not yet reached the state of buddhahood, so they are not considered omniscient. But one must not be careless, because while one is still on the path, one must rely upon the Dharma and the Saṅgha.

According to the view of the vehicle of result, the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha are from the beginning the phenomena of full enlightenment. They are the inseparable manifestation of the three kāyas, filling the dharmadhātu. The immeasurable appearances of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; the lama, yidam, and khadro; and the nirmāṇakāya, sambhogakāya, and dharmakāya are the inexhaustible, beginninglessly pure maṇḍala of Samantabhadra.

THE SMALL GOLDEN KEY to the Treasure of the Various Essential Necessities of General and Extraordinary Buddhist Dharma

THINLEY NORBU

Translated by Lisa Anderson

SHAMBHALA 2012

Manifestations of Orgyen Padma Jungne

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

Guru Rinpoche -471x600

Padma Jungne is one of the names of Guru Rinpoche, as are Padmakara and Padmasambhava. Some people acknowledge Padmasambhava, who cannot be denied because of historical accounts, but not Guru Rinpoche, which is due to sectarian jealousy. Also, at the time of Padmasambhava, the garments worn by Padmasambhava were those of scholars and monks. Sometimes intellectual scholars and learned ones who are still attached about material aspects of form think that Padma Jungne, who does not wear these same garments, is different from Padmasambhava. Historically, at the time when Buddhism flourished in Tibet with enlightened beings such as Guru Rinpoche and Vimalamitra, some scholars in Indian institutes became jealous and spread much slander in order to cause disturbance by claiming these enlightened beings were not actual saints but phony siddhas, attempting to prevent Vajrayana teachings from flourishing in Tibet. However, in the general Mahayana, and especially in the Vajrayana, the state of enlightenment is the Three Kayas: the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. Sambhogakaya is always abiding in pure Akanishtha Heaven, the state of fully enlightened Buddhas’ phenomena. From that state, in order to benefit beings with many varieties of faculties, Nirmanakaya manifests. The meaning of Nirmanakaya is that there is no reality of birth or death because mind is only wisdom, but Nirmanakaya’s aspect can reflect anything according to beings’ impure and pure phenomena in order to guide them. So, the aspect of manifestation can reflect anything according to various beings’ faculties. There is not an iota of contradiction about the infinite aspects of sublime beings for those who believe in the Mahayana or the Vajrayana; these aspects are just one’s choice. Those who follow Guru Rinpoche’s teachings pray to Guru Rinpoche with many different names, such as the names given in the Eight Manifestations and in the Barche Lamsel prayer, including Pema Jungne, Tsokye Dorje, and Sangchen Dorje Drakpo Tsal. There are many more manifestations and special names beyond these. Countless manifestations logically exist according to even ordinary beings’ phenomena, so different aspects cannot be denied or prevented.

~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar
Shambhala Publications
Footnote #51

three kayas

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

All appearances of rainbow light are the natural clarity of one’s own awareness. All appearances of the manifestations of peaceful and wrathful wisdom deities are the natural form of one’s own awareness. All sounds are one’s own sound. All light is one’s own light. Have no doubt or second thoughts about this. If a doubt arises, one will be thrown into cyclic existence. If one decides that these are self-manifesting appearances, not wavering from clear emptiness, The Three Kayas will be attained, and that right there is Buddhahood. Even if one is thrown into cyclic existence, one will definitely not go there.

Thinley Norbu
A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar 
Shambhala Publications