In most Theravada countries, it is the custom for Buddhists to hold elaborate festivals to honor 28 Buddhas. In the Chronicle of the Buddhas (the Buddhavamsa), mention is made of only 24 Buddhas having arisen before Gautama Buddha. The following are the names of 28 Buddhas: 1. Tanhankara, 2. Medhankara, 3. Saranankara, 4. Dipankara, 5. Kondnna, 6. Managala, 7. Sumana, 8. Revata, 9. Sobhita, 10. Anomadassi, 11. Paduma, 12. Narada, 13. Padumuttara, 14. Sumedha, 15. Sujata, 16. Piyadassi, 17. Atthadassi, 18. Dhammadassi, 19. Siddhatta, 20. Tissa, 21. Phussa, 22. Vipassi, 23. Sikhi, 24. Vessabhu, 25. Kakus ...

See also:

Buddha, Buddha - Eternal Buddha, Buddha - 32 Marks of the Buddha, Buddha - Names of the Buddhas, Buddha - Sources

Read more here: » Buddha: Encyclopedia II - Buddha - Names of the Buddhas

Kaya. See TRIKAYA

(See also: Kaya, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

The idea of an everlasting Buddha is a notion popularly associated with the Mahayana scripture, the Lotus Sutra. That sutra has the Buddha indicate that he became Awakened countless, immeasurable, inconceivable myriads of trillions of aeons ("kalpas") ago and that his lifetime is "forever existing and immortal". From the human perspective, it seems as though the Buddha has always existed. The sutra itself, however, does not directly employ the phrase "eternal Buddha"; yet similar notions are found in other Mahayana scriptures, notably the Ma ...

See also:

Buddha, Buddha - Eternal Buddha, Buddha - 32 Marks of the Buddha, Buddha - Names of the Buddhas, Buddha - Sources

Read more here: » Buddha: Encyclopedia II - Buddha - Eternal Buddha

Celestial Buddha (sambhogakaya): in Mahayana Buddhism's Triple Body (trikaya) theory, these are heavenly or god-like Buddhas, the most famous of which is Amita; by showing devotion to Celestial Buddhas they assist us in our quest for enlightenment.

 (See also: Celestial Buddha, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Eternal Buddha (dharmakaya): In Mahayana Buddhism's Triple Body (trikaya) theory, the Eternal Buddha is undifferientiated absolute existence behind all appearances, and functionally the same as nirvana, emptiness, Buddha-nature, and suchness.

 (See also: Eternal Buddha, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Triple Body (trikaya): In Mahayana Buddhism, the notion of three levels or "bodies" of Buddha's existence: (a) the Eternal Buddhas of the Body of Dharma (dharmakaya), (2) human incarnations in the Body of Transformation (nirmanakaya), and (3) Celestial Buddhas in the Body of Bliss (sambhogakaya).

 (See also: Triple Body, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Sambhogakaya (Sanskrit) [from sambhoga enjoyment together, delightful participation + kaya body]

Participation body; the second of the trikaya (three glorious vestures) of Buddhism, the highest being dharmakaya, and the lowest nirmanakaya. A buddha in the sambhogakaya state still retains his individual self-consciousness and sense of egoity, and is able to be conscious to a certain extent of the world of men and its griefs and sorrows, but has little power or impulse to render aid.

See also TRIKAYA; TRIRATNA; TRISARNA; TRAILOKYA

(See also: Sambhogakaya, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Dharmakaya (Sanskrit). Lit., "the glorified spiritual body" called the "Vesture of Bliss". The third, or highest of the Trikaya (Three Bodies), the attribute developed by every "Buddha", i.e., every initiate who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the "fourth Path" (in esotericism the sixth "portal" prior to his entry on the seventh). The highest of the Trikaya, it is the fourth of the Buddhakchetra, or Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented figuratively in Buddhist asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous Spirituality.

In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are:

(1) Nirmanakaya

(2) Sambhogakaya

(3) and Dharmakaya the last being the highest and most sublimated of all, as it places the ascetic on the threshold of Nirvana. (See, however, the Voice of the Silence, page 96, Glossary, for the true esoteric meaning.)

(See also: Dharmakaya, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Ku-sum skugsum (Tibetan cycle of non-being, equivalent to the Sanskrit trikaya; Subba Row defined it as the triple form of the nirvanic state. (BCW 14:401n, 5:255)

(See also: Ku-sum, skugsum, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Sambhogakaya (Sanskrit). One of the three "Vestures" of glory, or bodies, obtained by ascetics on the "Path". Some sects hold it as the second, while others as the third of the Buddhahshetras; or forms of Buddha. Lit., the "Body of Compensation" (See Voice of the Silence, Glossary iii). Of such Buddhakshetras there are seven, those of Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakáya and Dharmakaya, belonging to the Trikaya, or three-fold quality.

(See also: Sambhogakaya, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

A Theosophical definition of Dharmakaya :

Dharmakaya

(Sanskrit) This is a compound of two words meaning the "continuance body," sometimes translated equally well (or ill) the "body of the Law"  - both very inadequate expressions, for the difficulty in translating these extremely mystical terms is very great. A mere correct dictionary-translation often misses the esoteric meaning entirely, and just here is where Occidental scholars make such ludicrous errors at times.

The first word comes from the root dhri, meaning "to support," "to sustain," "to carry," "to bear," hence "to continue"; also human laws are the agencies supposed to carry, support, sustain, civilization; the second element, kaya, means "body." The noun thus formed may be rendered the "body of the Law," but this phrase does not give the idea at all. It is that spiritual body or state of a high spiritual being in which the restricted sense of soulship and egoity has vanished into a universal (hierarchical) sense, and remains only in the seed, latent  - if even so much. It is pure consciousness, pure bliss, pure intelligence, freed from all personalizing thought.

In the Buddhism of Central Asia, the dharmakaya is the third and highest of the trikaya. The trikaya consists of (1) nirmanakaya, (2) sambhogakaya, and (3) dharmakaya. We may look upon these three states, all of them lofty and sublime, as being three vestures in which the consciousness of the entity clothes itself. In the dharmakaya vesture the initiate is already on the threshold of nirvana, if not indeed already in the nirvanic state. (See also Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya)

See also: Dharmakaya, Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul)

The way of the Mahayana, in contrast to the more conservative and austere Theravada school of Buddhism, can be characterized by: Universalism, Everyone will become a Buddha. Enlightened wisdom, as the main focus of realization. Compassion through the transferal of merit. Salvation, supported by a rich cosmography, including celestial realms and powers, with a spectrum of Bodhisattvas, both human and seemingly godl ...

See also:

Mahayana, Mahayana - Doctrine, Mahayana - Universalism, Mahayana - Enlightened wisdom, Mahayana - Compassion, Mahayana - Salvation, Mahayana - Mahayana Scriptures, Mahayana - Origins, Mahayana - Epigraphical evidence, Mahayana - Scriptures, Mahayana - The 4th Buddhist Council, Mahayana - Expansion 1st c.CE–10th c.CE, Mahayana - Bibliography, Mahayana - Older works

Read more here: » Mahayana: Encyclopedia II - Mahayana - Doctrine

Dharmakaya (Sanskrit) (from dharma law, continuance from the verbal root dhri to support, carry, continue + kaya body)

Continuance-body, body of the law. One of the trikaya of Buddhism, which consists of

1)    nirmanakaya,

2)    sambhogakaya, and

3)    dharmakaya.

"It is that spiritual body or state of a high spiritual being in which the restricted sense of soulship and egoity has vanished into a universal (hierarchical) sense, and remains only in the seed, latent -- if even so much. It is pure consciousness, pure bliss, pure intelligence, freed from all personalizing thought" (OG 38).

In the dharmakaya vesture the initiate is on the threshold of nirvana or in the nirvanic state. Sometimes the dharmakaya is called the "nirvana without remains," for once having reached that state the buddha or bodhisattva remains entirely outside of every earthly condition; he will return no more until the commencement of a new manvantara, for he has crossed the cycle of births.

Dharmakaya state is that of parasamadhi, where no progress is possible -- at least as long as the entity remains in it. Such entities may be said to be for the time being crystallized in purity and homogeneity. This is, likewise, one of the states of adi-buddha, and as such is called the mystic, universally diffused essence, the robe or vesture of luminous spirituality.

See also TRIKAYA; TRIRATNA; TRISARANA

(See also: Dharmakaya, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Three bodies of the Buddha (Skt. trikaya)

1. Dharmakaya: The Dharma-body, or the "body of reality", which is formless, unchanging, transcendental, and inconceivable. Synonymous with suchness, or emptiness.
2. Sambhogakaya: the "body of enjoyment", the celestial body of the Buddha. Personification of eternal perfection in its ultimate sense. It "resides" in the Pure Land and never manifests itself in the mundane world, but only in the celestial spheres, accompanied by enlightened Bodhisattvas.
3. Nirmanakaya: the "incarnated body" of the Buddha. In order to benefit certain sentient beings, a Buddha incarnates himself into an appropriate visible body, such as that of Sakyamuni Buddha. The incarnated body of the Buddha should not be confused with a magically produced Buddha. The former is a real, tangible human body which has a definite life span, The latter is an illusory Buddha-form which is produced with miraculous powers and can be withdrawn with miraculous powers

 (G.C.C. Chang).

 (See also: Three bodies of the Buddha, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Amrita-yana amrita-yana (Sanskrit) (from a not + mrita dead from the verbal root mrir to die + yana path, vehicle)

The path of immortality; in The Voice of the Silence the path followed by the Buddhas of Compassion or of Perfection. It is the "secret path," the arya (noble) path of the heart doctrine of esoteric wisdom. The Buddhas of Compassion instead of donning the dharmakaya vesture and then entering nirvana, as the Pratyeka Buddhas do, give up nirvana and assume the nirmanakaya robe, thus enabling them to work directly for all beings less evolved than they; and because of this great individual sacrifice, the nirmanakaya condition is in one sense the holiest of the trikaya (three vestures). The amrita-yana is thus a lofty spiritual pathway, and leads to the ineffable glories of self-conscious immortality in the cosmic manvantaric "eternity."

The term may also refer to the "immortal vehicle" within each person, the individuality in contradistinction to the evanescent personality; that is, "the Spiritual Soul, or the Immortal monad -- a combination of the fifth, sixth and seventh" principles (ML 114).

(See also: Amrita-yana, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Buddha Skt., Pali, lit., “awakened one.”

 1. A person who has achieved the enlightenment that leads to release from the cycle of existence (samsara) and has thereby attained complete liberation (nirvana). The content of his teaching, which is based on the experience of enlightenment, is the four noble truths. A buddha has overcome every kind of craving (trishna); although even he also has pleasant and unpleasant sensations, he is not ruled by them and remains innerly untouched by them. After his death he is not reborn again.

 Two kinds of buddhas are distinguished: the pratyeka-buddha, who is completely enlight ened but does not expound the teaching; and the samyak-sambuddha, who expounds for the wel fare of all beings the teaching that he has discov ered anew. A samyak-sambuddha is omniscient (sarvajnata) and possesses the ten powers of a buddha (dashabala) and the four certainties. The buddha of our age is Shakyamuni. (See also Buddha 2.)

 Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, is not the first and only buddha. Already in the early Hinayana texts, six buddhas who preceded him in earlier epochs are mentioned: Vipashyin (Pali, Vipassi), Shikin (Sikhi), Vishvabhu (Vessabhu), Krakuchchanda (Kakusandha), Konagamana, and Kashyapa (Kassapa). The buddha who will follow Sh?kyamuni in a future age and renew the dharma is Maitreya. Be yond these, one finds indications in the litera ture of thirteen further buddhas, of which the most important is Dipamkara, whose disci ple Shakyamuni was in his previous existence as the ascetic Sumedha. The stories of these leg endary buddhas are contained in the Buddhavamsa, a work from the Khuddaka nikaya.

 2. The historical Buddha. He was born in 563 BCE, the son of a prince of the Shakyas, whose small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas lies in present-day Nepal. His first name was Siddhartha, his family name Gauta ma. Hence he is also called Gautama Buddha. (For the story of his life, see Siddhartha Gauta ma.) During his life as a wandering ascetic, he was known as Shakyamuni, the “Silent Sage of the Shakyas.” In order to distinguish the historical Buddha from the transcendent buddhas (see buddha 3), he is generally called Shakyamuni Buddha or Buddha Shakyamuni.

 3. The “buddha principle,” which manifests itself in the most various forms. Whereas in Hinayana only the existence of one buddha in every age is accepted (in which case the Buddha is considered an earthly being who teaches hu mans), for the Mahayana there are countless transcendent buddhas. According to the Mahayana teaching of the trikaya, the buddha principle manifests itself in three principal forms, the so-called three bodies (trikaya). In this sense the transcendent buddhas represent embodiments of various aspects of the buddha principle.

 4. A synonym for the absolute, ultimate reality devoid of form, color, and all other properties—buddha-nature.

From The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen,

By Michael S. Diener, Franz-Karl Erhard, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber

Translated by Michael H. Kohn

 (See also: Buddha, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

A Theosophical definition of Nirmanakaya :

Nirmanakaya

(Sanskrit) A compound of two words: nirmana, a participle meaning "forming," "creating"; kaya, a word meaning "body," "robe," "vehicle"; thus, nirmanakaya means "formed-body." A nirmanakaya, however, is really a state assumed by or entered into by a bodhisattva  - an individual man made semi-divine who, to use popular language, instead of choosing his reward in the nirvana of a less degree, remains on earth out of pity and compassion for inferior beings, clothing himself in a nirmanakayic vesture. When that state is ended the nirmanakaya ends.

A nirmanakaya is a complete man possessing all the principles of his constitution except the linga-sarira and its accompanying physical body. He is one who lives on the plane of being next superior to the physical plane, and his purpose in so doing is to save men from themselves by being with them, and by continuously instilling thoughts of self-sacrifice, of self-forgetfulness, of spiritual and moral beauty, of mutual help, of compassion, and of pity.

Nirmanakaya is the third or lowest, exoterically speaking, of what is called in Sanskrit trikaya or "three bodies." The highest is the dharmakaya, in which state are the nirvanis and full pratyeka buddhas, etc.; the second state is the sambhogakaya, intermediate between the former and, thirdly, the nirmanakaya. The nirmanakaya vesture or condition enables one entering it to live in touch and sympathy with the world of men. The sambhogakaya enables one in that state to be conscious indeed to a certain extent of the world of men and its griefs and sorrows, but with little power or impulse to render aid. The dharmakaya vesture is so pure and holy, and indeed so high, that the one possessing the dharmakaya or who is in it, is virtually out of all touch with anything inferior to himself. It is, therefore, in the nirmanakaya vesture if not in physical form that live and work the Buddhas of Compassion, the greatest sages and seers, and all the superholy men who through striving through ages of evolution bring forth into manifestation and power and function the divinity within. The doctrine of the nirmanakayas is one of the most suggestive, profound, and beautiful teachings of the esoteric philosophy. (See also Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya)

See also: Nirmanakaya, Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddhakshetra buddhakshetra (Sanskrit) (from buddha awakened + kshetra field, sphere of action)

The sphere of action of an enlightened one. According to theosophy, there are four (or seven) buddhakshetras or fields in which the buddhas manifest and do their sublime work of benevolence which, counting from above, are: 1) the realms in which the dhyani-buddhas live and work; 2) the realms in which the dhyani-bodhisttvas live and work, called by Blavatsky "the domain of ideation"; 3) the realms of the manushya-buddhas, in which these work as nirmanakayas; and 4) the field of action in which the human buddhas work, the ordinary human world -- our physical globe.

Every incarnate buddha lives and works in the fourth or lowest buddhakshetra, as Gautama Buddha did; but at the same time, and more particularly when he has laid aside the physical body, he can live and work at will in the next higher buddhakshetra as a nirmanakaya; again as a dhyani-bodhisattva in his higher intermediate spiritual-psychological principle, he can at will function in the next higher buddhakshetra; while last, the dhyani-buddha within him lives and does its own sublime labor on the highest buddhakshetras as a dhyani-buddha. Here lies the true explanation of the many apparently conflicting statements made about the various kinds of buddhas and their various duties or functions, as found in the Buddhist scriptures, especially in the Mahayana writings of Central and Northern Asia.

Each one of the trikaya (three bodies or vehicles) -- the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya -- has its respective place and function on and in the three highest of the buddhakshetra: the dharmakaya is the luminous or spiritual body or vehicle in which the dhyani-buddha lives and works on the first and highest buddhakshetra; the dhyani-bodhisattva similarly lives and works in the spiritual-intellectual body or vehicle called the sambhogakaya, on the second of the buddhakshetras; while the manushya-buddha, when working in the third buddhakshetras, does so in his nirmanakaya vesture or robe, vehicle, or body. The lowest buddhakshetra is the one in which the human buddha is found clothed in his body of flesh as an incarnate being.

(See also: Buddhakshetra, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Nirmanakaya (Sanskrit). Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy from the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the Orientalists.

Some call the Nirmanakaya body "Nirvana with remains" (Schlagintweit, etc.) on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of Nirvanic condition during which consciousness and form are retained. Others say that it is one of the Trikaya (three bodies), with the "power of assuming any form of appearance in order to propagate Buddhism" (Eitel’s idea); again, that "it is the incarnate avatara of a deity" (ibid.), and so on.

Occultism, on the other hand, says:that Nirmanakaya, although meaning literally a transformed "body", is a state. The form is that of the adept or yogi who enters, or chooses, that post mortem condition in preference to the Dharmakaya or absolute Nirvanic state. He does this because the latter kaya separates him for ever from the world of form, conferring upon him a state of selfish bliss, in which no other living being can participate, the adept being thus precluded from the possibility of helping humanity, or even devas.

As a Nirmanakaya, however, the man leaves behind him only his physical body, and retains every other "principle" save the Kamic - for he has crushed this out for ever from his nature, during life, and it can never resurrect in his post mortem state. Thus, instead of going into selfish bliss, he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an invisible yet most effective manner. (See The Voice of the Silence, third treatise, "The Seven Portals".) Thus a Nirmanakaya is not, as popularly believed, the body "in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears on earth", but verily one, who whether a Chutuktu or a Khubilkhan, an adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits.

 Mistaken often for a "Spirit", a Deva, God himself, &c., a Nirmanakaya is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian angel, to him who becomes worthy of his help. Whatever objection may be brought forward against this doctrine; however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it has never been hitherto made public in Europe and therefore since it is unknown to Orientalists, it must needs be "a myth of modern invention" - no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping suffering mankind at the price of one’s own almost interminable self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever evolved from human brain.

(See also: Nirmanakaya, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Trisharana (Sanskrit). The same as" Triratna "and accepted by both the Northern and Southern Churches of Buddhism.

After the death of the Buddha it was adopted by the councils as a mere kind of formula fidei, enjoining "to take refuge in Buddha ", "to take refuge in Dharma ", and "to take refuge in Sangha ", or his Church, in the sense in which it is now interpreted; but it is not in this sense that the "Light of Asia" would have taught the formula. Of Trikaya, Mr. E. J. Eitel, of Hongkong, tells us in his Handbook of Chinese Buddhism that this "tricho-tomism was taught with regard to the nature of all Buddhas.

Bodhi being the characteristic of a Buddha"  - a distinction was made between "essential Bodhi" as the attribute of the Dharmakaya, i.e., "essential body"; "reflected Bodhi" as the attribute of Sambhogakaya; and "practical Bodhi" as the attribute of Nirmanakaya. Buddha combining in himself these three conditions of existence, was said to be living at the same time in three different spheres.

Now, this shows how greatly misunderstood is the purely pantheistical and philosophical teaching. Without stopping to enquire how even a Dharmakaya vesture can have any "attribute" in Nirvana, which state is shown, in philosophical Brahmanism as much as in Buddhism, to be absolutely devoid of any attribute as conceived by human finite thought - it will be sufficient to point to the following  -

(1) the Nirmanakaya vesture is preferred by the "Buddhas of Compassion" to that of the Dharmakaya state, precisely because the latter precludes him who attains it from any communication or relation with the finite, i.e., with humanity;

(2) it is not Buddha (Gautama, the mortal man, or any other personal Buddha) who lives ubiquitously in "three different spheres, at the same time ", but Bodhi, the universal and abstract principle of divine wisdom, symbolised in philosophy by Adi-Buddha.

It is the latter that is ubiquitous because it is the universal essence or principle. It is Bodhi, or the spirit of Buddhaship, which, having resolved itself into its primordial homogeneous essence and merged into it, as Brahma (the universe) merges into Parabrahm, the ABSOLUTENESS - that is meant under the name of "essential Bodhi ". For the Nirvanee, or Dhyani Buddha, must be supposed - by living in Arupadhatu, the formless state, and in Dharmakaya - to be that " essential Bodhi" itself. It is the Dhyani Bodhisattvas, the primordial rays of the universal Bodhi, who live in "reflected Bodhi" in Rapadhatu, or the world of subjective "forms" ; and it is the Nirmanakayas (plural) who upon ceasing their lives of " practical Bodhi", in the "enlightened" or Buddha forms, remain voluntarily in the Kamadhatu (the world of desire), whether in objective forms on earth or in subjective states in its sphere (the second Buddhakshetra). This they do in order to watch over, protect and help mankind.

Thus, it is neither one Buddha who is meant, nor any particular avatar of the collective Dhyani Buddhas, but verily Adi-Bodhi - the first Logos, whose primordial ray is Mahabuddhi, the Universal Soul, ALAYA, whose flame is ubiquitous, and whose influence has a different sphere in each of the three forms of existence, because, once again, it is Universal Being itself or the reflex of the Absolute. Hence, if it is philosophical to speak of Bodhi, which "as Dhyani Buddha rules in the domain of the spiritual" (fourth Buddhakshetra or region of Buddha); and of the Dhyani Bodhisattvas "ruling in the third Buddhakshetra "or the domain of ideation; and even of the Manushi Buddhas, who are in the second Buddhakshetra as Nirmanakayas - to apply the "idea of a unity in trinity" to three personalities - is highly unphilosophical.

(See also: Trisharana, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

The Mahayana scriptures were probably set in writing around the 1st century BCE. Some of them, such as the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, are presented as actual sermons of the Buddha had been hidden. By some accounts, these sermons were passed on by the oral tradition as with other sutras, but other accounts state that they were hidden and then revealed several centuries later by some mythological route. In addition to sutras, some Ma ...

See also:

Mahayana, Mahayana - Doctrine, Mahayana - Universalism, Mahayana - Enlightened wisdom, Mahayana - Compassion, Mahayana - Salvation, Mahayana - Headline text, Mahayana - Origins, Mahayana - Epigraphical evidence, Mahayana - Scriptures, Mahayana - The 4th Buddhist Council, Mahayana - Expansion 1st c.CE–10th c.CE, Mahayana - Bibliography, Mahayana - Older works

Read more here: » Mahayana: Encyclopedia II - Mahayana - Headline text