The Three Kayas

What is the relevance to us of learning about the three bodies of the Buddha?

Remember, we are now exploring beyond duality — so the three Buddhic bodies already exist within all of us. The Buddha is not a being that possesses something exclusive, but rather one who has realised the already-present truth inherent in all sentient beings.

Firstly, let us define these three bodies and attempt to understand them.

The three bodies do not mix, but neither are they truly separate. They are a tripartite expression of being. We see this reflected in other traditions as the Trinity — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; or in Hinduism as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; or suggestively, though hierarchically, as the first three sephirot of the Tree of Life: Kether, Chokmah, and Binah.

Dharma-kaya is likened to the empty sky and represents the essence of the mind of both Buddhas and all beings.

Sambhoga-kaya is likened to clouds in this sky, representing the expressive aspect of this mind in relation to experience.

Nirmana-kaya is likened to rain that arises from these clouds, representing the physical manifestation (body) of the Buddha.

From our perspective, this may seem like a hierarchy of essence, expression, and manifestation. In truth, however, these are three inseparable modes of being, a unified expression known as Samantabhadra, the All-Good.

Returning to the Tree of Life, we can find another way of comprehending Buddhahood. On the tree, we have ten sephirot — levels of awareness that begin with a universal, omnipotent God-like awareness that descends through successive divisions into more mundane awareness. The first three sephirot are an ‘atomic’ awareness that remains present within all the lower levels. This is the spark of simple, pure, unfettered awareness (Kether), that delights (Chokmah) in all things (Binah).

For those still struggling in Samsara or who have reached nirvana, awareness manifests primarily in the seven lower sephirot, which reflect the first three. But once Buddhahood is achieved, these lower seven no longer manifest — except as perceived by others. The Buddha has stabilised and eliminated the unnecessary tendencies that generate lower awareness, abiding purely in the first three. Lacking any self-concepts — except when engaging in compassionate dialogue — there is, in truth, no being that dwells, only the pure field of these three kayas.

The mind of conditioned beings habitually clings to things through reflections of Chokmah‘s delight, manifesting in Chesed and Yesod. Only when desire is fully emptied can these lower manifestations of awareness fall silent, revealing what has always been present at the core of being.

This is both complicated and simple — we see paradoxes arise as we transcend duality. Yet for gnostic and Kabbalistic students, this offers perspective on the subtle theory behind enlightenment.

The ‘mind’ of the Buddha — and I must use quotation marks — is the same as emptiness itself. The ‘things’ that appear within it are best understood as shimmering absences, emphasizing their lack of inherent existence and impermanence.

Being utterly empty, lower consciousnesses that would normally delineate forms now arise in pure clarity — perfect reflections without distortion. Samantabhadra, being without division, is omniscience itself — pure awareness of sameness, unhindered in scope. In ordinary awareness, our senses operate through duality: we either sense, or we do not. In Buddhahood, this binary is transcended.

From this state of pure awareness — omniscience — arises only positivity, manifesting as boundless compassion. Being without division, universal sameness is eternally present — without difference between now and later, or past and future. This is trans-temporal omniscience: a knowledge rooted in the eternal Now.

“The three bodies are not other than the mind; the mind itself is the three bodies.”
— Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra