Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00328)

Dear Friend:

On the subject of the "vestures" named by you relating to those that
successful Candidates for Adeptship can choose from, it has always
seemed to me that the information in the The VOICE OF THE SILENCE and
in the THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY are the best sources:

The first clue may be in the SECRET DOCTRINE I p. 157 (table) under
the Taraka Raja column where the REAL MAN the ATMA is able to work in
and through 3 upadhis without destroying them or the rest. -- those are
also related to the states of consciousness as : waking, dreaming,
mediation (Deep sleep) -- or Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti (Turiya), 

--------------------------------------

From: The VOICE OF THE SILENCE 


"Yet, one word. Canst thou destroy divine COMPASSION? Compassion is no
attribute. It is the LAW

======================================
Footnotes

(1) From the Sanscrit Arhat or Arhan.

(2) Klesha is the love of pleasure or of worldly enjoyment, evil or
good.

(3) Tanha, the will to live, that which causes rebirth.
------------------------------------------------
76

of LAWS—eternal Harmony, Alaya's SELF; a shoreless universal essence,
the light of everlasting Right, and fitness of all things, the law of
love eternal.

The more thou dost become at one with it, thy being melted in its BEING,
the more thy Soul unites with that which IS, the more thou wilt become
COMPASSION ABSOLUTE. (1)

Such is the Arya Path, Path of the Buddhas of perfection.

Withal, what mean the sacred scrolls which make thee say?

"OM! I believe it is not all the Arhats that get of the Nirvanic Path
the sweet fruition."

"OM! I believe that the Nirvana-Dharma is entered not by all the
Buddhas". (2)

==============================
Footnotes

(1) This "compassion" must not be regarded in the same light as "God,
the divine love" of the Theists. Compassion stands here as an abstract,
impersonal law whose nature, being absolute Harmony, is thrown into
confusion by discord, suffering and sin.

(2) Thegpa Chenpoido, "Mahayana Sutra," Invocations to the Buddhas of
Confession," Part I., iv. In the Northern Buddhist phraseology all the
great Arhats, Adepts and Saints are called Buddhas.
------------------------------------
77

"Yea; on the Arya Path thou art no more Srotapatti, thou art a
Bodhisattva. (1) The stream is cross'd. 'Tis true thou hast a right to
Dharmakaya vesture; but Sambogakaya is greater than a Nirvanee, and
greater still is a Nirmanakaya—the Buddha of Compassion. (2)

================================
Footnotes

(1) A Bodhisattva is, in the hierarchy, less than a "perfect Buddha." In
the exoteric parlance these two are very much confused. Yet the innate
and right popular perception, owing to that self-sacrifice, has placed a
Bodhisattva higher in its reverence than a Buddha.

(2) This same popular reverence calls "Buddhas of Compassion" those
Bodhisattvas who, having reached the rank of an Arhat (i.e., having
completed the fourth or seventh Path), refuse to pass into the Nirvanic
state or "don the Dharmakaya robe and cross to the other shore," as it
would then become beyond their power to assist men even so little as
Karma permits. They prefer to remain invisibly (in Spirit, so to speak)
in the world, and contribute toward man's salvation by influencing them
to follow the Good Law, i.e., lead them on the Path of Righteousness. It
is part of the exoteric Northern Buddhism to honour all such great
characters as Saints, and to offer even prayers to them, as the Greeks
and Catholics do to their Saints and Patrons; on the other hand, the
esoteric teachings countenance no such thing. There is a great
difference between the two teachings. The exoteric layman hardly knows
the real meaning of the word Nirmanakaya—hence the confusion and
inadequate explanations of the Orientalists. For example Schlagintweit
believes that Nirmanakaya-body, means the physical form assumed by the
Buddhas when they incarnate on earth—"the least sublime of their earthly
encumbrances" (vide Buddhism in Tibet)—and he proceeds to give an
entirely false view on the subject. The real teaching is, however, this:

The three Buddhic bodies or forms are styled

1. Nirmanakaya.

2. Sambhogakaya.

3. Dharmakaya.

The first is that ethereal form which one would assume when leaving his
physical he would appear in his astral body—having in addition all the
knowledge of an Adept. The Bodhisattva develops it in himself as he
proceeds on the Path. Having reached the goal and refused its fruition,
he remains on Earth, as an Adept; and when he dies, instead of going
into Nirvana, he remains in that glorious body he has woven for himself,
invisible to uninitiated mankind, to watch over and protect it.

Sambhogakaya is the same, but with the additional lustre of "three
perfections," one of which is entire obliteration of all earthly
concerns.

The Dharmakaya body is that of a complete Buddha, i.e., no body at all,
but an ideal breath: Consciousness merged in the Universal
Consciousness, or Soul devoid of every attribute. Once a Dharmakaya, an
Adept or Buddha leaves behind every possible relation with, or thought
for this earth. Thus, to be enabled to help humanity, an Adept who has
won the right to Nirvana, "renounces the Dharmakaya body" in mystic
parlance; keeps, of the Sambhogakaya, only the great and complete
knowledge, and remains in his Nirmanakaya body. The Esoteric School
teaches that Gautama Buddha with several of his Arhats is such a
Nirmanakaya, higher than whom, on account of the great renunciation and
sacrifice to mankind there is none known.
-----------------------------------
78

Now bend thy head and listen well, O Bodhisattva—Compassion speaks and
saith: "Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou
be saved and hear the whole world cry?"

Now thou hast heard that which was said.

Thou shalt attain the seventh step and cross the gate of final knowledge
but only to wed woe—if thou would'st be Tathagata, follow upon thy
predecessor's steps, remain unselfish till the endless end.

Thou art enlightened—Choose thy way.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
*	*

79

Behold, the mellow light that floods the Eastern sky. In signs of praise
both heaven and earth unite. And from the four-fold manifested Powers a
chant of love ariseth, both from the flaming Fire and flowing Water, and
from sweet-smelling Earth and rushing Wind.

Hark! . . . from the deep unfathomable vortex of that golden light in
which the Victor bathes, ALL NATURE'S wordless voice in thousand tones
ariseth to proclaim:

JOY UNTO YE, O MEN OF MYALBA. (1)

A PILGRIM HATH RETURNED BACK "FROM THE OTHER SHORE."

A NEW ARHAN (2) IS BORN. . . .

Peace to all beings. (3)


Voice 75-9

-------------------------


>From T Glossary

Trikâya (Sk) Lit., three bodies, or forms. This is a most abstruse
teaching which, however, once understood, explains the mystery of every
triad or trinity, and is a true key to every three-fold metaphysical
symbol. In its most simple and comprehensive form it is found in the
human Entity in its triple division into spirit, soul, and body, and-in
the universe, regarded pantheistically, as a unity composed of a Deific,
purely spiritual Principle, Supernal Beings—its direct rays — and
Humanity. The origin of this is found in the teachings of the pre
historic Wisdom Religion, or Esoteric Philosophy. The grand Pantheistic
ideal, of the unknown and unknowable Essence being transformed first
into subjective, and then into objective matter, is at the root of all
these triads and triplets. Thus we find in philosophical Northern
Buddhism (1) Âdi-Buddha (or Primordial Universal Wisdom) ; ( 2) the
Dhyâni-Buddhas (or Bodhisattvas); (3) the Mânushi (Human) Buddhas. In
European conceptions we find the same: God, Angels and Humanity
symbolized theologically by the God-Man. The Brahmanical Triműrti and
also the three-fold body of Shiva, in Shaivism, have both been conceived
on the same basis, if not altogether running on the lines of Esoteric
teachings. Hence, no wonder if one finds this conception of the triple
body—or the vestures of Nirmânakâya, Sambhogakâya and Dharmakâya,the
grandest of the doctrines of Esoteric Philosophy— accepted in a more or
less disfigured form by every religious sect, and explained quite
incorrectly by the Orientalists. Thus, in its general application, the
three-fold body symbolizes Buddha’s statue, his teachings and his stűpas
; in the priestly conceptions it applies to the Buddhist profession of
faith called the Triratna, which is the formula of taking “refuge in
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha “. Popular fancy makes Buddha ubiquitous,
placing him thereby on a par with an anthropomorphic god, and lowering
him to the level of a tribal deity; and, as a result, it falls into flat
contradictions, as in Tibet and China. Thus the exoteric doctrine seems
to teach that while in his Nirmâ kâya body (which passed through 100,000
kotis of transformations on earth), he, Buddha, is at the same time a
Lochana (a heavenly Dhyâni-Bodhisattva), in his Sambhogakâya “robe of
absolute completeness”, and in Dhyâna, or a state which must cut him off
from the world and all its connections; and finally and lastly he is,
besides being a Nirmânakâya and a Sambhogakâya, also a Dharmakâya “of
absolute purity “, a Vairotchana or Dhyâni-Buddha in full Nirvana! (See
Eitel’s Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary.) This is the jumble of
contradictions, impossible to reconcile, which is given out by
missionaries and certain Orientalists as the philosophical dogmas of
Northern Buddhism. If not an intentional confusion of a philosophy
dreaded by the upholders of a religion based on inextricable
contradictions and guarded “ mysteries “, then it is the product of
ignorance. As the Trailokya, the Trikâya, and the Triratna are the three
aspects of the same conceptions, and have to be, so to say, blended in
one, the subject is further explained under each of these terms. (See
also in this relation the term “ Trisharana”.)


Trisharana (Sk.). The same as” Triratna ”and accepted by both the
Northern and Southern Churches of Buddhism. After the death of the
Buddha it was adopted by the councils as a mere kind of formula fidei,
enjoining “to take refuge in Buddha ”, “to take refuge in Dharma ”,and
“to take refuge in Sangha ”, or his Church, in the sense in which it is
now interpreted; but it is not in this sense that the “Light of Asia”
would have taught the formula. Of Trikâya, Mr. E. J. Eitel, of
Hongkong, tells us in his Handbook of Chinese Buddhism that this
“trichotomism was taught with regard to the nature of all Buddhas. Bodhi
being the characteristic of a Buddha ”—a distinction was made between
“essential Bodhi” as the attribute of the Dharmakâya, i.e., “essential
body”; “reflected Bodhi” as the attribute of Sambhogakâya; and
“practical Bodhi” as the attribute of Nirmânakâya. Buddha combining in
himself these three conditions of existence, was said to be living at
the same time in three different spheres. Now, this shows how greatly
misunderstood is the purely pantheistical and philosophical teaching.
Without stopping to enquire how even a Dharmakâya vesture can have any
“attribute” in Nirvana, which state is shown, in philosophical
Brahmanism as much as in Buddhism, to be absolutely devoid of any
attribute as conceived by human finite thought—it will be sufficient to
point to the following —(1) the Nirmânakâya vesture is preferred by the
“Buddhas of Compassion” to that of the Dharmakâya state, precisely
because the latter precludes him who attains it from any communication
or relation with the finite, i.e., with humanity; (2) it is not Buddha
(Gautama, the mortal man, or any other personal Buddha) who lives
ubiquitously in “three different spheres, at the same time ”, but Bodhi,
the universal and abstract principle of divine wisdom, symbolised in
philosophy by Âdi-Buddha. It is the latter that is ubiquitous because it
is the universal essence or principle. It is Bodhi, or the spirit of
Buddhaship, which, having resolved itself into its primordial
homogeneous essence and merged into it, as Brahmâ (the universe) merges
into Parabrahm, the ABSOLUTENESS—that is meant under the name of
“essential Bodhi ”. For the Nirvânee, or Dhyâni Buddha, must be
supposed—by living in Arűpadhâtu, the formless state, and in
Dharmakâya—to be that “ essential Bodhi” itself. It is the Dhyâni
Bodhisattvas, the primordial rays of the universal Bodhi, who live in
“reflected Bodhi “in Rüpadhâtu, or the world of subjective “forms” ; and
it is the Nirmânakâyas (plural) who upon ceasing their lives of “
practical Bodhi”, in the “enlightened” or Buddha forms, remain
voluntarily in the Kâmadhâtu (the world of desire), whether in objective
forms on earth or in subjective states in its sphere (the second
Buddhakshetra). This they do in order to watch over, protect and help
mankind. Thus, it is neither one Buddha who is meant, nor any particular
avatar of the collective Dhyâni Buddhas, but verily Âdi-Bodhi—the first
Logos, whose primordial ray is Mahâbuddhi, the Universal Soul, ALAYA,
whose flame is ubiquitous, and whose influence has a different sphere in
each of the three forms of existence, because, once again, it is
Universal Being itself or the reflex of the Absolute. Hence, if it is
philosophical to speak of Bodhi, which “as Dhyâni Buddha rules in the
domain of the spiritual” (fourth Buddhakshetra or region of Buddha); and
of the Dhyâni Bodhisattvas “ruling in the third Buddhakshetra ”or the
domain of ideation; and even of the Mânushi Buddhas, who are in the
second Buddhakshetra as Nirmanakâyas—to apply the “idea of a unity in
trinity” to three personalities—is highly unphilosophical.


"SAMBHOGAKÂYA (Sk.). One of the three “Vestures” of glory, or bodies,
obtained by ascetics on the “Path “. Some sects hold it as the second,
while others as the third of the Buddhahshętras; or forms of Buddha.
Lit., the “Body of Compensation” (See Voice of the Silence, Glossary
iii). Of such Buddhakshętras there are seven, those of Nirmanakâya,
Sambhogakáya and Dharmakâya, belonging to the Trikâya, or three-fold
quality."
Glos 287



NIRMÂNAKÂYA (Sk.). Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy
from the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the
Orientalists. Some call the Nirmânakâya body “Nirvana with remains”
(Schlagintweit, etc.) on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of
Nirvânic condition during which consciousness and form are retained.
Others say that it is one of the Trikâya (three bodies), with the “power
of assuming any form of appearance in order to propagate Buddhism “
(Eitel’s idea); again, that “it is the incarnate avatâra of a deity”
(ibid.), and so on. Occultism, on the other hand, says: that
Nirmânakâya, although meaning literally a transformed “body”, is a
state. The form is that of the adept or yogi who enters, or chooses,
that post mortem condition in preference to the Dharmakâya or absolute
Nirvânic state. He does this because the latter kâya separates him for
ever from the world of form, conferring upon him a state of selfish
bliss, in which no other living being can participate, the adept being
thus precluded from the possibility of helping humanity, or even devas.
As a Nirmânakâya, however, the man leaves behind him only his physical
body, and retains every other “principle” save the Kamic—for he has
crushed this out for ever from his nature, during life, and it can never
resurrect in his post mortem state. Thus, instead of going into selfish
bliss, he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only
with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an
invisible yet most effective manner. (See The Voice of the Silence,
third treatise, “The Seven Portals”.) Thus a Nirmânakâya is not, as
popularly believed, the body “in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears
on earth”, but verily one, who whether a Chutuktu or a Khubilkhan, an
adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible
Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits.
Mistaken often for a “Spirit”, a Deva, God himself, &c., a Nirmânakâya
is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian angel, to him who
becomes worthy of his help. Whatever objection may be brought forward
against this doctrine; however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it
has never been hitherto made public in Europe and therefore since it is
unknown to Orientalists, it must needs be “a myth of modern
invention”—no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping
suffering mankind at the price of one’s own almost interminable
self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever
evolved from human brain."	Glos 231



DHARMAKÂYA (Sk). Lit., “the glorified spiritual body” called the
“Vesture of Bliss “. The third, or highest of the Trikâya (Three
Bodies), the attribute developed by every “Buddha “, i.e., every
initiate who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the
“fourth Path” (in esotericism the sixth “portal” prior to his entryon
the seventh). The highest of the Trikâya, it is the fourth of the
Buddhakchetra, or Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented
figuratively in Buddhist asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous
Spirituality. In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are: 

(1) Nirmanakâya 
(2) Sambhogakâya 
(3) and Dharmakâya 

the last being the highest and most sublimated of alt, as it places the
ascetic on the threshold of Nirvâna. (See, however, the Voice of the
Silence, page 96, Glossary, for the true esoteric meaning.)"	Glos
100


There is a 4th "Body" that of the "Pratyekha Buddha." Or "Spiritual
Selfishness" in other words it is the one who chooses "Nirvana."


PRATYĘKA BUDDHA (S.k). The same as “Pasi-Buddha “. The Pratyęka Buddha
is a degree which belongs exclusively to the Yogâchârya school, yet it
is only one of high intellectual development with no true spirituality.
It is the dead-letter of the Yoga laws, in which intellect and
comprehension play the greatest part, added to the strict carrying out
of the rules of the inner development. It is one of the three paths to
Nirvana, and the lowest, in which a Yogi—” without teacher and without
saving others “—by the mere force of will and technical observances,
attains to a kind of nominal Buddhaship individually; doing no good to
anyone, but working selfishly for his own salvation and himself alone.
The Pratyękas are respected outwardly but are despised inwardly by those
of keen or spiritual appreciation. A Pratyéka is generally compared to a
Khadga” or solitary rhinoceros and called Ekashringa Rishi, a selfish
solitary Rishi (or saint). “ As crossing Sansâra (‘the ocean of birth
and death’ or the series of incarnations), suppressing errors, and yet
not attaining to absolute perfection, the Pratyęka Buddha is compared
with a horse which crosses a river swimming, without touching the
ground.” (Sanskrit-Chinese Dict.) He is far below a true “Buddha of
Compassion. He strives only for the reaching of Nirvâna."	Glos
261

"PRATYEKA BUDDHAS are those Bodhisattvas who strive after and often
reach the Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives. Caring nothing for
the woes of mankind or to help it, but only for their own bliss, they
enter Nirvana and— disappear from the sight and the hearts of men. In
Northern Buddhism a "Pratyeka Buddha" is a synonym of spiritual
Selfishness." (1) Pratyeka Buddhas are those Bodhisattvas who strive
after and often reach the Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives.
Caring nothing for the woes of mankind or to help it, but only for their
own bliss, they enter Nirvana and— disappear from the sight and the
hearts of men. In Northern Buddhism a "Pratyeka Buddha" is a synonym of
spiritual Selfishness."	Voice 47fn


"NIRVÂNA (Sk.). According to the Orientalists, the entire “blowing out”,
like the flame of a candle, the utter extinction of existence. But in
the esoteric explanations it is the state of absolute existence and
absolute consciousness, into which the Ego of a man who has reached the
highest degree of perfection and holiness during life goes, after the
body dies, and occasionally, as in the case of Gautama Buddha and
others, during life. (See “Nirvânî”.)

 
"NIRVÂNÎ (Sk.). One who has attained Nirvana—an emancipated soul. That
Nirvana means nothing of the kind asserted by Orientalists every scholar
who has visited China, India and Japan is well aware. It is “escape from
misery” but only from that of matter, freedom from Klęsha, or Kâma, and
the complete extinction of animal desires. If we are told that Abidharma
defines Nirvâna “as a state of absolute annihilation”, we concur, adding
to the last word the qualification “of everything connected with matter
or the physical world”, and this simply because the latter (as also all
in it) is illusion, mâyâ. Sâkya-műni Buddha said in the last moments of
his life that “the spiritual body is immortal” (See Sans. Chin. Dict.).
As Mr. Eitel, the scholarly Sinologist, explains it: “The popular
exoteric systems agree in defining Nirvana negatively as a state of
absolute exemption from the circle of transmigration; as a state of
entire freedom from all forms of existence; to begin with, freedom from
all passion and exertion; a state of indifference to all sensibility”
and he might have added “death of all compassion for the world of
suffering”. And this is why the Bodhisattvas who prefer the Nirmânakâya
to the Dharmakáya vesture, stand higher in the popular estimation than
the Nirvânîs. But the same scholar adds that: “Positively (and
esoterically) they define Nirvâna as the highest state of spiritual
bliss, as absolute immortality through absorption of the soul (spirit
rather) into itself, but preserving individuality so that, e.g.,
Buddhas, after entering Nirvâna, may reappear on earth “—i.e., in the
future Manvantara." Glos 232



Returning Nirvanees (and Nirmanakayas) are mentioned in 

the SECRET DOCTRINE II bottom p. 79, top p. 94,

==================================

Hope this proves to be useful.

Best wishes, 

Dallas


-----Original Message-----
From: samblo
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 2:08 PM
To: 
Subject: Re:: Multiper Fectivalists Unite!

Dallas,

Thanks as always for your posts. I have to admit I am confused by the

following content:

" (1) This is an allusion to a well-known belief in the East (as in the
West, too, for the matter of that) that every additional Buddha or Saint
is a new soldier in the army of those who work for the liberation or
salvation of mankind. In Northern Buddhist countries, where the doctrine
of Nirmanakayas-those Bodhisattvas who renounce well-earned Nirvana or
the Dharmakaya vesture (both of which shut them out for ever from the
world of men) in order to invisibly assist mankind and lead it finally
to Paranirvana-is taught, every new Bodhisattva or initiated great Adept
is called the "liberator of mankind." The statement made by
Schlagintweit in his "Buddhism in Tibet" to the effect that Prulpai Ku
or "Nirmanakaya" is "the body in which the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas
appear upon earth to teach men"-is absurdly inaccurate and explains
nothing."

The reference to the Dharmakaya and Nirmanikaya is the part that
perhaps out of kilter here. there is no mention of the "Sambhogakaya"
the "Second Vesture" and, due to this it seems to me that the placing
of
the Nirmanakaya as nop longer possible to have congress with man or
mankind is incorrect. It is the Dharmakaya anf Sambhogakaya that once
arrived have limit, while the Nirmanakaya is still with "Modes" as
being
Subtle and can have manisfestation form as well as usage to indicate a
physical body. I don't really understand the confused rendition here
as
footnote has it.

John