Sambhogakaya
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Sambhogakaya (longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku).
The 'body of perfect enjoyment.' In the context of the 'Five Kayas of fruition,' sambhogakaya is the semi-manifest form of the buddhas endowed with the 'Five Perfections' of perfect teacher, retinue, place, teaching and time which is perceptible only to bodhisattvas on the ten Bhumis. [RY]
The kayas: Various aspects or states of buddhahood. One recognizes two, three, four, or five kayas.
- Two Kayas: dharmakaya, the absolute body, and rupakaya, the body of form.
- Three kayas: the dharmakaya, or absolute body; the sambhogakaya, or body of divine enjoyment; and the nirmanakaya, or manifested body. These correspond to the mind, speech, and body of an enlightened buddha and are expressed as the five wisdoms.
- Four Kayas: the svabhavikakaya, or essential body, is to be added to the three kayas and represents their inseparability (dbyer med).
- Five kayas: to the three kayas one adds the avikaravajrakaya, the "unchanging vajra body," and the abhisambodhikaya, "body of total enlightenment." Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche