Sambhogakaya
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
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