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{{Short description|One of the three bodies of a Buddha}}
{{italic title}}
{{Buddhism}}

The '''''dharmakāya''''' ({{langx|sa|धर्म काय}}, "truth body" or "reality body", {{lang-zh|t=法身|p=fǎshēn}}, {{bo|t=ཆོས་སྐུ་|w=chos sku}}) is [[Trikaya|one of the three bodies]] (''trikāya'') of a [[Buddhahood|Buddha]] in [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]] [[Buddhism]]. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "inconceivable" (''acintya'') aspect of a Buddha out of which Buddhas arise and to which they return after their dissolution. When a Buddha manifests out of the ''dharmakāya'' in a physical body of flesh and blood'','' which is perceptible to ordinary sentient beings, this is called a ''[[nirmāṇakāya]]'', "transformation body".

The [[Dhammakaya Movement|Dhammakāya tradition]] of Thailand and the ''[[Tathāgatagarbha sūtras]]'' of the ancient Indian tradition view the ''dharmakāya'' as the ''[[ātman (Buddhism)|ātman]]'' (true self) of the Buddha present within all beings.{{sfn|Thrangu Rinpoche|2003|p={{page needed|date=March 2023}}}}

== Origins and development ==

=== Pāli Canon ===
{{religious text primary|section|date=November 2017}}
In the [[Pāli Canon]], [[Gautama Buddha]] tells Vasettha that the [[Tathāgata]] (the Buddha) is ''dhammakaya'', the "truth-body" or the "embodiment of truth", as well as ''dharmabhuta'', "truth-become", that is, "one who has become truth."{{quote without source|date=March 2023}}

{{blockquote|He whose faith in the Tathagata is settled, rooted, established, solid, unshakeable by any ascetic or Brahmin, any deva or mara or Brahma or anyone in the world, can truly say: 'I am a true son of Blessed Lord (Bhagavan), born of his mouth, born of Dhamma, created by Dhamma, an heir of Dhamma.' Why is that? Because, Vasettha, this designates the Tathagata: 'The Body of Dhamma,' that is, 'The Body of Brahma,' or 'Become Dhamma,' that is, 'Become Brahma'.{{sfn|Walshe|1995|p=409|loc=''Digha Nikaya'' III.84}} }}

=== Trikaya doctrine ===
{{Main|Trikaya}}
The ''trikaya doctrine'' (Sanskrit, literally "three bodies" or "three personalities") is a Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and the appearances of a Buddha.

The ''dharmakaya'' doctrine was possibly first expounded in the ''[[Prajnaparamita#Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā|Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā]]'', composed in the 1st century BCE.

Around 300 CE, the [[yogacara]] school systematized the prevalent ideas on the nature of the Buddha in the ''trikaya'' "three-body" doctrine. According to this doctrine, [[buddhahood]] has three aspects:{{sfn|Snelling|1987|p=126}}
# The ''[[nirmāṇakāya]]'', "transformation body"
# The ''[[sambhogakāya]]'', "enjoyment-body"
# The ''dharmakāya'', "dharma-body"

=== Qualities ===
Tulku Thondup states that ''dharmakaya'' must possess three great qualities:{{sfn|Thondup|1996|p=50}}

# ''Great purity'' ({{bo|w=spang pa chen po}}, "the great abandonment"),
# ''Great realization'' ({{bo|w=rtogs pa chen po}}),
# ''Great mind'' ({{bo|w=sems pa chen po}}).

== Interpretation in Buddhist traditions ==
{{See also|Anatta}}

=== Mahāsāṃghika ===
According to Guang Xing, two main aspects of the Buddha can be seen in [[Mahāsāṃghika]] teachings: the true Buddha who is omniscient and omnipotent, and the manifested forms through which he liberates sentient beings through skillful means.{{sfn|Xing|2005|p=53}} For the Mahāsaṃghikas, the historical Gautama Buddha was one of these transformation bodies (Skt. {{Transliteration|sa|nirmāṇakāya}}), while the essential real Buddha is equated with the ''dharmakāya''.{{sfn|Padma|Barber|2008|pp=59-60}}

=== Sarvāstivāda ===
[[Sarvastivada|Sarvāstivādins]] viewed the Buddha's physical body (Skt. {{Transliteration|sa|[[rūpakāya]]}}) as being impure and improper for taking refuge in, and they instead regarded taking refuge in the Buddha as taking refuge in the dharmakāya of the Buddha. As stated in the ''[[Mahavibhasa|Mahāvibhāṣā]]'':{{sfn|Xing|2005|p=49}}

{{blockquote|Some people say that to take refuge in the Buddha is to take refuge in the body of the Tathāgata, which comprises head, neck, stomach, back, hands and feet. It is explained that the body, born of father and mother, is composed of defiled ''dharmas'', and therefore is not a source of refuge. The refuge is the Buddha's fully accomplished qualities (''aśaikṣadharmāḥ'') which comprise ''bodhi'' and the ''dharmakāya.''}}

=== Theravāda ===
In the [[Pali Canon]] of [[Theravada]] Buddhism, the ''Dhammakāya'' (''dharmakāya'') is explained as a figurative term, meaning the "body" or the sum of the Buddha's teachings.{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=376–7}}{{sfn|Dutt|1929|p=523}} The Canon does not invest the term ''dhammakāya'' with a metaphysical or unrealistic connotation.{{sfn|Dutt|1929|p=521-523}} Jantrasrisalai disagrees though, arguing that the term originally was more connected with the process of enlightenment than the way it later came to be interpreted. In all references to dhammakāya in early Buddhist usage, it is apparent that dhammakāya is linked always with the process of enlightenment in one way or another. Its relation with the Buddhist noble ones of all types is evident in the early Buddhist texts. That is to say, dhammakāya is not exclusive to the Buddha. It appears also that the term’s usage in the sense of teaching is a later schema rather than being the early Buddhist common notions as generally understood.{{efn|{{harvnb|Jantrasrisalai|2008|p=288}}: "In all references to dhammakāya in early Buddhist usage, it is apparent that dhammakāya is linked always with the process of enlightenment in one way or another. Its relation with the Buddhist noble ones of all types is evident in the early Buddhist texts. That is to say, dhammakāya is not exclusive to the Buddha. It appears also that the term’s usage in the sense of teaching is a later schema rather than being the early Buddhist common notions as generally understood."}}

In the ''[[atthakatha|atthakathā]]''s (commentaries on the [[Buddhist texts]]), the interpretation of the word depends on the author. Though both [[Buddhaghoṣa]] and [[Dhammapala|Dhammapāla]] describe ''dhammakāya'' as the nine supramundane states (''navalokuttaradhamma''), their interpretations differ in other aspects. Buddhaghoṣa always follows the canonical interpretation, referring to the ''teaching'' of the ''lokuttaradhamma''s, but Dhammapāla interprets ''dhammakāya'' as the ''spiritual attainments'' of the Buddha.{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=376–80}}{{sfn|Collins|2014}} Dhammapāla's interpretation is still essentially Theravāda though, since the Buddha is still considered a human being, albeit an enlightened one. The Buddha's body is still subject to ''[[Karma in Buddhism|kamma]]'' and limited in the same way as other people's bodies are.{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=376–80}}

In a post-canonical Sri Lankan text called Saddharmaratnākaraya, a distinction is drawn between four different ''kāya''s: the ''rūpakāya'', ''dharmakāya'', ''nimittakāya'' and ''suñyakāya''. The ''rūpakāya'' refers to the four ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|jhāna]]''s here; the ''dharmakāya'' refers to the attainment of the first eight of the nine ''lokuttaradhamma''s; the ''nimittakāya'' refers to the final ''lokuttaradhamma'': ''Nibbāna'' with a physical remainder (''sopadisesanibbāna''); and the ''suñyakāya'' refers to ''Nibbāna'' without physical remainder (''anupādisesanibbāna''). However, even this teaching of four ''kāya''s does not really stray outside of orthodox Theravāda tradition.{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=380–2}}

In a more unorthodox approach, [[Maryla Falk]] has made the argument that in the earliest form of Buddhism, a [[yogic]] path existed which involved the acquisition of a ''manomayakāya'' or ''dhammakāya'' and an ''amatakāya'', in which the ''manomayakāya'' or ''dhammakāya'' refers to the attainment of the ''jhānas'', and the ''amatakāya'' to the attainment of insight and the culmination of the path. In this case, the ''kāyas'' refer to a general path and fruit, not only to the person of the Buddha.{{sfn|Falk|2006|p={{page needed|date=March 2023}}}}{{sfn|Strong|1979}} Although Reynolds does not express agreement with Falk's entire theory, he does consider the idea of an earlier yogic strand worthy of investigation. Furthermore, he points out that there are remarkable resemblances with interpretations that can be found in ''Yogāvacara'' texts, often called [[Tantric Theravada]].{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=380–4}}

The usage of the word ''dhammakāya'' is common in Tantric Theravāda texts. It is also a common term in later texts concerning the consecration of Buddha images.{{sfn|Swearer|1995}}{{sfn|Kinnard|2005}} In these later texts, which are often descriptions of ''[[kammaṭṭhāna]]'' (meditation methods), different parts of the body of the Buddha are associated with certain spiritual attainments, and the practitioner determines to pursue these attainments himself. The idea that certain characteristics or attainments of the Buddha can be pursued is usually considered a Mahāyāna idea, but unlike Mahāyāna, Yogāvacara texts do not describe the Buddha in [[ontological]] terms, and commonly use only Theravāda terminology.{{sfn|Crosby|2000}}{{sfn|Reynolds|1977|pp=384–7}}

==== Dhammakaya tradition ====
{{See also|Dhammakaya tradition#True Self}}
The [[Dhammakaya tradition]] and some monastic members of Thai Theravada Buddhism, who specialise on meditation, have doctrinal elements which distinguish it from some Theravāda Buddhist scholars who have tried to claim themselves as the orthodox Buddhists. Basing itself on the Pali suttas and meditative experience, the tradition teaches that the ''dhammakaya'' is the eternal Buddha within all beings. The ''dhammakaya'' is ''nibbāna'', and ''nibbāna'' is equated with the true self (as opposed to the non-self).{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=126}} In some respects its teachings resemble the [[buddha-nature]] doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism. Paul Williams has commented that this view of Buddhism is similar to ideas found in the [[Rangtong-Shentong|shentong]] teachings of the [[Jonang]] school of Tibet made famous by [[Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen]].{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=237}}

The Thai meditation masters who teach of a true self of which they claim to have gained meditative experience are not rejected by [[Buddhism in Thailand|Thai Buddhists]] in general, but tend, on the contrary, to be particularly revered and worshipped in Thailand as arahats or even ''[[bodhisattva]]s'', far more so than more orthodox Theravada monks and scholars.{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=328}}

=== Mahāyāna ===

==== Prajnaparamita ====
According to Paul Williams, there are three ways of seeing the concept of the ''dharmakaya'' in the ''[[prajnaparamita]]'' sutras:
{{blockquote|First, the dharmakaya is the collection of teachings, particularly the Prajñaparamita itself. Second, it is the collection of pure [[Dharma#Dharmas in Buddhist phenomenology|dharmas]] possessed by the Buddha, specifically pure mental dharmas cognizing emptiness. And third, it comes to refer to [[Śūnyatā|emptiness]] itself, the true nature of things. The dharmakaya in all these senses is contrasted with the Buddha’s physical body, that which lived and died and is preserved in [[stupa]]s.{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=177}}}}

==== ''Lotus Sutra'' ====
In the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'' (Chapter 16: The Life Span of Thus Come One, sixth fascicle) the Buddha explains that he has always and will always exist to lead beings to their salvation.

==== Tathāgatagarbha ====
In the [[Buddha-nature|tathagatagarbha]] sutric tradition, the ''dharmakaya'' is taught by the Buddha to constitute the transcendental, blissful, eternal, and pure Self of the Buddha. "These terms are found in sutras such as the ''Lankavatara'', ''Gandavyuha'', ''Angulimaliya'', ''Srimala'', and the ''Mahaparinirvana'', where they are used to describe the Buddha, the Truth Body (''dharmakaya'') and the Buddha-nature."<ref name=Duckworthxiv>{{harvnb|Duckworth|2008|p=xiv}}.</ref> They are the "transcendent results [of spiritual attainment]".<ref name=Duckworthxiv />

==== Tibetan Buddhism ====
{{see also|Bardo#Six bardos in Tibetan Buddhism}}
In Tibetan, the term ''chos sku'' (ཆོས་སྐུ།, phonetically written as ''chö-ku''){{citation needed|date=January 2024}} glosses ''dharmakāya''; it is composed of ''chos'' "religion, [[dharma]]" and ''sku'' "body, form, image, bodily form, figure".{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Thondup & Talbott render it as the "ultimate body".<ref name="Thondup, Tulku 1996, p.48">{{harvnb|Thondup|1996|p=48}}.</ref> [[Gyurme Dorje]] and [[Thupten Jinpa]] define "Buddha-body of Reality", which is a rendering of the Tibetan ''chos-sku'' and the Sanskrit ''dharmakāya'', as:

{{blockquote|[T]he ultimate nature or essence of the enlightened mind [''byang-chub sems''], which is uncreated (''skye-med''), free from the limits of conceptual elaboration (''spros-pa'i mtha'-bral''), empty of inherent existence (''rang-bzhin-gyis stong-pa''), naturally radiant, beyond duality and spacious like the sky. The intermediate state of the time of death (''chi-kha'i bar-do'') is considered to be an optimum time for the realisation of the Buddha-body of Reality.{{sfn|Padmasambhava|Karma Lingpa|2008|p=452}}}}

The Dalai Lama defines the dharmakaya as "the realm of the Dharmakaya—the space of emptiness—where all phenomena, pure and impure, are dissolved. This is the explanation taught by the Sutras and Tantras." However he also states that it is distinct from the Hindu concept of [[Brahman]] because Buddhism adheres to the doctrine of emptiness (sunyata).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes22.html | title=Dalai Lama Answers Questions on Various Topics}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2024}}

===== Rime movement =====
According to [[Jamgon Kongtrul]], the founder of the [[Rimé movement]], in his 19th century commentary to the [[Lojong]] slogan, "To see confusion as the four kayas, the [[Śūnyatā|sunyata]] protection is unsurpassable",{{sfn|Kongtrul|2005|p={{page needed|date=January 2023}}}} "When you rest in a state where appearances simply appear but there is no clinging to them, the ''dharmakaya'' aspect is that all appearances are empty in nature, the ''[[sambhogakāya]]'' is that they appear with clarity, the ''nirmanakaya'' is that this emptiness and clarity occur together, and the natural ''kāya'' aspect is that these are inseparable."<ref>Jamgon Kongtrul; The Great Path of Awakening; Shambhala Publications; p. 20</ref>

== Iconography ==

=== Emptiness ===
In the early traditions of Buddhism, depictions of Gautama Buddha were neither iconic nor [[aniconic]] but depictions of empty space and absence: [[petrosomatoglyph]]s (images of a part of the body carved in rock), for example.{{sfn|Huntington|1990}}

=== Sky blue ===
Thondup and Talbott identify dharmakaya with the naked ("sky-clad"; Sanskrit: {{Transliteration|sa|Digāmbara}}), unornamented, sky-blue [[Adi-Buddha|Samantabhadra]]:
{{blockquote|In Nyingma icons, dharmakāya is symbolized by a naked, sky-coloured (light blue) male and female Buddha in union [Kāmamudrā], called Samantabhadra [and [[Samantabhadrī (tutelary)|Samantabhadrī]]].<ref name="Thondup, Tulku 1996, p.48" />{{refn|group=lower-alpha|For further discussion of 'Kāmamudrā' (English: "love-seal") refer: [[mudra]], [[Mahamudra]] and [[Yab-Yum]].}}}}

Fremantle states:
{{blockquote|Space is simultaneously the first and the last of the great elements. It is the origin and precondition of the other four, and it is also their culmination... The Sanskrit word for space is the same as for the sky: ''[[akasha]]'', which means "shining and clear." What is it that we call the sky? It marks the boundary of our vision, the limit our sight can reach. If we could see more clearly, the sky would extend infinitely into outer space. The sky is an imaginary boundary set by the limitations of our senses, and also by the limitations of our mind, since we find it almost impossible to imagine a totally limitless [U]niverse. Space is the dimension in which everything exists. It is all-encompassing, all-pervading, and boundless. It is synonymous with emptiness: that emptiness which is simultaneously fullness.{{sfn|Fremantle|2001|p=85}} }}

The colour blue is an iconographic polysemic rendering of the ''[[mahābhūta]]'' element of the "pure light" of space (Sanskrit: {{Lang|sa|आकाश}} {{Transliteration|sa|ākāśa}}).{{sfn|Fremantle|2001|p=86}}

The conceptually bridging and building poetic device of analogy, as an exemplar where ''dharmakaya'' is evocatively likened to sky and space, is a persistent and pervasive visual metaphor throughout the early [[Dzogchen]] and Nyingma literature and functions as a linkage and conduit between the 'conceptual' and 'conceivable' and the 'ineffable' and 'inconceivable' (Sanskrit: {{Transliteration|sa|acintya}}). It is particularly referred to by the ''[[terma (religion)|terma]]'' ''Gongpa Zangtel'',{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Wylie: ''kun tu bzang po'i dgongs pa zang thal du bstan pa''; English: ''Direct Revelation of Samantabhadra's Mind''.}} a terma cycle revealed by [[Rigdzin Gödem]] (1337–1408) and part of the Nyingma "Northern Treasures" ({{bo|w=byang gter}}).{{sfn|Tweed|Schmidt|2006|p=209}}

=== Mirror ===
Sawyer conveys the importance of ''[[melong]]'' ('mirror') iconography to ''dharmakaya'':
{{blockquote|The looking glass/mirror (T. me-long, Skt. adarsa), which represents the dharmakaya or Truth Body, having the aspects of purity (a mirror is clear of pollution) and wisdom (a mirror reflects all phenomena without distinction).{{sfn|Sawyer|2004}} }}

==See also==
*[[Brahman]], especially [[Para Brahman]]

== References ==

=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
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* {{Citation |last=Crosby |first=Kate |year=2000 |title=Tantric Theravada: A Bibliographic Essay on the Writings of Francois Bizot and others on the Yogavacara-Tradition |journal=Contemporary Buddhism |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=141–198 |doi=10.1080/14639940008573729 |s2cid=145379175}}.
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* {{Cite thesis |url=http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4130/1/01ch-jantrasrisalai-2008-thesis.pdf |title=Early Buddhist Dhammakaya: Its Philosophical and Soteriological Significance |type=PhD thesis |last=Jantrasrisalai |first=Chanida |publisher=Department of Studies in Religion, [[University of Sydney]] |year=2008 |location=Sydney |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203104232/http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4130/1/01ch-jantrasrisalai-2008-thesis.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-03 }}
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* {{Citation |jstor=1062942 |title=Hypostasizing the Buddha: Buddha Image Consecration in Northern Thailand |last=Swearer |first=Donald K. |journal=History of Religions |year=1995 |volume=34 |issue=3 (Image and Ritual in Buddhism) |page=270 |doi=10.1086/463396 |s2cid=161907366 |doi-access=free}}.
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* {{Citation |first=Maurice (trans.) |last=Walshe |title=The Long Discourses of the Buddha |place=Boston |publisher=Wisdom Publications |year=1995}}
* {{Citation |first=Paul |last=Williams |url=http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/9004485/mahayana_buddhism_-_the_doctrinal_foundations_second_edition.pdf |title=Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Oxford |edition=2 |year=2009 |access-date=2016-12-21 |archive-date=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329084457/http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/9004485/mahayana_buddhism_-_the_doctrinal_foundations_second_edition.pdf |url-status=dead }}.
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
*{{Citation |last=Harrison |first=Paul |year=1992 |url=http://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8792 |title=Is the Dharma-Kāya the Real "Phantom Body" of the Buddha? |journal=Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies |volume=15 |number=1 |pages=44–94 |ref=none }}.
*{{Citation |first=John J. |last=Makransky |year=1997 |title=Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=0-7914-3432-X |ref=none}}.
*{{Citation |last=Nagao |first=Gadjin |year=1973 |jstor=44361355 |title=On the Theory of Buddha-Body |journal=Eastern Buddhist |series=New Series |volume=6 |number=1 |pages=25–53 |ref=none}}.
*{{Citation |title=The Three Kayas |author1=Palden Sherab Rinpoche |author2=Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche |date=December 9, 1989 |editor=Craig Bialick (Pema Shugchang) |magazine=Pema Mandala |publication-date=2005 |url=https://www.padmasambhava.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Three-Kayas.pdf |access-date=2024-01-06 |ref=none}}.
*{{Citation |last=Sebastian |first=C. D. |year=2010 |title=Dharmakaya: the expression of the numinous in Mahayana Buddhism. |journal=Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics |volume=5 |number=1 |pages=80–88 |url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:730002 |access-date=2024-01-06 |ref=none}}
*{{Citation |author=Traleg Rinpoche |year=1998 |title=The Three Kayas, the Bodies of the Buddha |website=Kagyu.org |publisher=Karma Triyana Dharmachakra |url=http://www.kagyu.org/buddhism/cul/cul02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060724045115/http://www.kagyu.org/buddhism/cul/cul02.html |archive-date=2006-07-24 |ref=none}}.
*{{Citation |title=The Doctrine of Kaya (Trikaya) |first=P. G. |last=Yogi |date=January 3, 2000 |url=https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/05035204-bd79-4bea-b5e0-02ac940b831b/content |publisher=University of Cambridge |access-date=2024-01-06 |ref=none}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.lionsroar.com/buddhism-by-the-numbers-the-three-kayas/ What Are the Three Kayas?] at ''[[Lion's Roar (magazine)|Lion's Roar]]''

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmakaya}}
[[Category:Buddha-nature]]
[[Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Dzogchen]]
[[Category:Nonduality]]
[[Category:Shentong]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]