The Presence of Buddha

by Tonen O'Connor

Our first encounters with the word "Buddha" can be somewhat confusing. Are we speaking of Siddartha Gautama? What about the way Dogen refers to his teacher, Rujing, as "the old buddha," or all those "buddhas and ancestors?" What about Buddha as the Mind that is the ground of all things as they are? How are we to perceive the presence of Buddha in our lives?

From the earliest days, the Buddha insisted that he and his teachings were synonymous, as we can see from this exchange found in the Khandasamyutta chapter of the Samyutta Nikaya:
"For a long time, venerable sir, I have wanted to come to see the Blessed One. but I haven't been fit enough to do so."

"Enough Vakkali! Why do you want to see this foul body? One who sees the Dhamma sees me; one who sees me sees the Dhamma. For in seeing the Dhamma, Vakkali, one sees me; and in seeing me, one sees the Dhamma."1

Over time, the concept of Buddha expanded from Shakyamuni, "the awakened one," to a view of Buddha as the truth of the Dharma as it manifests within the impermanent and interdependent life of all things. Buddha became the name of universal truth.

Within the Mahayana tradition that includes Soto Zen, it is customary to view Buddha from three perspectives known in Sanskrit as the Trikaya or Three Bodies of Buddha. These are the Dharmakaya or Truth Body, the Sambhogakaya or Enjoyment Body, and finally the Nirmanakaya or Emanation Body. It is important to understand that we are not viewing three separate bodies, but rather three aspects of the entity to which we give the name Buddha. As we come to understand these aspects of Buddha, we begin to more clearly perceive the ways in which Buddha is present within our lives.

The broadest understanding of Buddha is as an ultimate, over-arching Truth that is the well spring of all that exists. It is this Truth that is represented by the Dharmakaya. As defined in the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism, it is "primordially existent, transcending all perceptual forms and hence not possible to perceive". Yet, among its qualities is listed "the intrinsic ability to perform all activities." This suggests that we can know the dharmakaya only through what it does.


We cannot directly perceive the Dharmakaya because it is neither a place nor a thing, but rather the home of a set of truths that are the basis for all existence: the nature of all things as empty of own being, existing interdependently, and subject to continuous change. I think it may be helpful to also add one more truth that may not come as readily to mind, that of Possibility. The Dharmakaya is unknowable because it is a vast realm of as-yet-unrealized Possibilities, a deep well spring of infinite possibility activated by causes and conditions as they come together, making manifest our world.

It is the Dharmkaya performing all activities that provides an answer to a koan found as Case 100 in Dogen's Shinji Shobogenzo:
One day a monk asked Master Unmon: What is the Ascending Dharma Body?
The Master said: To explain Ascending to you would not be difficult, but what do you think the meaning of Dharma Body is?
The monk said: Please master, find the meaning yourself.
The Master said: Setting aside the meaning for a while, what do you think the Dharma Body means?
The monk said: It means that everything is just as it is.
The master said: That answer is simply what you learned on the long floor of the Zazen Hall. I ask you, does the Dharma Body eat meals?
The monk could not reply. 2

If he had realized that as he ate his rice it was the Dharmakaya performing an activity, the monk could have said, "Yes, the Dharmakaya eats meals."

The Sambhogakaya or Enjoyment Body refers to that aspect of Buddha available to bodhisattvas, great enlightening beings. It is sometimes also known as the Reward Body, because it is known to those feeling the joy of understanding the Truth of Buddha's compassion. Their grasp of the Truth of the Dharma enables them to enjoy the presence of great Buddhas such as Amitabha and Vairocana as they communicate the Dharma through their glory and their teachings. However, this aspect of Buddha is not limited to fully realized bodhisattvas. You and I can get a glimpse of the enjoyment of the Sambhogakaya as we arouse the aspiration for enlightenment, begin our journey on the bodhisattva path and our understanding and joy increase. We can find the realms of Amitabha and Vairocana in the sutras we study and sense the joy of the Sambhogakaya within our zazen.

It is said that out of great compassion for the suffering of human beings, those enjoying the radiant delight of the Sambhogakaya create the Nirmanakaya, a human emissary of the Dharmakaya who comes to teach the Truth that will alleviate suffering. In our world this was Siddartha Gautama, known as Shakyamuni Buddha. Out of his deep grasp of the causes of suffering, Shakyamuni devoted a life of compassion to teaching the Dharma, the Truth that helps us see things as they are and lessens our suffering. He lived, of course, over 2,500 years ago, but Dogen has a wonderful suggestion in the fascicle of Shobogenzo titled Sokushin zebutsu (Mind Itself is Buddha):
All buddhas in the past, present and future, when they become buddha, unfailingly they become Shakyamuni Buddha. 3

To become Shakyamuni Buddha is to do as he did. It means to become a sharer of the Teachings, a person devoted to offering the Dharma in order to reduce the suffering of others. It means to act with the deep compassion of a buddha. This is to practice and study the Way.

All three aspects of Buddha, the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya are how the Mahayana illustrates the ways in which Buddha is present in our lives. As contemporary followers of the Way, it is now up to us to share widely the teachings and compassion of Shakyamuni so that we, too, become Buddha's Nirmanakaya.

Notes:
1. Samyutta Nikaya, trans. Bikkhu Bodhi, Chapter 22 ,
2. Master Dogen's Shinji Shobogenzo, trans,Gudo Nishijima, Book One, Case 100
3. Sokushin zebutsu, unpublished trans. Shohaku Okumura