The Thirteenth Chapter of
the commentary on
The Great Perfection:
The Nature Of Mind, The Easer Of Weariness
called the Great Chariot

 

From the Dharmakaya naturally emerge the Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakayas.
It is just a matter of seeing this inseparability of appearances and emptiness beyond the four extremes. -- Gileht

"From a holistic point of view, a dissipative structure describes the evolution of a new structure in terms of the unfolding and fanning out of the system's (Being's) potential through its endogenous dynamics or creativity. This development, with its phases of emergence as a play and its concomitant display of beauty, culminates, through an act of deeply felt understanding, in the manifest abilities and capabilities of a fully developed system - a mature person (i.e. a Buddha). "
-- Herbert V. Guenther, From Reductionism to Creativity (Rdzogs-Chen And The New Sciences Of Mind)

 

XIII. The Fruition, the Great Self-Existence:

Now that becoming a vessel of tantra through the vehicles of external cause has been properly discussed, finally after the action of the direct cause has been completed, there is the fruition, the path of the luminous vajra essence.

This thirteenth chapter is about the manifestations of the fruition, the kayas and wisdoms.

The overall topic has four divisions:

· A. Establishment of the kayas and wisdoms.

· B. The explanation of the kayas and wisdoms.

· C. The final summary of how these arise from space and subside into space.

· D. The dedication of merit.

A. Establishment of the kayas and wisdoms:

(i.e. Enlightenment is not about removing something, or getting something. It is not about going to a different realm.
-- The inseparability of space and wisdoms equals the Union of The Two Truths. Using skillful means and knowing their real nature at the same time.
-- So, from the ground of the two gotras, practicing both method and wisdom together, increasing the two accumulations of merit and wisdom, one attains the two kayas, the Union of the Two Truths, the inseparability of space and wisdoms, using skillful means to help all other sentient beings without discrimination and abiding in the great samádhi at the same time. The main messages are the inseparability of those two aspects: existence and non-existence, and the un-produced, uncaused aspect of the fruit - the unborn Buddha-nature.)

By reaching the end of the path the kayas and wisdoms are established. The details of the ground and path have been presented. Now the fruition established by them will be discussed.

As just explained:

Thus having reached the goals of both upaya and prajńa,
The kayas and wisdoms and Buddha activity self-exist.

When the virtues of the path are complete, enlightenment or Buddhahood is attained. Free from all defilements of the dhatu, the luminous nature of mind, the sun after all obscuring clouds have faded away, is the kayas and wisdoms. These are neither acquired nor separated. (i.e. They are not produced, caused, they are manifestations of the unborn Buddha-nature.) "Attaining them" is manifestation of their self-existing power.

The Uttaratantra says:

Here the "luminous nature" is like the sun and space,
Separate from the dolorous host of obscuring clouds,
Incidental obscurations of kleshas and knowables.

Spotless Buddhahood possessing all good qualities,
The eternal enduring swastika of perfect Buddhahood.
This is attained by depending on discriminating wisdom.

At this time, within the space of the benefit for oneself, ultimate Dharmakaya, by attaining Trikaya with neither acquiring nor separation, realization of Buddhahood without other, exists as a support.

The same text says:

Without beginning, middle, end, or discrimination,
Without a second or third, or defiling discursive thoughts,
By realizing Dharmadhatu, which is the nature of things,
This is what is seen by the yoga of meditation.

More radiant than a million palaces of the gods,
Having unthinkable qualities, matchless and supreme;
As for this spotless space of the Tathágatas,
It has abandoned all faults, and all their habitual patterns.

Within that space appears:

· Dharmakaya.

· From that Sambhogakaya is produced, always abiding with neither increase or decrease like the moon in space, but intermittently appearing from the viewpoint of those who are to be tamed.

· From that comes Nirmanakaya, the ground of emanation.

The same text says:

Apparent variety, kaya of light rays of Holy Dharma,
Strives to establish the benefit of freeing sentient beings.
Its deeds are like a king of wish-fulfilling gems.
Variety is real, but the nature of it is not.

The Madhyamakavatara says:

The kaya of peace is luminous like a wish-fulfilling tree.
Like a wish-fulfilling gem, it is inconceivable.
Till beings are liberated, it is always there
To benefit the world, appearing as simplicity.

This is realized only by the Buddhas. It does not appear to those who are to be tamed. The three kayas of the space of the dhatu are of one taste with the solitary space of Dharmakaya. Within that, they exist as the subtle wisdom of that space. From the blessing of that and from the aspirations of those who are to be tamed, appear the two Rupakayas. The pure Buddha activity of wisdom arises as the appearance of an external other. These are like the moon in the sky and the moon in water. These days, when some proclaim Trikaya as totally one, it follows that all the Buddha qualities of the space of the dhatu would also be appearances for those who are to be tamed. That is because the Rupakayas, of one nature with these, appear for those who are to be tamed. Having maintained that, that is how the pure realm of the Buddha and so forth have to be elucidated. Therefore, knowing these two as separate is very important.

The Place Of Enlightenment: Akanishta

Attaining the two ultimates, Dharmakaya and Rupakaya, is becoming the Buddha Bhagavat himself. Relating this Buddhahood to the perfections of the Mahayana, at the end of the tenth bhumi, after all defilements have been abandoned, one becomes enlightened in Akanishta. Sambhogakaya, the appearances of a bodhisattva of the tenth bhumi, appear. Such a teacher produces many emanations within the realm of sentient beings, taming whatever needs to be tamed.

Sometimes mantra-yana says the same thing. In the Great Net of Illusion, Buddhahood, the inexhaustible sphere of ornament of the Tathágata’s body, speech, and mind, does not appear in the realization of others. If it does appear, they too are Buddhas. From Buddhahood, by the appearance of the great emanation, and the various emanations, benefits are produced for sentient beings.

The great emanation is Sambhogakaya, as it appears to the bodhisattvas of the tenth bhumi. The various emanations are the supreme Nirmanakaya and so forth, which appear to and benefit sentient beings.

Both these approaches maintain that Buddhahood is attained in the perfect place, Akanishta.

The Gandavyuha Sutra says:

In the enlightenment
Of perfect Buddhahood,
The one to be enlightened
In highest Akanishta
Becomes a perfect Buddha;
And in the desire realm,
The deeds of a Buddha are done.

The Secret Moon Bindu Tantra says:

In the supreme delightful place called Akanishta,
There the actual Buddha gains enlightenment.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

As for the understanding of his not acting within the world and such inconceivable things, this is called "ornament" because the ground and essence are not conceptualized.

The place about which these inconceivable things are said is the world-realm-ocean. It exists in the palm of the hand of the Tathágata Vairochana Great Full Ocean. The place where the Bhagavan Vairochana and his retinue dwell is the Buddha field of Akanishta. This is Sambhogakaya. All fragmentary things existing within that are Nirmanakaya. Where do they exist? Because all incidental stains have been abandoned, they are within the inseparable space and wisdom where Buddhism is attained. That is Akanishta. Its oneness is unbroken. Dharmas are like a dream coming into the one situation of sleep.

The Praise of Dharmadhatu says:

Equal with The highest place of the ultimate Lord
And equal with Akanishta, completely beautiful,
The unity of the three aware-nesses,
Mixing together as one, is said to be its nature.

The Embodiment of the Vehicles says:

Because of being without ego grasping,
A difference of places does not exist.
After having experienced this formerly,
By labeling they are differentiated.

"Shakyamuni went there just after attaining enlightenment." Don't think that way.

The Tantra of the Display of Wisdom says:

At the pure time without beginning and end,
I am enlightened fully and completely.

At this time of the Saha realm of endurance where lives are about a hundred years, it is taught regarding the time of the Buddha's enlightenment that first he was primordially enlightened in pure Akanishta, and then he appeared as the Buddha in Jambuling.

The Sutra of the Manifestation of Enlightenment of Vairochana says:

Within the realms of desire and formlessness,
You Buddha did not gain complete awakening.
In Akanishta in the realm of form,
Free from desire, you were enlightened there.

Having abandoned all the other pure lands
One will enjoy the one called Akanishta.
The actual Buddha was enlightened there.
An emanation was enlightened here.

He appeared equally in all the Saha realms and their arrangements. This is like one moon in the sky appearing in a hundred times ten million vessels at the same time. Just this is the characteristic. He manifested at the same time in the limitless sky of the twelve individual abodes of sentient beings, [1] and so forth, and there he did benefit for many different sentient beings. That is how the enlightened one appears from the viewpoint of those to be tamed.

Since the nature of the Bhagavan is beyond the three realms, he does not dwell in the form realm, with habitual patterns of confused appearance of those to be tamed. He is beyond all habitual patterns. He always dwells in the pure self-appearance of Akanishta beyond the three realms, the immeasurable display of the palace of wisdom.

Regarding Gandavyuha, and the arising of the fields of the formless, desire, and form realms, the true meaning Avatamsaka Sutra says:

The formless, desire and form realms.
Are not perceived like that.
Beyond place is Buddha's power
In the Gandavyuha mandala.

Also:

It is stable, dense, [2] and uncompounded.

Transmutation Of The Five Poisons Into The Five Wisdoms

How is enlightenment attained? After we are free from all defilements, it is attained. What is excluded or separated? Nothing at all.

The Mahayanasutralankara says:

Without distinctions of earlier and later,
Without the stains of any defilements
Suchness is maintained to be Buddhahood.

All incidental extremes are abandoned.

The same text says:

Where the seeds of the obscurations of the kleshas and knowables have always been possessed for a long time, they will always be utterly overcome by this vast abandonment. Attainment of these supremely virtuous transformed white dharmas is Buddhahood. The great object, completely pure non-thought, totally, supremely pure, is attained by the path of wisdom.

At that time, it is said that the kleshas are transformed, and that with the power of the nature as cause, becoming the mere appearance of virtues, they are transformed into the fruition, the Buddha qualities. It is not maintained that the impure becomes pure. That the cause or essence of evil deeds, the kleshas, becomes completely pure is not possible. Depending on the power of separating separable defilements, the Buddha qualities become directly visible.

· If this is called "transformation," the five poisons may be said to be transformed into the five wisdoms.

· Alaya is transformed into the wisdom of Dharmadhatu.

· Alaya Vijnana is transformed into the mirror-like wisdom

The Sutra of Entering into Trikaya says:

The subsiding of alaya Vijnana into space is the mirror-like wisdom.
The subsiding of the consciousnesses of the five gates into space is the all-accomplishing wisdom.

· At that time, external appearance is transformed into the Buddha fields.

· The inner skandhas are transformed into the bodies of the deities.

· By the secret eight consciousnesses being transformed into wisdom, one is always enlightened.

· As for the causal gotra, within the primordial dhatu primordially possessing the Buddha qualities, that gotra is a second thing.

The Four Kayas

The Uttaratantra says:

Primordial kaya is the first of these.
The second, later, comes from the other two.

· Svabhavikakaya is the spotless nature of the other three kayas.

· Dharmakaya is the ultimate source of the powers of Buddhahood and so forth.

· Sambhogakaya is replete with the major and minor marks.

· Nirmanakaya performs limitless benefits for beings.

These four are taught. Their good qualities are sixty-four.

The Uttaratantra commentary says:

The Tathágata’s ten powers and four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen distinct dharmas of a Buddha, and the thirty-two marks of a great being are collected into one, making sixty-four.

Kayas And Wisdoms

Some sutras say that Trikaya is one with its wisdoms.

The Holy Golden Light says:

All the Tathágatas possess Trikaya. These are Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. Dharmakaya is the existence just of true wisdom itself. Second kayas are just imputations. Dharmakaya is truth. it is the ground of the secondary kayas. Why so? Aside from the such-ness of dharmas and the wisdom of complete non-thought, no Buddha dharma exists.

How does the wisdom of such-ness while it is complete non-thought attain mastery of Buddha activity?

The Buddha said, "For example, it is like the sun and moon being reflected in water or a mirror, although these are impermanent. The wisdom of such-ness too, by the force of aspiration, performs benefits for impermanent beings.

· Nirmanakayas skandhas are nirvana with residue.

· Sambhogakaya is nirvana without residue.

· Dharmakaya is non-dwelling nirvana.

(i.e. They all mean the same thing: the Union of The Two Truths, inseparability of appearances and emptiness, of skillful means and emptiness. One implies the other. They are not separate or different, not the same. Emptiness doesn't mean complete nothingness. It is not existence, not non-existence, not both, not either. That is the inseparability of the three kayas, the inseparability of space and wisdoms + Activities + Qualities.)

The Mahayanasutralankara says:

If we categorize the kayas of the Buddhas,
There is the kaya of the nature of perfect enjoyment
And also Nirmanakaya, the first supporting the second

Also:

Three pure kayas compose the body of Buddhahood
And so the three pure kayas should be known.
The self-existing objects of the meaning
Are taught to be together with their supported. [3]

The Uttaratantra and Abhisamayalankara, as said before, teach four kayas. The Uttaratantra says:

Since it is pure by nature
Dharmadhatu is luminous;
Imponderable and innumerable,
Beyond the scope of thought.
The matchless ultimate purity
Along with its qualities
Is the true svabhavikakaya

Also:

The first is Dharmakaya.
Forms exist as space.
In this first the later exist.

Some in the secret mantra say that the mahasukhakaya is a fourth with these great three. The Two Examinations says:

In completely knowing Trikaya,
It is the sphere of great bliss.

The Net of Miracles of Manjushri presents five kayas:

The kaya of the Buddhas has five natures
These are the five of all-pervading wisdom.

The mere totality of all these kinds and qualities is in reality without difference. All dharmas are included in the level of Buddhahood through the single essence of the merely individual.

B. The explanation of the kayas and wisdoms

There are three sections:

· 1. How peace is attained

· 2. How within space and wisdom without adding or taking away there abides luminosity

· 3. The extensive explanation of the divisions

1. How peace is attained:

Now, with the presentation of the Great Miracle, from the way of attaining peace and the divisions of the kayas, there is a brief explanation of the first.

At the time of the pure, ultimate wisdom of the path, it is gathered together as the continuity of the three realms to be abandoned. These realms have appearances of grasping and fixation, of the nature of conceptual examination and analytic discernment:

By mind and mental contents together with alaya,
Entering into Dharmadhatu, the time of the fourth [empowerment],
Space and wisdom are non-dual and of one taste.
Possession of the two purities pacifies complexity.

Motion producing mind and mental contents, included under the aspects of grasping and fixation, is at the level of the three realms.

The Two Truths of the Essence of Wisdom says:

Mind and mental contents are the three realms.
These thoughts are phenomena of imputation.

The eight consciousnesses and alaya are pacified and dissolve in the luminous nature of mind, naturally pure Dharmadhatu. That ground of primordial space and wisdom and the things to be dissolved are non-dually mixed. Their one taste is ultimate Dharmakaya possessing the two purities.

The two complete purities are:

1). Purity of the primordially undefiled nature
2). Purity from incidental stains.

(i.e. All of this means that samsara and Nirvana are not separate or different, not the same. There is nothing to get, nothing to drop. There is nowhere to leave, nowhere to go. It is just a matter of directly seeing the real nature of everything, then everything is seen as unborn and pure. Everything has always been like that, even our own mind. The difference between the poisons and the wisdoms is that one is with ignorance, one is with knowing the real nature of everything, and thus with no attachment, fear or hope.)

The Spiritual Letter of the Drop of Amrita says:

Like water poured into water
And oil extracted by oil,
Are the such-ness of knowables
Without all complexity.

With wisdom the knower of that
Inseparably mixed with it,
This is called Dharmakaya,
The nature of all the Buddhas.

Whenever there is a gap in the continuous entering of mental contents, there is the one taste of the great wisdom.

The Prajńápáramitá-samgatha says:

Having burned away the dry firewood of knowables,
Is peace, the Dharmakaya of the victorious ones.
Then there is no birth and there is no cessation;
Cessation of mind produces perception of the kayas.

2. How luminosity dwells within space and wisdom without adding or taking away.

At that time, Dharmakaya, free from the extremes of complexity, manifests as the great peace, in completely unborn luminosity:

  Completely unborn, within the essence of luminosity,
This is like the new moon, subsided into space.
The lotus of subtle wisdom remains in the space of the sky.
With no conceptualization, peace has been obtained,

This is the pure ultimate.

· When we reach the luminous state of peace, the space of the dhatu,

· Within that sky is the new moon of wisdom, the inner luminosity of omniscience.

· This is the support, or basis of arising,

· of the Buddha qualities.

· At this point, aside from that, the phenomena or appearances of Sambhogakaya do not exist externally from the viewpoint of those who are to be tamed.

· This is the time of solitary Dharmakaya, transcending the defilements of the four extremes.

· The new moon is in the sky, but its luminosity is invisible to others.

· So the profound and subtle wisdom of Dharmakaya

· is gathered into space.

The Appearance of Wisdom [4] says:

Gathered into space
Though it is invisible,
It is not non-existent, (i.e. Not existent, not non-existent, not both, not neither. Union of both emptiness and dependent origination.)
Because of being subtle.

The former play of dharmas,
Like the invisible moon,
Is gathered into peace,
Subtle and profound.

Within the extended explanations of the divisions are:

· [Svabhavikakaya Perfect Union -- Imponderable and innumerable, Beyond the scope of thought. The matchless ultimate purity Along with its qualities]

Ř The changeless vajra kaya,

Ř The kaya of manifest enlightenment,

· The peaceful Dharmakaya,

· Sambhogakaya, and

· The kaya of emanation of everything whatever.

3. The extensive explanations of the divisions:

Now from the five sections:

· a. The changeless vajra kaya

· b. The kaya of the manifestation of enlightenment [complete wakefulness

· c. The peaceful Dharmakaya

· d. Sambhogakaya

· e. Nirmanakaya

a. The changeless vajra kaya an aspect of Svabhavikakaya: 

(i.e. The ground and fruit is beyond thought, changeless, indestructible.)

First there is the changeless vajra kaya beyond the complex objects of thought and expression:  

Conception-less dharmata is changeless throughout the three times.
This, in its aspect of primordial purity,
Has been expressed by the name "the changeless vajra kaya."
In this ultimate dharmata the space of the ground is exhausted.

The changeless nature of the ground, primordially luminous Dharmadhatu, the final destination of the Buddhas, is called the unchanging vajra kaya.

The Net of Wisdom says:

The purity of space is called the vajra kaya.
Beyond thought, it is changeless and indestructible.

i.e. From "Vajrasattva Purification Practice:"

... Then recite the hundred-syllable mantra as many times as you can. While reciting, generate strong devotion towards Vajrasattva, thinking, "Because of my past actions in this life and in all my previous lives, I am in this miserable situation in samsara. Grant your blessings now so that I can purify myself, or I will continue to circle in samsara forever."
    This fervent supplication, offered with hands folded and tears of devotion in your eyes, invokes the wisdom mind of Vajrasattva to purify your negative actions. By the force of your prayer, from the letter HUNG in Vajrasattva's heart, luminous nectar starts to flow, containing all his wisdom, loving-kindness and power. This nectar completely fills the bodies of Vajrasattva and his consort and flows out from the point of their union, from their toes and from all the pores of their bodies into the thousand-petalled lotus upon which Vajrasattva is sitting above the crown of your head, and down through its stem, the end of which penetrates the opening in the top of your head, the Brahma aperture. Through this aperture the nectar descends and fills your body, completely washing away all your obscurations and impurities, which pour forth from all the pores and apertures of your body. Your illnesses come out in the form of pus and blood, negative influences in the form of insects, scorpions, and snakes, and mental obscurations as dark, smoky liquid. The cleansing stream of nectar is so powerful that it washes away all your obscurations like a river in flood carrying away all the trees and rocks in a valley. As these obscurations flow out of your body, the earth below you opens, down to seven levels below the surface. There, in the form of a red bull with mouth gaping open, is Yama, the Lord of Death. The dirty liquid enters his mouth, and, as he swallows it, turns into nectar. Now all your karmic debts, your past actions, have been totally purified and transformed into wisdom. Similarly, not only is your body purified, but even the ordinary aggregates and elements - your flesh, blood, bones and skin - are no longer gross material substances; they become transparent, as if made of light. You are completely clear and luminous inside and out. Then you consider that this red bull, and all those to whom you have past karmic debts, are completely satisfied. The earth beneath you closes again and you are completely purified, your body pure and transparent like crystal.
The amrita from Vajrasattva still continues to flow down, progressively filling your body.

Ř As it fills your head, you receive the blessings of Vajrasattva's body, and all the negative actions you have committed physically, such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, are purified; you receive the vase initiation and the seed is planted for realizing the Nirmanakaya, the manifested body of the Buddhas.

Ř When the nectar reaches your throat, you receive the blessings of Vajrasattva's speech, and all the negative actions you have committed verbally, such as lies, idle chatter, slander, and harsh words, are purified; you receive the secret initiation and the seed is planted for realizing the Sambhogakaya, the body of perfect enjoyment.

Ř Then, as the nectar flows down to your heart level, you receive the blessings of Vajrasattva's mind, and all your negative thoughts, such as animosity, envy, and false views are purified; you receive the third empowerment, the wisdom initiation, and the seed is planted for realizing the Dharmakaya, the absolute body.

Ř Finally, as the nectar reaches your navel center, throughout your body you receive the fourth initiation, the initiation of word, which indicates the absolute nature; all the subtle defilements of body, speech and mind are purified, you receive the blessing of the adamantine wisdom of Vajrasattva, and the seed is planted for realizing the Vajra kaya, the unchanging adamantine body of all the Buddhas.

b. The kaya of the manifestation of enlightenment [5] [complete wakefulness] an aspect of Svabhavikakaya.

i.e. perfect union; the ground of arising of the Buddhas' exclusive qualities; the aspect possessing the power of supreme knowledge and kindness; the perfection of the paramitas.

The kaya of the manifestation of enlightenment is the essence of ultimate renunciation / realization:

Because the nature has become completely pure
Of the two obscurations, which are merely incidental,
Reaching the ocean of omniscience about all dharmas,
Dealing with the perfection of power and so on,
That is called the kaya of manifesting enlightenment.
This is the ground of arising of the Buddhas' exclusive qualities.

At the time of the ultimate luminous nature of mind, the aspect possessing the two purities has the qualities of realization.

· These are the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, eighteen exclusive dharmas of the Buddhas, the great compassion,

· The thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, and so forth as discussed before.

This aspect possessing the power of supreme knowledge and kindness is the kaya of the manifestation of enlightenment. It is the ground of arising of all the exclusive qualities.

The Net of Wisdom says:

To separate all stains,
It undergoes purification,

By blossoming qualities
Expanding into perfection,

By their non-dual mixing
Becoming a perfect union,

Thus it is called the kaya
Of manifesting enlightenment.

The Seventeen Refuges says:

Because it is purified of ignorance and sleep,
Because the mind expands into all knowables,
Buddhahood will blossom like the petals of a lotus.

The Uttaratantra says:

Buddhahood is completely inseparable.
Yet purified dharmas are fully discriminated.
Wisdom is like the sun, and space is like
The dualistic marks that are left behind
They are made luminous inseparable aspects,
It is like the pervasive river Ganges,
being beyond the sand grains in its bed;
Buddhahood is possession of all dharmas.

The nature of Buddhahood is un-established.
As for the universal and incidental,
obscurations of kleshas and knowables,
Are said to be like clouds floating in the sky

The cause of freedom from the two obscurations
Is the two-fold wisdom of Buddhahood
Non-thought and its post-meditation are called wisdom
These are called wisdom.

c. The peaceful Dharmakaya,

(i.e. )

There are four sections:

· 1) The Brief Teaching

· 2) Its being beyond the four extremes, because it does not enter into objects

· 3) Also:

· 4) As for the assembly of Dharmakaya wisdoms

1) The Brief Teaching:

In the state of space beyond extremes, abides very subtle wisdom, the essence of the kayas and wisdoms. The peaceful Dharmakaya is the mere aspect of the moon subsiding into the space of the sky:

  Because this mind does not enter into knowable objects,
There is also no perception of a knowing mind who grasps them.
This inner space of the dhatu is like the subsided new moon.
As it has dissolved, there is nothing that it obscures.
As the essence and ground of arising of omniscience,
Since this is the source of omniscient Rupakaya,
And the treasury of qualities for others,
This ultimate pacification, the very subtlest wisdom
Is that which has been called the peaceful Dharmakaya.

The element or dhatu, the space which is the nature of mind, is inseparably mixed with wisdom.

· As the host of complexities are fully pacified, it is like the time of the new moon. Therefore unobstructed omniscience is said not to be "foggy."

· The wisdom of inner clarity/luminosity, the aspect of meditation, produces

· The wisdom of outer luminosity, the essence of proliferation. (i.e. Knowing the real nature of our own mind, we know the real nature of everything: conceptual and concrete. They are inseparable. Not one, not two. Empty, but still functional.)

· Since object and perceiver are not fixated as two, and since it has the special wisdom of non-thought, this is called the peaceful Dharmakaya.

The Guru of Miracle says:

The very subtle wisdom, the inner luminosity,
The perception-less ground of arising, is known as Dharmakaya.

The Uttaratantra says:

Pure, complete non-thought,
This is the realm of yogins,
Since the essence of Dharmadhatu
Is pure, it is luminous.

(i.e. the two aspects of Dharmakaya; (Being's) self-existent original awareness mode in itself a sheer lucency, is in its facticity.

Total emptiness cannot be Dharmakaya, because it is not insight-wisdom. (i.e. The real nature of everything is not emptiness alone. It is the Union of both emptiness and dependent origination. Everything is not existent, not non-existent, not both, not neither.) When dharmata is maintained to be Dharmakaya, that refers to the vajra kaya, as already explained. (i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature) (i.e. The three kayas are inseparable, unborn, non-dual.)

2) Its being beyond the four extremes, because it does not enter into objects.

The three kayas:

These are never found among external objects;
Yet being very subtle, they are not nothingness.
They are beyond the four extremes, existence and so forth,
Such as the views of Eternalism and nihilism,
As Prajńápáramitá unexpressed by speech or thought.
This empty nature where all conceptions are pacified
Is realized by no one except the victorious ones.

(i.e. The real nature of everything is unborn, pure, non-dual; not one not two; not existence , not non-existence, not both, not neither. It is beyond any description, beyond any conceptualization, beyond causality space and time, beyond all dualities. This full direct realization is the Union of The Two Truths, the inseparability of dependent origination and emptiness, where one implies the other. So all appearances are compatible with emptiness. That is the meaning of the Dharmakaya (luminosity in space) being the support of all the external luminosities.)

They are unthinking. These three kayas, abiding as luminosity in space, support the arising of external luminosity.

· They are not eternal, because they are not objects of perception or thought. (i.e. not existence)

· They are not nothingness, because they are individual and personal wisdom. (i.e. not non-existence)

· They do not have the extremes of both  (i.e. not both)

· or neither because neither Eternalism and nihilism are established, and those extremes are refuted.  (i.e. not neither)

Since they are the grounds of arising, to the eyes of the Buddha sons dwelling on the Bhumis and the host of sentient beings the form kayas appear. They hear the audible speech of the Dharma, smell the fragrance of discipline of the noble ones, experience the taste of Dharma, and touch the bliss of samádhi. By the prajńa of examination and analysis, they ponder such dharmas, and produce their causes of arising; but those other than the Buddhas do not realize the wisdom of inner luminosity in which these manifestations arise from that place that is like the moon subsiding into space.

The Uttaratantra says:

Undefiled, pervasive, having the dharmas of fearlessness,
Steady, peaceful, eternal, this is changeless existence.
The sky-like ultimate state, which is the Tathágata,
Is the cause of experiencing the objects of the six senses:

Viewing objects of form and hearing good discussion,
Hearing pure sound, and of the Tathágata discipline
Smelling the fragrance of purity, the high holy taste of Dharma,
Experiencing those, and caressed by the touch of samádhi.

As the profound, the way, which is that of one's own essence,
Is the cause of realization, if there is subtle thought
Producing absolute bliss, which is the Tathágata,
These are separate from the sky-like reason.

Also:

The nature the true support of objects
Possess the qualities inconceivable and so forth.
The object of the wisdom of omniscience,
And is not the object of the three Buddha knowledge’s.
For those who have attained the body of wisdom,
The inconceivable will be realized.

3) Also: 

Though in this utterly unborn palace of Dharmadhatu,
Dwell eternally all the [6] Buddhas of the three times,
They all are dharmata, and do not see each other.
This is called dwelling in the profoundly peaceful nature.
It consists of the single space of realization
Which is known as the vision of all the victorious ones,
As space in a jar will be the same as what it was.

(i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature)

At the time of inner luminosity, in the field of dharmata, the teacher Samantabhadra, dwelling in the palace of the simplicity of Dharmadhatu, is one with the realization of all the Buddhas of the three or four times. Mixed like the previous and subsequent space in a vase, at this time of primordial inseparability, abiding in conception-less, perception-less dharmata (i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature), having become of one taste, the Buddhas do not see each other's nature--that itself. That is because they abide eternally in self-existing transcendence of seer and seen.

The Secret Tree says:

Free from one and many,
Free from center or limit,
Within this state of such-ness
Not even the Buddhas are seen;
Only non-existent appearance
Of naturally present wisdom.

4) As for the assembly of Dharmakaya wisdoms:

  This is dharmata, the goal of the prajńa of emptiness,
the accumulation of wisdom and also the stage of fulfillment.

(i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature)

Completing the accumulation of wisdom is the same as the stage of perfecting ultimate prajńa. By meditating in emptiness, obscurations of the nature of mind are cleared away. Then the space of Dharmakaya without center or limit completely manifests. The Precious Mala says:

The King of Dharmakaya,
Briefly, takes his birth
From accumulation of wisdom.

That is the explanation.

d. Sambhogakaya

i.e. "These various experiences of the mind are also related to the Sambhogakaya aspect which may manifest from the non-differentiated state of Dharmakaya as visions or visitations.  ... It is said that the Sambhogakaya communicates in symbolic language. It manifests in such a way that one understands it not through words, descriptions, and explanations, but through a more intuitive response to one's experiences. Visions and dreams - all of these - are part of that whole symbolic language of Sambhogakaya manifestation. For this reason, working with one's mind in relation to visualizations, deities, utterance of mantras, and so on, are ways to invoke the Sambhogakaya energy. If one is successful with this, then one can have different kinds of visions. "

· 1) The brief teaching

· 2) The extensive explanation

1) The brief teaching:

Now as for the teaching of the fourth kaya the spontaneously present Sambhogakaya, the space-like dhatu of inner luminosity:

  From this comes the self-experience of Sambhogakaya,
Having the five perfections, those of time and place,
Along with those of teacher, Dharma, and retinue.

From within the space of inner luminosity, dharmata (i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature), comes the appearance of Sambhogakaya possessing the five certainties, the self-appearance of external luminosity.

· The teachers are the regents, the principal ones of the five families. As empty form, the appearances of Buddhahood are not the same as others.

· The palaces and so forth of these fields are the fundamental luminosity of self-experience.

· If such things are examined, none of their individuating characteristics exist.

The Stages of the Path of Miracle says:

The self-experience
Of self-perfected insight
Is fields, and palaces,
With their thrones, and ornaments.
Many rays of light appear.

2) The extensive explanation:

There are nine sections dealing with the final summary, the appearance, place, time, teacher, Dharma, and retinue, and that they are not seen even by those on the tenth bhumi, but only are realized by the Buddhas,

Ř a) The perfect place

§ i. The essence

Ř b) The perfect time

Ř c) The perfect teacher

Ř d) The perfect dharma

Ř e) The perfect retinue

§ i) The peaceful retinue

§ ii) The wrathful retinue

Ř f) Self appearance and other-appearance

Ř g) The final summary

Ř h) How these are not seen even by the pure ones of the tenth bhumi

Ř i) This is realized only by the Buddhas

a) The perfect place.

There are three sections

i. The essence, (i.e. Everything is pure)

First:  

The place is luminosity, the field of gandavyuha.
Brilliantly shining it is dense with five-colored light
Like radiant rainbows that completely fill the sky,
Pervading space above, below, and in all directions.

The beautiful palace has four gates with four pediments.
And corniced five-colored walls, with jeweled garlands and pendants,

The beautiful eaves, are adorned with balustrades and rain-spouts.
These are the adornments of the sacred hall.

Self-experience of the pure field of bliss, luminous Gandavyuha, appears at the time of the self-luminous wisdom of the fundamental ground of the five lights in the heart center. In the whole of space, above, below, and in the cardinal and intermediate directions, are auspiciously presented radiant spheres of light, the appearances of the fence and tent, their translucent colors brilliant with the five lights, like the sun shining in a mirror.

In the center, under the precious wisdom-palace, is the fundamental wheel of wisdom, and above it, filling the whole of space, looking like a cube roofed by a round vase is the shrine hall.

The storied roof is adorned by a brilliant upper roof of precious substances ornamented with a half vajra. The tops of the five colored walls join precious yellow cornices. Hanging outside the eaves on the beam-ends are jewel and pearl garlands and pendants with sun and moon tips, hanging down on the outside. Above the eaves is a balustrade of beautiful white stupas. The four gates and gateways, in the four directions, adorn four rises. The four-stage pediments and the ledges are adorned with a fence of five colors.

The Secret Essence says:

In the place of Akanishta, without center or limit, in the groundless measureless luminous sphere of wisdom, is the brilliantly blazing precious wisdom-palace, uninterrupted in the vastness of the ten directions. Because it blossoms with immeasurable good qualities, it is square. It is beautified by precious rises of excellent wisdom. The pinnacle is all the mandalas of all the Buddhas of the ten directions and four times. This single essence without individuation includes all wisdom within it.

The ornaments of the palace are jewel and silk ribbons, parasols, yak tails, garlands of bells, canopies, victory banners and so forth, filling space. The goddesses of the five desirables emanate clouds of offerings. Swirling light rays pervade everything inside and out. The center and four directions have their individual colors. The corresponding ornaments are of variegated colors. Its appearance is like looking at something of uncertain size. Its size and scope are immeasurable, filling the whole of space. Yet it seems no bigger the opened husk of a sesame seed. Ornamenting the palace are fine, thick, silk [7] precious ribbons, parasols, canopies, victory banners, and so forth, ornaments filling the whole of space. The piled clouds of offerings by the offering goddesses of the five desirables are self-arising and fill the ten directions. In the center of the palace, with the colors of the wisdoms of the directions, dark blue and so forth, many only the size of an opening sesame seed, they pervade all the limits of space.

Since the measure is uncertain, whoever looks on it, though it appears only that big, its limits cannot be seen. With swirling light rays like a magical display, its appearance is nature-less. The Secret Essence says:

The various precious wisdom garlands, tassels, ornaments of the palace, and various forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and touchables, pile up by themselves in the ten directions. Space is filled by inconceivable non-obscuring luminous ornaments.

Everywhere inside the palace are seats and thrones ornamented with lions, elephants, horses, peacocks, shang shang birds, suns, moons, and lotuses. They appear as symbols of many kinds of good qualities. The same text says:

Fearlessness is the lion thrones. Power is the elephant thrones. Miracle is the horse thrones. Empowerment is the peacock thrones. Non-obstruction is the thrones floating in the air. The moon and sun mandalas are natural luminosity. Non-obscuration is the lotus and jewel seats.

b) The perfect time (i.e. Beyond space time causality)

Second:  

The time is uncertain, that of the perfect and changeless ground.
This is the time of Samantabhadra, without the three times.
This is the great encompassment of dharmata;
Within it everything is equal in perfection.
This itself is the nature of primordial purity.

 (i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature)

The perfect time is the inconceivable simplicity of dharmata, without the changes of the three times. This is the time of Samantabhadra, the nature of the great perfection.

The Telling the Marks says:

This is the place of realization that the three times are timeless.

c) The perfect teacher:

The perfect teacher is the kaya of the nature of space and of the luminosity of wisdom. Dwelling there:

The teachers, blazing with all the major and minor marks,
Are the five bhagavans: Vairochana, and Akshobhya,
Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi,
Each in union with their consorts, embracing each other.
There are Akashadhatvishvari and Vajramamaki,
Buddhalochana, Pandaravasini, Samayatara.
They are complete with the customary ornaments.
They are emanating rays of colored light,
These are blue and white; yellow, red, and green.
Below are the peaceful aspects, above the wrathful ones,
These are the five Shri-Herukas, the glorious blood-drinkers,
The Buddha, Vajra, Ratna, Padma and Karma Herukas.
Again there are five sets of five, twenty-five in all.
They are in union with the five khrodheshvaris.
Words cannot describe any details such as these.

The principal ones of the forty-two peaceful Buddhas are the principal father and mother deities of the five families. They are in union and also dwell in the lower ground displaying the nine styles

. The Fierce Lighting of Miracle says:

All the excellent bodies
Of each of these deities
Possess the nine-fold styles.
Smooth, supple, and caressing,
Flexibly pliant, and youthful.
Radiant, brilliant, massive
Brightly shining, and sacred.

They blaze with the major and minor marks. In the ground above are the wrathful ones of the five families also with nine styles. What are these?

The Very Important says:

Graceful, heroic, repulsive
Laughing, fierce, and terrible,
Compassionate, awesome, and peaceful,
They assume these poses
Of the nine moods of dance.

Regarding the mandala, the former text says:

In the great place of the great charnel grounds
In the middle of raging tumultuous waves of rakta,
On a blazing Mount Meru composed of skeletons,
In the midst of a blaze of all-consuming flames,
Is the blazing palace of the charnel grounds.

Its size and vastness are endless and limitless,
Its luminous light is from neither inside nor out.
A blazing four-spoked wheel supports a blazing cube.
The palace is adorned with its four radiant gateways.
The courtyards inside and out are blazingly brilliant.

Adorned by suns and moons, as well as snakes, and skulls
By shaggy bulls and buffaloes, and claws of tigers and bears,
Are seats of arrogant Indra, Brahma, and Ishvara.
In the center of all this is great Yamantaka,

That and so forth is taught. A variant says:

As for fierce tigers and bears,
On pairs of them are the seats
Of luminous Indra and Brahma.
The great seats are also luminous.

This manifests very clearly. The peaceful and wrathful mandalas, pervading as far as the limits of space, are inconceivable and inexpressible. The major and minor marks are the essence of Sambhogakaya. What are they?

First as for the thirty-two major marks, the Uttaratantra says:

The feet are perfectly level,
With the mark of dharmachakras.
The feet are very wide,
But joined to modest ankles;

Long fingers, and long toes,
Are connected by a web
The skin is soft and youthful.
There are seven protuberances.

Calves like the antelope eneya,
The secret organs retracted
In a sheath like an elephant.

A torso like a lion,
With a wide unbroken space
Between the shoulder blades,
Broad and rounded shoulders.

Soft, well-rounded arms,
Have no unevenness.
The arms are very long

The body, haloed in light,
Has a neck like a spotless conch,
And cheeks like the king of beasts

Forty teeth in equal pairs [8]
are white and well-aligned.
The canines are very white.

The tongue is very long,
Of inconceivable length,
With a perfect sense of taste.

A voice like the kalavinka, [9]
Or the melody of Brahma.
The beautiful blue-lotus eyes
Have fine lashes like a bull;

The very handsome face,
has a spotless circle of hair,
Growing between the brows.
On the head is a mound,
That is pure and delicate.

Skin of a golden color
Is superior to other beings.
Fine, soft body hairs,
One growing out of each pore,
Toward the top of the body,
And curling to the right,

With spotless hair like sapphire,
The proportions are like the form
Of a perfect banyan tree.

He who is always good
The incomparable great Sage
Has a body that is firm
With the strength of Narayana.

These blazing thirty-two marks,
Are beyond the scope of thought.
These were taught by the Teacher
As the marks of a Lord of Beings.

As for the eighty minor marks, the Abhisamayalankara says:

The Sage's nails are coppery,
Glossy, and highly arched;
The fingers round, long, [10] and tapering.

The calves have veins free from knots
Which are inconspicuous.
The ankles are inconspicuous.
The feet are of equal form.

With lion and elephant actions,
He walks with the stride of a bull,
He circles to the right.
He goes very gracefully.
He is mindful, and composed.

As if polished, with balanced details,
The body is pure and smooth.
The marks are completely perfect.
The body is large and good.
He walks with even paces

As for the two eyes,
They are pure and freshly youthful.
The body is unblemished,
big and very firm.

The limbs are very supple
The sight pure and un-obscured.
The waist round and symmetrical
Not stretched out or protruding
The belly not hanging down.

The navel is very deep,
It coils to the right.
If looked at overall,
The form is very attractive,

His behavior is pure and his body
Is unblemished by any moles.
the hands, soft like cotton wool,
Have lines that are lustrous and deep.

The face is not too long
The tongue is supple and slender,
The lips are very red.
His voice is like awesome thunder;
But the speech is soft and gentle.

The teeth are round and sharp,
As well as white, and equal.
The calves are fine and the nose
Is tall and supremely pure.

The eyes are wide and the lashes
Attractive like lotus petals.
The eyebrows are long and soft,
Glossy, with equal hairs.

The hands are big and long,
and symmetrically balanced.
He has abandoned faults.

The forehead is broad and long
The head is large and imposing.
The hair is like a black bee,
Attractive, soft, and not bristly,
Not rough, and very good smelling.

He ravishes the mind.
With glorious knots of eternity,
He is adorned with swastikas.
That is the explanation
Of the excellent minor marks.

d) The perfect dharma:

Fourth, the dharma is the nature of the great perfection:

The dharma is the nature of the great perfection,
Whose universal essence is inexpressible.

e) The perfect retinue,

i) The peaceful retinue.

Fifth:

  Their retinues are self-experience, not other than themselves.
Here are the eight male sattvas, and the eight female sattvas.
Four male gate-keepers [11] and also four females are below.
Among the forty-two that are of a peaceful nature,
As six appear to others, they are Nirmanakayas. [12]
Two are Dharmakaya because they remain in space. [13]
Thirty-four are Sambhogakaya self-experience.
Of which the specific retinue numbers twenty-four

In the field of self-appearance of Sambhogakaya, the principal deity and retinue appear. Since there are neither good not bad, they spontaneously arise as the play of a single wisdom.

The Ocean of Miracle says:

Self-appearance is an included aspect.


Of the mind of the victorious ones.
There is the first Buddha conqueror of the Bhumis,
The Mahasattvas, and the great conquerors.

Here of the forty-two peaceful deities:

Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri, the two teachers of the inner luminosity of Dharmakaya remain in the space of the dhatu, and do not appear here.

The six sages of the six realms do not appear because they are included in the appearances of those to be tamed.

The principal five bhagavans are the five central ones, with their five consorts making ten altogether.

There are also the sixteen bodhisattvas, eight male and eight female, plus the four male and female gatekeepers. Together there are twenty-four.

When the principal ones are Vairochana and his consort, the other eight deities and consorts of the four families plus the above twenty-four make thirty-two. These, are the self-appearances of the retinue.

ii) The wrathful retinue,

Similarly as above:

  Eight wrathful tramen deities are the wrathful retinue;
These are Kaurima, Simha and the other six,
The twenty-eight lords and the four gate guardians. [14]

From among the fifty-eight wrathful deities,
Forty-eight comprise the particular retinue.
With fierce devouring fangs, they hold blazing scepters.
Their brilliant dance-displays are unendurable.

The chief deity and consort were already discussed. The retinue is forty-eight plus the Buddha heruka and his consort. If some are counted twice, the retinue is fifty-six. All the self-appearances of the retinue are terrifying, awesomely brilliant, abiding in the middle of space.

The great loppon says:

Charming, heroic, and fearsome,
Laughing, cunning, and fierce,
Compassionate, awesome, and peaceful,
These manners are displayed.

I prostrate to these
the fifty-eight blood-drinkers.

They are as taught there.

f) Self appearance and other-appearance [15]

According to the presentations of the mandalas of the peaceful and wrathful deities in the Net of Miracle:

  The self-appearance fields comprising Sambhogakaya
Are as many as the number of body-mandalas.
As many peaceful and wrathful deities as appear
Are from the viewpoint of others so that they can be tamed.
All are gathered under the head of Nirmanakaya.
They are not the Sambhogakaya self-experience.

The body mandalas of Guhyasamaja, Hevajra, Chakrasamvara, and so forth, as many as are taught in the annutara tantras, are self-appearances of Sambhogakaya and not other-appearances. Some say that the complexities of the mandalas of wrathful ones for the purpose of taming obstructing spirits and agents of perversion, are Nirmanakayas rather than part of the mandala of the field of Akanishta. Since they are the projected self-appearance mandalas of these obstructing spirits, they are like dreams.

As for the final summary of these,

g) The final summary,

The display of the great appearance of self-appearances of Sambhogakaya is the field of the five perfections:

All these five perfections are only our projections.
For this reason they are neither good nor bad.
All of them emanate bright and brilliant rays
They shimmer and lucidly stream, brilliantly sparkling
This is what is realized by the leaders of beings.
They see them one by one, and then express their praises.

The principal and retinue deities of the Buddha fields, appearing as the external luminosity of wisdom, are neither good nor bad. Though the principal deities and their retinues may appear, like good and bad dreams in one continuum, they are not really either good nor bad. Since they are real as internally existing realization, the display of the fields, palaces, lights, the principal and retinue deities and so forth, are therefore included within the single continuum of un-obscured Buddhahood.
Moreover these abide as the brilliant mind of complete non-thought, and the silence of the great freedom from speech and expression, and the resplendent clarity of the kaya of the great brilliance. These are therefore the self-appearances of the mandalas of the eye that purely sees external appearance. Since every one of these are seen by all the Buddhas without obscuration, each of them praises their good qualities.

h) How these are not seen even by the pure ones of the tenth bhumi

These appearances are obscured even for the tenth bhumi:

But even pure students do not have the power to see
All of the array of these pleasant Buddha fields.

Even the bodhisattvas from the first through the tenth bhumi do not see the Sambhogakaya self-appearances of Buddhahood. This is because they are still not free of all obscurations. They are not able to see these realms, and the Buddha qualities and Buddha activity and so forth, limitlessly filling the whole of space. This is because, except for the qualities of their own bhumi, they have not attained the pure mental eye that sees all good qualities.

The Uttaratantra says:

The realm of Buddhahood and the Buddhas' enlightenment
The Buddha qualities and Buddha activities,
Are unthinkable even to the purest sentient beings.
This is a realm that belongs only to the leaders.

Also:

Since it is not the pure realm, it is part of the absolute. [16]
Since it is not conceptual, it therefore transcends example.
Since it is not within mind, there is no craving in peace.
Even the noble ones cannot comprehend the conquerors.

Also:

Mindless wisdom the great compassion and such perfect qualities
Of the victorious ones are inconceivable.
The ultimate manner of these self-arising ones
By even those fortunate ones who have attained the empowerment
Of the great Sage this is not fully understood.

i) This is realized only by the Buddhas.

Well who does realize it?:

  Self-appearance as empty form is inconceivable
It is the self-experience of the victorious ones.

When the prana enters into the central channel, for yogins nothing else is seen but empty reflections of self-appearance. Though even bodhisattvas do not see the fields that appear to the Buddhas, for the Buddhas they continuously appear. That is because they are the intrinsically and spontaneously present appearances of the space of the dhatu.

The Secret Essence says:

Within that same bindu of wisdom
Are its appearances.
Inconceivable and ultimate.
The limitless pure fields
Of the ten directions
And the four states of time.

The causeless palaces
Are the circle of ornament
And the music of the feast.
These inconceivable mandalas
When they have all been seen,
There is perfect delight.

The meaning of the vast teachings
Arising at that time
Is the self-appearances
Of this harmonious wisdom.

The bindu of wisdom is the pure sight of the Buddha eye. The Telling the Marks says:

The single spotless eye of wisdom

As for the appearance of the "bindu of wisdom" itself, the fields of self-appearance are of luminously radiant rainbow light.

As for "inconceivable," such appearances appear only to other Buddhas. The unimaginable "ultimate" is measureless. The "ten directions" are the east and so forth. The perfect self appearances of the "four times" are those of the Buddhas of the past, future, and present, and the uncertain time of the Buddhas dwelling in Akanishta. "The limitless pure fields" are the Buddha fields of self-appearance. The Buddhas see one another there. [17]

The "causeless palaces" and so forth are the fields of luminous self-appearance. As for "the meaning of the vast teachings," the meaning spoken only by that same inexpressible speech is understood. As for "harmonious wisdom," the principal deity and retinue have one realization and one essence, which are inseparably in harmony.

As for "self-appearance," though they appear to the eyes of these same Buddhas, they do not appear to others, the bodhisattvas and so forth. That is their characteristic.

e. Nirmanakaya:

· 1) The brief teaching

· 2) The extended explanation of the three kinds of Nirmanakayas, the self-existing, taming, and various Nirmanakayas.

1) The brief teaching:

The fifth kaya, Nirmanakaya, leads the Buddha sons, noble ones and so on, to the land of peace. Therefore, it is called the teacher who is the precious guide.

· Moreover, from the Sambhogakaya reflections appearing to excellent students

· And the various emanations appearing to ordinary ones,

· The first appears having the five certainties of Akanishta and so forth.

· The second, are fabrications to benefit ordinary beings, shravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas.

From where do these two kinds of emanations arise? The field of self-appearance of Sambhogakaya:

Coming from within this into the world of students,
Here are the different kinds of teachers that appear:
The self-existing [18] taming, and various Nirmanakayas [19]
These three are producers of benefit for beings.

From the state of self-appearance, again proliferating bodies benefit for sentient beings. Here there are self-existing, taming, and various Nirmanakayas. [20]

2) The extended explanation of the three kinds of Nirmanakayas, the self-existing, taming, and various Nirmanakayas.

· a) The self-existing Nirmanakaya

· b) The Nirmanakayas who are tamers of beings

· c) The various Nirmanakayas

a) The self-existing Nirmanakaya

· i) The place and teacher

· ii) Wisdom

Ř a) The short teaching

Ř b) The extended explanation

§ 1) The Dharmadhatu wisdom

§ 2) The mirror-like wisdom

§ 3) The wisdom of equality

§ 4) Discriminating wisdom

§ 5) All accomplishing wisdom

· iii) The Dharma and retinue

· iv) The time

· v) Distinguishing what is to be purified by the field and teacher

Ř a) Vairochana

Ř b) Those of the other four families

· vi) The real field

Ř a) By the distinction between teacher and retinue there is half-emanation

Ř b) The four peaceful fields

Ř c) The celestial field

Here there are also distinctions of place and teacher, wisdom, Dharma and retinue, and time; as well as what is to be trained in, and a real field. of these six as for

i) The place and teacher:

The teacher of Sambhogakaya is the reflection appearing to bodhisattvas. Like the self-appearances of Sambhogakaya, these are not solid or real, like reflections in a mirror.

From the explanation of the way of the five perfections, the teacher as self-arising Nirmanakaya:  

The teachers of the self-existing Nirmanakaya
Are the forms of the various Buddhas of the five families,
Such as Vairochana, Akshobhya, and the rest.
And their five fields, Akanishtha, Abhirati
Shrimat, Sukhavati, and Karmaprasiddhi
Their major and minor marks are blazing with rays of light.
By their rising in countless peaceful and wrathful forms
The two benefits for beings are spontaneously performed.

The pure bodhisattvas also attain the five kayas and five wisdoms. Depending on their having purified the five kleshas, the teachers of the five families, the fields, the dharma, and the retinue and so forth appear.

· In the center, in Akanishta, is the teacher Vairochana.

· In the east in Abhirati, the realm of true joy, is Vajrasattva. [21]

· In the south in Shrimat, endowed with splendor, is Ratnasambhava.

· In the west in Sukhavati, [22] the realm of great bliss, is Amitabha.

· In the north is Karmaprasiddhi and Amoghasiddhi,

their bodies blazing with the major and minor marks like the moon in water appearing as in the self-appearing Sambhogakaya.

The Uttaratantra says:

Like the form of the moon in a cloudless sky,
Autumn rain-clouds in lakes are visible,
Like that are the form of the Lord the host of Buddha sons
Are visible in the mandala of complete wakefulness

As to how, the Abhisamayalankara says:

The thirty-two major marks
And eighty minor marks,
Because of completely enjoying
The wealth of Mahayana,
Are therefore designated
The Sage's enjoyment body. [23]

As for how from inner luminosity, the self-appearing Sambhogakaya, a reflection like the moon in space, appears to the bodhisattvas, a second Sambhogakaya satisfies the bodhisattvas.

The Nirmanakaya[s] supported within completely pure space are called far and near.

The Uttaratantra says:

These are the thirty-two qualities
Which satisfy when seen
They depend on the two kayas,
Sambhoga- and Nirmanakaya.

For those near and far from these.
In seeing this, there are two aspects,
In the world and the Conquerors' mandala.
Like the moon in the sky and the water.

The "two aspects" are the Sambhogakaya of pure space seen on the level of Buddhahood, and the reflected Sambhogakaya seen by the bodhisattvas. Subsequently the supreme Nirmanakaya ornamented with similar major and minor marks is joined to the sight of individual beings etc..

ii) Wisdom

a)) The short teaching

The Sambhogakaya appearing to the bodhisattvas has the five natures of the five wisdoms:

Each self-existing teacher has all of the five wisdoms.
This occurs by having the other four as a retinue.
The five are the Dharmadhatu and the Mirror-like Wisdoms,
Those of equality, and discriminating awareness,
And finally the wisdom that is all-accomplishing.
They are all of one taste, comprising a single state.

For the five teachers there are five sets of the five wisdoms. Twenty-five are possessed in all. They do not move from the continuity of the single nature.

· Thus Vairochana chiefly possesses the Dharmadhatu wisdom,

· Akshobhya the mirror-like wisdom,

· Ratnasambhava the wisdom of equality,

· Amitabha the discriminating awareness wisdom,

· And Amoghasiddhi the all-accomplishing wisdom;

but each possesses the other four wisdoms as a retinue.

b) The extended explanation,

From the five sections

1) The Dharmadhatu wisdom

What are these wisdoms? As for the first:

  By pacifying ignorance into space, there is simple, space-like wisdom.

The Bodhisattvabhumi Sutra says

Dharmadhatu wisdom is utterly motionless,
Beyond complex extremes of grasping and fixation.

As for the Dharmadhatu wisdom, for example, if everything has gone into space, though it exists in some sense, it is inexpressible. Everything is of one taste with no variety. Similarly in the Dharmadhatu wisdom, all knowables exist inexpressibly without variety, in one taste.

2) The mirror-like wisdom

The second wisdom:

Mirror-like wisdom is the source of luminous emptiness.
As such it is the great source of all the later wisdoms.

Alayavijńana is the ground of arising and proliferation of all the other consciousnesses.
The wisdom of subsiding into space is the ground of arising of the remaining three. It is like the surface of a pure mirror, without defilements of grasping and fixation.

The same text says:

As for the mirror-like wisdom, for example, although reflections of things appear in the surface of a mirror; those things do not exist there. This is effortless, and such things have no conditional formations at all.

Similarly, though the various reflections of omniscience arise within the mirror-like wisdom, they do not exist, are effortless, and are unconditioned.

The Mahayanasutralankara says:

The mirror-like wisdom is completely immovable.
Equality, discriminating, and all accomplishing.
The three wisdoms that come later all depend on it.

3) The wisdom of equality

Third:

Within the equality wisdom all the dharmas are equal.
Here samsara and nirvana are non-dual.
This is the equality of the great perfection.

By pride being pacified into space, the equality of self and other is known, and samsara and nirvana are non-dual.

The same sutra source says:

In the wisdom of equality, all dharmas enter into mark-less equality, so that pleasure and pain are of one taste.
Therefore, they are established as equality/equanimity.

The former says:

The wisdom of equality as found in sentient beings,
Is maintained to be the purity of meditation
As for non-dwelling, remaining in a state of peace,
This is maintained to be the wisdom of equality.

4) Discriminating wisdom:

Fourth:

For discriminating wisdom objects are distinct.
The visions of nature and extent are completely pure.

By the subsiding of passion into space, discriminating awareness wisdom knows the empty nature of knowables as it is, and knows the extent of all the essences of various appearances, along with their causes and effects.

(i.e. knowledge of how-it-is (Tib. ji ta ba) This is transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the true nature of reality, not as it appears to individuals in samsara.
knowledge of variety (Tib. ji nye pa) This is the transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the variety of phenomena.)

The sutras say:

As for discriminating awareness wisdom, for example, in the realm of the world islands, continents, the sun, the moon, and so forth are discriminated. Similarly, discriminating awareness wisdom truly discriminates all the world transcending perfections with their causes and effects; and the shravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas.

The Mahayanasutralankara says:

As for the wisdom of discriminating awareness,
Perceptions of all knowables are not obstructed at all.
The occurrence of various samádhis and dharanis
Are like nothing else than having found a treasure.

As for this, within the mandala of samsara,
Because it teaches all the connections of everything,
Every kind of doubt is totally cut through.
There is a great descent of the excellent rain of Dharma.

5) All accomplishing wisdom:

Fifth:

All accomplishing wisdom is perfect Buddha activity.
It is not obstructed by knowing everything all the time.

By the subsiding of envy into space, as for the wisdom that unremittingly acts to accomplish benefit for sentient beings, the former text says:

As for the wisdom that is all accomplishing,
In all the variety of all the different realms
By immeasurable emanations beyond the scope of thought
It accomplishes all the goals of sentient beings.

iii) The Dharma and retinue:

Fourth:

Beings on the ten Bhumis are the retinue of students.
The dharma is samádhi, saturated with light.
When mind is cleansed of the obscurations of these levels,
Miserliness and the rest, the victorious ones are seen.
When we can see the distinction of the purity of these teachers
And ourselves as we are now, that purifies obscuration.
Thus we establish ourselves within prabhasvara.
This is accomplished as if our wonderful reflection
Had been shown to us within a perfect mirror.

The perfect retinue are the bodhisattvas of the ten Bhumis.

The Small Commentary says:

The bodhisattvas dwelling on the great Bhumis have the joy of enjoyment of the Mahayana dharma and of faultlessness. Therefore there is the body of enjoyment, the Sambhogakaya of the Buddha Bhagavat.

Moreover, the perfect dharma is the Mahayana made visible by emanating rays of light. As by looking in a mirror one removes dirt from one's face, those bodhisattvas by looking at the teacher of Sambhogakaya, see their own obscurations, and then gradually purify avarice and so forth. Having looked at the teacher and having seen the teacher's superiority and the superiority of purity to impurity, again they are blessed. Dharmas marked by the symbols of understanding arise within them, and by emanating rays of light, they clear away obscurations.

The Secret Essence says:

In the highest place of Akanishta,
Kaya has the mode of Vairochana.
None of the bodhisattva retinues
Ever speak with speech so excellent.

By kaya Dharmas are taught with gentleness.
As if shown within a perfect mirror.
The evil color of things is cleared away,
Once the retinue thus has looked at kaya,

The bottomless obscurations of enlightenment
Appear in kaya as if in a mirror.
Then the ten Bhumis are gradually purified.
True unsurpassable Buddhahood is attained.

iv) The time:

Fifth:

The time continues until all beings are liberated.
The field of Sambhogakaya always presents itself.

The inexhaustible wheel of the ornament lasts for as long as there are bodhisattvas dwelling on the ten Bhumis who have not attained enlightenment. It always continuously remains.

The Madhyamakavatara says:

Until beings are liberated, it is always there...

The Uttaratantra says:

The Lord of Dharma has overcome the Mara of Death.
Since there is no nature, he is always the world's protector.

v) Distinguishing what is to be purified by the field and teacher,

From the two sections distinguishing

a)) Vairochana:

Students certainly have the nature of the five families.
Thus, when their powerful ignorance has been removed,
The field is Akanishta and the teacher Vairochana.
The Dharma is Dharmadhatu wisdom, completely pure.

As the defilements of the five kleshas are purified by stages in bodhisattvas, the first-appearing of the five teachers and Dharmas, at the time of abandoning the defilement of ignorance, is Vairochana, with the Dharma of Dharmadhatu wisdom, which is heard in Akanishta.

b) Those of the other four families:

Just so by removing aggression, there is the field of Akshobhya.
By removal of pride there is the field of Ratnasambhava.
By removing desire, there is the field of Amitabha.
By removing jealousy, the field of Amoghasiddhi.

· For aggression the Dharma of the mirror-like wisdom of Akshobhya is taught,

· for pride, the wisdom of equality of Ratnasambhava,

· for passion, the discriminating awareness wisdom of Amitabha.

· Jealousy is purified by showing the all-accomplishing wisdom of Amoghasiddhi.

For those on the ten Bhumis, it is taught that there are five transformations of the five Dharmas of the five families.

· At the time of the path of seeing, the ignorance of imputed false conceptions is transformed into the Dharmadhatu wisdom. Attaining the first bhumi, "supremely joyful," one sees Vairochana.

· On the lesser three paths of meditation, transforming pride into the wisdom of equanimity, one sees Ratnasambhava.

· On the middle three, transforming all kinds of passion into discriminating awareness wisdom, one sees Amitabha.

· On the precious eighth bhumi, the seeds of aggression, the pain of conceptualization, and alayavijńana are transformed into the mirror-like wisdom so that one attains complete non-thought and sees Akshobhya.

· On the ninth and tenth Bhumis, purifying the seeds of jealousy, the fields of the five gates are purified by the four modes of genuine individual awareness. [24] Perfect Buddha activity produces benefit for sentient beings, the all-accomplishing wisdom is attained, and seeing Amoghasiddhi, one is empowered by great light rays. This is perfection of the great deeds of the Buddhas.

The Manifestation of Miracle says:

By mastery of the pure levels,
The five teachers, and their five dharmas
One perfects the five wisdoms
And goes to enlightenment.

The commentary describes what this is like:

vi) The real field,

From the three sections

a) By the distinction between teacher and retinue there is half-emanation

By other appearance of the fields of the five families and the appearance of the teacher, how benefit is produced for the bodhisattvas:

  Since regarding a teacher in the realm of Sambhogakaya
The retinue and such are other than the teacher,
For this reason, not everything is Sambhogakaya.
This half emanation is self-existing Nirmanakaya.
This appears for sentient beings who are purified.
But for the noble ones who are dwelling on the Bhumis,
Those who are to be tamed are not other than themselves.
So it is called a half-emanated Nirmanakaya

The genuine field of Sambhogakaya, by the perfection of being without good and bad, is always changeless. The reflected Sambhogakaya appearing to the bodhisattvas, showing the major and minor marks and so forth, appears to be other than the field and retinue and so forth. Therefore it is included within the appearances of the ten Bhumis, and is called a "half-emanation." This is taught in the tantra The Wedding of the Sun and Moon and so forth.

It is also called half-emanation because the field does not appear to be other for the bodhisattvas of the ten Bhumis. Though Sambhogakaya appears, since it is not other than self-appearance, [25] its reflection is a half-appearing simulacrum, and so it is called half-emanation. By emanating with the nature of self-appearance, it is also called a naturally-existing Nirmanakaya.

b) The four peaceful fields: 

These fields are alike in their delightful palaces.
They are built on the seven precious substances.
They emanate rays of light to all of the directions.
Countless Buddha-sons are born from lotus flowers.
Everything that is desired falls like rain.
Throughout the four times the sound of dharma rings like sleigh-bells. [26] These are the emanations of a peaceful nature.

In the fields of the five families, on ground of the seven precious substances, divine palaces, brilliant with rays of light are adorned with garlands of jewels. From bells in tala [27] trees dharma sounds of emptiness, mark-less-ness, and so forth, unheard before, arise by themselves and pacify harmful kleshas. As pools of water adorned with the eight virtues [28] emanate like the play of fountains, the torments of the kleshas are cleared away. A rain of all that anyone could desire falls from the sky and so forth. The power and enlightenment of the Buddhas is adorned by the immeasurable display arising because of the wondrously arisen virtuous roots of the bodhisattvas.

This display of good qualities of the undisturbed fields, Sukhavati and so forth, is extensively explained in the sutras. These are nothing but the appearances of their own virtuous minds, and so those maintaining the conception that they are other are impure. If they try to cross over to somewhere else, they will never get there. As from virtuous habitual patterns good dreams arise, the self-appearances of the bodhisattvas, accord with the half-emanation of the Buddhas.

The Secret Essence says:

A wishing-fulfilling tree or wishing gem,
And arising of everything that is desired
These do not exist substantially,
But supported by the merit of one's mind.

The wondrous miracle, wondrous marvelous Dharma.
From another existence does not come.
From prajńa in dependence on upaya,
These arise like a fetus in the body.

c) The celestial field:

As the peaceful self-arising Nirmanakaya appears to the bodhisattvas dwelling on the Bhumis:

Likewise there are countless wrathful mandalas,
Celestial realms that emanate heaps of clouds of dakinis.
These are the Buddha field of the glorious five herukas.
They are fully apparent to those in the secret mantra.
Nowadays this is called the celestial realm of bliss.
It is highly praised by the learned and accomplished.

The self-appearance of inner luminosity arises as the luminous mandalas of the wrathful ones of the five families. This is like the reflection of the moon appearing here. For individuals dwelling on the level of a vidyadhara of secret mantra with power over life and for the insight holders of Mahamudra, the five poisons are abandoned. Because of that, from the self-arising appearance of the five kayas and five wisdoms, when ignorance is tamed, the mandala of the wrathful one of the Tathágata family, the Buddha heruka, appears in Akanishta. Having traveled there, dakas, dakinis, and lords of yogins who have the same fortune as other vidyadharas enjoy the feast within the great waves of the view and action of the mantra-yana.

Similarly, in the vajra field there is a display of the mandala and field of the Vajra Heruka, in the ratna field of the Ratna Heruka, in the padma field of the Padma Heruka, and in the karma field of the Karma Heruka.

The sounds of the dakinis practicing in the celestial realm, mantrikas of the earthly realm, the beings of the fields, and so forth are classed with those of the assembly of Vajrayogini, producing the support of sound emptiness.

In the field of the moment of death, the wrathful ones invite with heaps of clouds of parasols, victory banners, and music. As these are seen by the vidyadhara gurus, they are drawn in. The arrayed five places of the vidyadharas are called the celestial realms of great bliss. Of equal fortune with those who have attained the same field by the bodhisattva-Bhumis, each has realization of the dharma, teacher, retinue, view, and accomplishment of samádhi, from which no other is conceivable.

The Precious Ocean says:

As it appears to those who are dwelling on the Bhumis,
The fields of wrathful ones appear to vidyadharas,
With all the great feast of good qualities of the celestial realm.
One is ornamented by the marks of accomplishment.
The signs and marks of attaining the siddhis all appear.

As vidyadharas training on this very path, the vajra gurus dwell. So it is proclaimed.

b) The Nirmanakayas who are tamers of beings,

There are seven sections.

· i) The field of Sambhogakaya

· ii) Emanations and further emanations

· iii) Taming whatever needs to be tamed

· iv) How benefits are performed by wisdom

Ř a) How individual benefits are performed:

Ř b) The way of knowing

· v) The way of appearing to impure beings

· vi) How impure appearances arise

· vii) How these also possess limitless compassion

Second, there is the teaching of the Sages of how being-taming Nirmanakayas appear in accord with individual realms of beings. As for their appearance as teachers who benefit beings, as said above, from the six places of the Sambhogakaya of Akanishta, emanate six rays of light to the places of the six kinds of beings. At their tips are letter garlands, which perform benefits by appearing as the teachers of the individual wheels. What is so known is

i) The field of Sambhogakaya: 

From this come Nirmanakayas who are the tamers of beings.
They dwell in each of the lokas, appearing as their teachers.
There are Indra, Aravala, Shakyamuni and Senge Rabten
Jvalamukhadeva and Awa Langosé.
Each of these six sages purify the minds
Of beings of one of the lokas, throughout the ten directions.

From Sambhogakaya light rays, circular garlands of syllables emanate as teachers in the places of the six kinds of beings. In the place of the gods, are divine sages, lord Indra and so forth. In the place of the asuras is Aravala. In the place of human beings are the Great Sage Shakyamuni and so forth. In the place of the animals are Senge Rabten and so forth. In the place of the prętas is Jvalamukhadeva and so forth. In the place of the hell beings is Awalangmogo and so forth.

These individual tamers are self-existing, accomplishing benefits for beings without motion and effort. This is the blessing of the great compassion. It arises from the cause of the increasing white virtue of beings.

The Dharma appears in a three-fold way, like water, the moon's reflection, and the disk of the moon. As the moon has the power of producing reflections, the moon of Sambhogakaya has a power of making emanations arise from the viewpoint of those to be tamed. As water in a vessel has a power of holding reflections, those to be tamed have the merit of an emanation appearing. When these two come together, as the moon effortlessly arises in the water, the reflection emanated from the moon of the teacher arises when there are those to be tamed, and never at an untimely moment.

The Hundred Actions says:

In the ocean where water dragons live,
Waves may rise at an inappropriate time.
The Buddha's coming to sons who are to be tamed,
Never comes at an inappropriate time.

In the four directions, above, and below; in the six divisions of space of the world realm including its borders above and below, to as many of the six kinds of beings as exist, by their own karma, these emanations are shown. They appear to those above in the celestial realms, to human beings and animals in the middle, and to hell beings and prętas below. To these beings who experience various joys and sorrows, benefiting as many as there may be, countless inconceivable and immeasurable sages appear.

The Secret Essence says:

Then from all the Tathágatas, as the blessing of the great compassion, come the so-called insight beings, the six sages. They came forth from the body, speech, and mind vajras of the Tathágata. Having come forth, by the power of karma, above, below and everywhere in the ten directions of the six worlds in each limitless three-fold thousand world realm, the bhagavans, the great sages benefit beings in each world by the four kinds of taming.

The four tamings are:

· 1) Taming by great merit of the body

· 2) Taming through speech by the dharmas of various vehicles

· 3) Taming through mind by the great higher perceptions

· 4) Taming through inconceivable Buddha activity.

The Buddha qualities are all pervading and not separately counted.

In the first, there is taming by the twelve deeds and so forth. The Uttaratantra says:

By the great compassion
He knows the world as it is.
Having seen all the world,
Not moving from Dharmakaya,
By various emanations
Manifesting in birth,
He emanates from Tushita;
Meditates, and being born,
Is skilled in the arts and sciences,
Enjoys his harem of queens,
Renounces, performing austerities,
Goes to essential enlightenment,
Overcomes hosts of Maras,
Attains complete perfection,
Turns the wheel of dharma,
And passes into Nirvana.
In as many worlds as there are
These are shown in those impure fields.

As for his taming by speech, The Secret Essence says:

By his power of taming, as antidotes to the eighty four thousand kinds of conceptualizations and kleshas, he teaches the vehicles of gods and human beings, the shravaka yana, the Pratyekabuddha yana, the bodhisattva yana, and the unsurpassable vehicle. Eighty-four thousand Dharmas have been taught, are taught, and will be taught.

Like Shakyamuni, turning the wheel of dharma in different realms of samsara, the melodious speech of Dharma has sixty limbs, with a teaching according with the interest and openness, which each one has. As such teachings are given at one time to limitless different sentient beings, the eighty-four thousand gates of Dharma and so on are simultaneously heard like an echo. The sound and words of the apparent speech of Nirmanakaya are without individuating characteristics. They are self-appearances of the minds of those to be tamed and blessings of the Buddha.

The Uttaratantra says:

Just as reverberation of an echo
Arises in the apprehension of others,
And without discursive willing, it is effortless,
And does not really exist inside or out;

So the speech of the Tathágata,
Arises from the apprehension of another,
And without discursive willing, it is effortless,
And does not really exist inside or out.

This same speech, in the ears of those to be tamed, achieves the sixty limbs of melodiousness. [29] The Embodiment of the Intention says:

The roots are like this:

1). Like Brahma
2). Like the sound of cymbals
3). Like songs and dances
4). Like the bird kalapingka
5). Like the music of thunder
6). Like an echo

Lord of Lanka. The limbs are like this:

1). Producing recognizable perception
2). Without disharmony
3). Worthy of listening
4). Memorable
5). Impenetrable, very profound
6). Interesting to hear
7). Completely un-disturbing
8). Pleasant and interesting to the ear
9). Completely without clashing
10). Supremely clear

Arising for each of the array of gates, these and their limbs arise entirely perfect.

The six roots combine with each of the ten limbs, making sixty altogether. As for the ten natures of these sixty, the same text says:

Lord of Lanka, what is its natures? They are like this:

1). A great slow melody
2). All pervading
3). Quickly understandable
4). Cutting off doubts
5). Equal in its single vision
6). Ephemeral manifestation
7). Entering everywhere
8). Producing yearning
9). Specially acting
10). Taming everything

Each of the ten natures multiplied by the six roots makes sixty. The sixty multiplied among themselves become the thousand limbs of melody, called the ocean of limbs of melody. Thus the reflected emanations of the supreme Buddha are seen. As on a background of vaidurya, or lapis lazuli, the reflection of Indra appears, so the mental appearances of the pure karma of beings appear. The Uttaratantra says:

Just as on a ground of polished vaidurya
The reflection of the king of the gods appears,
So on the polished ground of the mind of beings,
The reflection of [30] the Lord of Sages rises.

The reflection for beings has no rising, setting, or disturbance. Disturbance gets in by the power of one's own mind.

As for taming by mind, the Secret Essence says:

Knowing all and everything in the four modes of time,
Knowing all the continua of the minds of all,
By the miraculous eye seeing all phenomena,
By the miraculous ear, hearing all phenomena,
By miraculous awareness, experiencing them all...

The undefiled experience of Samantabhadra, the great, completely perfect six higher perceptions are like that.

These are the six higher perceptions:

· 1). The vision of the divine eye

· 2). The divine ear

· 3). Non-obscuration

· 4). Knowing the thoughts of others

· 5). By knowing the four times and remembering many lives, remembering former existences

· 6). Displaying whatever miracle will tame beings.

By these stages, all minds are accepted and known. Then by performing benefits they are tamed.

As for taming by Buddha activity, the Secret Essence says:

His form being everywhere is inconceivable.
His mind being everywhere is inconceivable.
His face being everywhere is inconceivable.
His speech being everywhere is inconceivable.

There are countless such inconceivable appearances in the ten directions.

Each of the details of body, speech, and mind also has an inconceivable assembly, pervading the ten directions of the Buddha field doing benefits. Moreover, by body, speech, and mind real, substantial benefits are produced and all these Buddha activities, within all things and continua are explained as different.

ii) Emanations and further emanations

Thus the six sages in the six realms of beings, which have been discussed, are the number of the principal ones:

These six chief emanations have countless sub-emanations.
These are even found in each of the realms of the gods,
From the Brahma and Ishvara realms right up to Akanishta.
They appear as teachers in every one of them.

The six sages are included among the six kinds of beings, existing in the realization of those to be tamed. The six names, lord Indra among the gods and so forth, are mere examples. They are emanations from space, and by these emanations, from the viewpoint of sentient beings, countless further emanations perform benefits. Even in the realm of the gods from the four great kings up to Akanishta, the principal ones of the god realms perform taming.

iii) Taming whatever needs to be tamed:

They also appear wherever humans are tamable
Manifesting as shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas,
As bodhisattvas or kings, they then tame human beings.

Among the asuras are also such different kinds of teachers.
Among the animals they may appear as birds to birds,
Or else they may appear like lions, the king of beasts.
The different kinds of teachers transcend the scope of thought.
Likewise among the prętas and also the beings of hell
They appear in forms that are appropriate.

In the human world too there is not only one. There is taming by innumerable kshatriyas, Brahmins, women, and so forth. The single Buddha emanates shravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, kings, and so forth, who similarly perform benefits.

Similarly, produced among animals, they tame them. For taming wild animals, they appear as lions and so forth. Among hell beings and prętas, it is similar. Wherever there are sentient beings, benefits are performed by the Buddha's emanations. The Avatamsaka Sutra says:

Kye! Son of noble family, as for the emanations of the Buddha, whatever sort of beings are to be tamed, these immeasurable ones perform benefits by that sort of form, color, and name. It is like this: In the realm of the Divine Lord, having emanated as the Divine Lord, the path of the ten commandments of virtuous action are genuinely transmitted.

Similarly, for those who are to be tamed by renunciates, Brahmins, prętas, or hell beings, he emanates those forms and benefits them.

iv) How benefits are performed by wisdom,

From the two sections

a) How individual benefits are performed:

Each of these tamers of beings possesses two kinds of wisdom,
These are the wisdom of nature and wisdom of extent.
Knowing dharmata and distinctly knowing dharmas,
They produce the two benefits for those who are to be tamed.

 (i.e. dharmin, the realm of dharmas, and dharmata, their real nature)

(i.e. knowledge of how-it-is (Tib. ji ta ba) This is transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the true nature of reality, not as it appears to individuals in samsara.
knowledge of variety (Tib. ji nye pa) This is the transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the variety of phenomena.)

As for the wisdoms of the tamers of beings and the supreme emanation,

· depending on dharmata there is the wisdom of nature,

· and depending on the dharmin there is the wisdom of extent.

b) The way of knowing:

The wisdom of nature sees emptiness as reality.
It teaches beings the meaning of total pacification.
The wisdom of extent knows minds and their various powers.
Distinctly knowing these, it shows limitless styles of Dharma.

(i.e. knowledge of how-it-is (Tib. ji ta ba) This is transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the true nature of reality, not as it appears to individuals in samsara.
knowledge of variety (Tib. ji nye pa) This is the transcendent knowledge (jnana) of the variety of phenomena.)

Having come to know the empty essence of dharmata, they teach sentient beings the Dharma of unborn nature. The Middle Length Prajńápáramitá says:

Kye! Sentient becomes come here. All dharmas are by nature unborn. Because I shall teach you the Dharma of how the kleshas are, you shall discriminate emptiness.

Seeing all the nature, powers, and propensities of those who are to be tamed by their wisdom of extent, they teach the Dharma in accord with that. The same text says:

Having fully seen the natures of sentient beings, to sentient beings, all of whom have the kleshas, to tame their kleshas, I teach the Dharma.

v) The way of appearing to impure beings

Thus these emanations by the six sages are appearances for impure sentient beings:

These are the teachers that appear to impure beings.
Their realm is the six-fold world of the beings of the six lokas.
The teacher will match the projections of those who are to be tamed.
The various vehicles of the Dharma are not fixed.
The time will equal a kalpa of the beings who are to be taught.

The place of Nirmanakaya is any place where sentient beings appear. The teacher appears in accord with those appearances. Because of differing mental conceptions of sentient beings and because of the different powers and senses, the Dharma is taught with various assemblies of vehicle, teacher, place and retinue.

The All-Creating King says:

As for the fields of taming of Nirmanakaya,

In Jambuling there are a hundred million or more.
In all of them the compassion of self-arising wisdom
Tames the six kinds of continua of sentient beings.

Also:

As for teaching the antidote to passion,
Twenty one thousand vinayas have been taught.
As for teaching the antidote to aggression,
Twenty-one thousand sutras have been taught.
As for teaching the antidote to ignorance,
Twenty-one thousand abhidharmas were taught.
As antidotes equally taming the three poisons,
For equalizing all the three Pitakas
There are twenty-one thousand different teachings.
In general there are eighty-four thousand teachings.
All were taught as antidotes to the three poisons.

vi) How impure appearances arise

As just explained:

Thus within the six worlds of beings of the six lokas,
Caused by good and evil karma and its patterns,
There are various phenomenal ups and downs and joys and sorrows.
The six teachers too are only beings' mental projections,
Just like Buddhas and beings that may appear in our dreams.
Though their essence is pure, phenomenal details are not.
So apparent variety will arise as the play of compassion.

By the karma and habitual patterns of beings, by virtue we whirl about in the higher realms and by non-virtue in the lower realms. We experience various joys and sorrows like appearances in a dream. The Buddha blessings that wake us from this sleep appear from one's own good karma. These beneficial Buddha-emanations, the Sage, the Buddha Bhagavat, and so forth, are also like a dream. The non-establishment of benefits by such self-appearances of beings is like that of emanations who appear to proliferate in a dream.

The Edifice of the Three Jewels says:

By me, for all dream-like sentient beings,
Having emanated like a dream,
The Dharma like a dream is taught to them.
The essence-less one is non-dual in its nature.
To be understood as nature-less,
It is insubstantial emptiness.

The Middle Length Prajńápáramitá says:

Subhuti, all dharmas are like a dream, like an illusion. Nirvana too is like a dream, like an illusion.

The vessel and essence of confused appearance are false. Any Buddhas and beings appearing within it are also false. They do not exist. They appear while they do not exist. They are like Buddhas and beings in a dream. Though their essence is the primordial purity of Buddhahood, when samsara and nirvana appear like a dream, the sentient beings of the six realms and the teachers who tame them appear as these bad appearances. But as they appear, they are non-dual with the primordial purity of the single space of the dhatu. The Sutra of the Non-arising of All Dharmas says:

Without any Buddha there are no Dharma and Sangha.
Whoever really knows that is competent.
The nature of sentient beings is taught to be Buddhahood.
But the nature of Buddhahood is all sentient beings.
Sentient beings and enlightenment are not two.
Whoever really knows that is excellent.

For sentient beings, seen by the compassion of the Buddha, tamer and tamed are distinguished and benefits performed. When wrong conceptions and their habitual patterns have been purified, the space of peace has been gained.

However, by the great kindness of wisdom, when sentient beings have been clearly and distinctly seen, those who are confused by futilely grasping at ego become intended objects of compassion. As they are led by upaya and by the primordial power of effortless spontaneous deeds, benefits are performed.

The Secret Essence says:

Imputations of wrong conception are purified.
Since they are not other from the space of wisdom,
When they are distinguished by the great compassion,
the six realms with their places, times, and beings appear.

vii) How these also possess limitless compassion

These six emanated great Nirmanakayas:

These are the limitless emanations of compassion.
Such Buddha activity lasts as long as samsara.

From the space of the dhatu, from the blessing of the immeasurable compassion of the essence of wisdom, self-appearing emanations benefit sentient beings. A nature of those to be tamed, upayas and antidotes of taming, and a time when these occur are nowhere to be found. The benefits of taming arise effortlessly, like the appearance of the moon in water.

The Uttaratantra says:

As for the natures of those to be tamed, the means of taming,
And trainings that are suited to those different natures;
Going in timely manner to the realms where they live
The all pervading Lord spontaneously enters.

Beings of the lower realms are established in the higher realms. Those in the higher realms are kept from harm and distress. By benefit, they are established in liberation. Those who do not dwell on the path are made to enter it. Those who dwell on it are connected with higher virtues. They are established in the ten Bhumis and then in Buddhahood.

In brief, the nature of sentient beings is instantly turned to happiness. Then gradually, according to their individual fortune in the three enlightenments, they are led out of samsara and established in liberation. Real and mental Buddha activity protecting them from suffering for as long as samsara is not emptied.

The Abhisamayalankara says:

As long as samsara lasts,
This activity is maintained
To continue uninterrupted.

The aspects are taught by nine examples.

· As increase arises when Indra is seen, after the Buddha has been seen, the pure mind aspires and practices the two accumulations.

· As the sound of the divine drum motivates us away from carelessness and clears away fear, the sound of the drum of Dharma clears away the carelessness and fear of samsara.

· Like a cloud, by the falling rain of Dharma, the wholesomeness of one's continuum increases.

· As Brahma appears in the place of the gods without moving from his place, while not moving from Dharmakaya, Rupakaya benefits beings.

· Like the sun, the lotus of students bloom and darkness is dispelled.

· Like a jewel, by complete non-thought, benefit for others is performed.

· Like an echo, though one melody is heard as sixty, from the time it performs benefit, its sound and words do not exist.

· Like the sky having a nature without complexity, by revelation of the basis of arising, Dharmakaya, benefit is produced.

· Like the earth increasing harvests, it produces the benefit of increasing all the harvests of virtue of sentient beings.

The Uttaratantra says:

Like Indra, a drum, a cloud, like Brahma, or the sun
Or like a precious king of wish-fulfilling gems
Like an echo, the sky, or the earth, as long as samsara lasts,
For the family of yogins, the effortless helpers of others,
The teachers manifest like the lord of gods in a jewel.

In well admonishing, they are like a drum.
The clouds of the wisdom and kindness of the universal lords
Pervade limitless beings to the pinnacle of samsara,
Immaculate like Brahma, not moving from their place.
They teach by the appearance of many emanations.
Like the sun, their light of wisdom radiates everywhere,
With a pure and precious wish-fulfilling gem-like mind,
The speech of the victorious ones, like an echo, is letter-less.
Their bodies are like space, pervasive, formless, eternal.
Like earth, for all the medicines of the white Dharma of beings
They are always the ground, the ground of Buddhahood.

c) The various Nirmanakayas

· i) How the created Nirmanakayas produce benefit for beings

· ii) The spontaneous arising of temporal and ultimate true goodness

i) How the created Nirmanakayas produce benefit for beings

The three Nirmanakayas, [31] produce benefit by materially appearing. By the blessing of the Buddha, they have been emanated, by taming beings and so forth, thus they are emanations. Though that is explained, from the time of emanation to tame beings and by wisdom performing benefits, their space-like Buddha activity is perfected:

From this compassion rise the various Nirmanakayas.
They appear in the form of mindless material things.
There are paintings and reliefs, and various natural forms
There are different writings and different objects of worship.
Lotuses, wish-fulfilling trees, and pleasant parks,
There are wonderful palaces and pleasure groves.
There are also caravansaries, ships and bridges.
Lamps and jewels, food and clothing, vehicles.
Such material things appear doing many benefits.

As for the particulars of how objects emanated by the Buddha benefit beings in the world, there are paintings, reliefs, self-appearing images of body, speech, and mind, writings, deities, stupas, and so forth. Anyone who even sees them is moved with powerful faith and longing, and the seeds of liberation are planted. Following these examples, with this constant support, there is an increase of virtue within the continua of sentient beings, and so Buddha emanations accumulate.

The Neckpin of Mantra [32] says:

Now they remain at the time of the Dark Age,
In the forms of artifacts and letters
Thinking it is I have faith in them.

The Mahayanasutralankara says:

Created, born, and great enlightenment
By the one who is all, the teacher of enlightenment,
As for these Nirmanakayas of the Buddha,
they are the great means of liberation.

The created phenomenal appearances of the "created" Nirmanakayas have just been explained. As for "born," any being who really benefits other sentient beings is a Nirmanakaya of bodily emanation. In a time of famine, it might be a big fish. At the time of sickness, small gentle living creatures and so on. In Rakshasi Ling the king of horses Balaha and so forth emanated, and performed benefits.

The supreme emanation displays the twelve deeds of a Buddha. [33] Similarly, there are emanations of lotuses and wish-fulfilling trees, and pleasure groves, palaces, and gardens for renunciates. When a merchant is wandering in a desert plain, a city is emanated. On great waters, boats, ships, and bridges are emanated. Those capable in actions of the great secret upaya, might emanate a path in a forest for a single night, and emanating lamps and the like for a wandering merchant, they might show the path.

At a time of famine, by emanating jewels, a rain of food and so forth falls. Emanated chariots, elephants, and other mounts are established only for whatever sentient beings can be benefited. This is taught in the Edifice of the Three Jewels and other sutras. In particular, the Sutra of Entering the Sphere of Inconceivable Wisdom says:

Manjushri, if someone will be tamed by seeing the color of the body of the Tathágata as golden, the gold color appears.

If someone needs pleasure groves, jewels, medicine, vidya mantra, and many other things to be tamed, the forms and colors of those appear. That is extensively taught.

ii) The spontaneous arising of temporal and ultimate true goodness

Thus appearing:

Having temporarily served as happy and pleasant places,
They finally connect us with the path of peace.
These various emanations produce spontaneous benefits.

By that play of emanations, temporally individual sentient beings' minds are gladdened and by made happy by virtues of body and speech. Then by the wealth of ultimate Buddhahood, the various Nirmanakayas also spontaneously produce that supremely great benefit.

The Uttaratantra says:

These appearances are utterly
Non-conceptual and immovable.
Indeed upon that ground
The great benefit is at hand

C. How these arise from space and dissolve into space, the final summary

The final summary of how the actions and deeds of these kayas arise from space and dissolve into space, depending on the Buddha:

If there are no students, the teacher subsides into space.
Sambhogakaya experience dissolves into Dharmakaya.
If there is no vessel there to hold the water,
The moon reflected in water disappears into space,
And by the power of time the moon will do the same,
The full moon, whose face is without increase and decrease,
if there are students to see it, gradually appears.
Thus it is that fruition is spontaneous.

Without a vessel of water, the reflection of the moon in water is self-dissolved. Just so, without the water vessel of students, the reflected moon of the Buddha appearing from their viewpoint, the self-appearance of Sambhogakaya dissolves into Dharmakaya and is gathered back into the space of wisdom. That is what is being said.

At that time, individual and personal wisdom itself rests in meditative equipoise as subtle wisdom. Again, if students exist, without movement or effort, instantly the external luminosity of Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya simultaneously arise from non-thought, producing benefits as before.

In madhyamaka this is called producing benefits through appearance for others due to former aspirations. The Uttaratantra and so forth say that though in post-meditation benefits are performed, there is no moving from the essence of meditation.

The Uttaratantra says:

Non-thought and its post-meditation
Are both maintained to be wisdom.

Also:

The style of bodhisattvas,
In their post-meditation
And in freeing sentient beings,
In the world is like the Tathágatas'.

Like an atom and the earth,
Like an ocean and an ox-track,
Between Buddhas and bodhisattvas
The difference is like that.

D. The dedication of merit:

Now the merit is dedicated for virtuous sentient beings. As explained:

Therefore by the nature of this, the highest peace,
May all beings encounter the luminous space of mind.
Having been exhausted by the defilement
That grasps at the extremes of samsara and nirvana,
May the mind today relieve its weariness.

By the merit of the such-ness of the essence may all beings, grasping the end of samsara and nirvana, by the immeasurable merit of omniscience, refresh the wearied nature of mind on the level of mastery.

Making pure white kumut lotuses bloom,
Like the white form of the moon of an autumn night,
The highest virtue clears away tormenting kleshas.
May disturbed beings' minds be pacified.

In the ocean of kleshas, their heads wreathed about by suffering,
There formerly floated the swans of all our faults,
Now dried by a thousand lights of mental merit.
Now let the Conqueror's wealth be fully seen.

The wind of wisdom scatters in all directions,
Dark clouds of incidental obscuration.
May their flight be fully stabilized.
May the luminous sun of enlightenment be seen.