■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
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In the Buddhist Sutras, it was recorded that Buddha had three bodies, i.e. Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.
Dharmakaya - Body of self-nature.
Sambhogakaya - Body of uses.
Nirmakaya - Body of changes.
What is body of self-nature? This is the foundation of all Buddhas, the true and pure dharma realm, usage and equality.
It is formless, immobile, and has uncountable merits. The dharma nature is equality, which is the truth. We may say in the dharma realm, the pure Buddha nature is body of self-nature.
What is body of uses? It can be subdivided into self use and other use. All the Buddhas use their perfect, clean and omnipresent human body to bring benefits to others. They also use the equality wisdom to manifest their wonderful meritorious body to reside in pure lands and show all kinds of mystic powers to the Bodhisattvas of ten lands, turn the dharma wheel, solve the doubts of others, so that they are able to use their bodies to enjoy the dharma bliss derived from the Mahayana.
What is body of changes? All the Buddhas have the wisdom of accomplishment of whatever they are doing, and they are able to manifest into many bodies, to reside in the Pure Land or Filthy Land, to give sermons when necessary, to succour all sentient beings so that they are able to gain benefits for themselves.
The sutras that mentioned about the three bodies included:
Zhi Guan sutra” dharmakaya is the enlightenment stage. ”
Sambhogakaya is the accomplishment of wisdoms, and Nirmakaya is the application.
Guang Ming Xuan sutra”dharmakaya is the essence of dharmas and truth.
Sambhogakaya is the essence of all the wisdoms and Nirmakaya is the essence of all merits.”
Let me quote a real example:
My dharmakaya is Vairocana.
My Sambhogakaya is Padmakumara.
My Nirmakaya is Living Buddha Lian Shen Lu Sheng Yen.
I think all of you can understand my explanation now. A lot of people are very confused over the terms Sambhogakaya and Nirmakaya. simply put, Sambhogakaya is residing in the pure land and enjoying the dharma bliss. Whereas Nirmakaya is omnipresent in this world to succour other sentient beings.
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A Mongolian disciple said:
My respectful Grandmaster,
I have great causation with the Grandmaster. You will be able to use your deva-eyes to verify this. One year ago in a dream, I saw a ring of rosary beads fallen from the sky, and immediately changed into a big square, as big as a foot ball field. Four small stupas then grew at the corners, and a big stupa grew at the centre of the square. A golden Buddha sitting on a golden lotus appeared at the door of the big stupa. I told myself it must have been Shakyamuni Buddha. He smiled to me kindly. I never had experienced such happiness in my whole life, maybe this is the same as dharma bliss experienced in the meditation. I have a vivid impression of the face of the Buddha that appeared in my dream. When I bought the book”Guides to the Great Mudra”, I saw Grandmaster picture in the cover then I realised the dharmakaya of Shakyamuni Buddha is Grandmaster Lu. Maybe this is the telepathy I have with the Grandmaster. I shall write to tell you some of my other spiritual response.
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In short, the letter talked about seeing a big rosary bead descended and changed into a big square shrine, and five stupas were erected, and the main stupa in the centre was occupied by Shakyamuni Buddha sitting on golden lotus flowers.
The face of Shakyamuni Buddha is the same as the face of Sheng-Yen Lu. And he believed that the dharmakaya of Shakyamuni Buddha must be Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu.
-To be continued-
