4.1. Origin and Development of the Dharmakāya

[Full title: The Buddha-nature as Dharmakāya, (1): Origin and Development of the Dharmakāya]

The Dharmakāya (fashen) is a central idea in Mahāyāna Buddhism; it is one of the three bodies of a Buddha according to the doctrine of Trikāya (Triple body of Buddha). Although the doctrine of Trikāya does not appear in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the idea of Dharmakāya occupies an important position in the Sūtra, it not only is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practices, but also represents the original existence of the Buddha-nature. In the term Dharmakāya, Dharma here may be understood in either way as reality, or as Law giving principle, or simply as law. Kayā means “body,” or “system.” So Dharmakāya is literally a body or person that exists as principle, and it has now come to mean the highest reality from which all things derive their being and lawfulness, but which in itself transcends all limiting conditions.^[1] Before going into the relation of the Buddha-nature and Dharmakāya in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, an analysis of the origin and development of the concept of Dharmakāya will help to understand the important position of this concept in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra.

In Early Buddhism, the term Dharmakāya simply means the teachings of the Buddha after his death.

In the Pāli Mahāparinibbānasutta, the Buddha says to Ānanda,

“The Dhamma and Vinaya that have been preached by me will be your teacher after my death.”^[2] In another Pāli scripture, the Buddha makes the following statement to the sick Vakkali: “Vakkali! What is there in seeing this vile body of mine? He who sees the Dhamma (dhammakāyo), Vakkali, sees me; he who sees me sees the Dhamma (dhammakāyo)”^[3] .

Buddhaghoṣa states Dharmakāya is the three Piṭakas preached by the Buddha:

Why is the Tathāgata said to have a Dharmakāya? Because the Tathāgata, having thought or devised in his mind the Buddha-word, which is the three Piṭakas, aspired to words. Therefore, that body is the Dhamma, because it is made of the Dhamma^[4]

Pāli literature also states that “Dhamma” is the doctrine Pratītyasamutpāda (Dependent Origination) which always exists whether or not the Buddha appears in the world.^[5] This idea is also found in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra: “Mahāmati; the Dharmadhātu abides forever, whether the Tathāgata appears in the world or not; as the Tathāgata eternally abides so does the reason (dharmatā) of all things; reality forever abides, reality keeps its order, like the roads in an ancient city”^[6] Thus, according to Early Buddhism, the Buddha is eternal because although his physical flesh body disappeared, his Dharmakāya in forms of his teachings and of the law of the world is permanent.

In the early Mahāyāna literature, Dharmakāya was identical with the Tathatā (Thusness), the real nature of all dharmas that is not differentiated, unthinkable and immovable. It is the universal principle, neither arises nor disappears. All phenomena arise because of causes and conditions, and so they are unreality and illusions. Dharmakāya as Tathatā is the only non-dual reality.

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra writes:

Equally foolish are all those who adhere to the Tathāgata through form and sound, and who in consequence imagine the coming or going of a Tathāgata. For a Tathāgata cannot be seen from his form-body (rūpakāya). The Dharma-bodies (dharmakāya) are the Tathāgatas and the real nature of dharmas (dharmatā ) does not come or go.^[7]

Thus, the terms dharmakāya, dharmatā and tathatā in early Mahāyāna Sūtras have the same meaning that is not only the universal principle, but also the real body of the Buddhas.

This idea is clearer presented in the Avataṃsaka:

文殊法常爾, 法王唯一法
一切無礙人, 一道出生死
一切諸佛身, 唯是一法身^[8]

“Mañjuśrī, the Dharma is always thus, the King of the Dharma has only one dharma, and all liberated people go out of saṃsāra along one path. The bodies of all Buddhas are but one Dharmakāya, one mind and one wisdom, so are the powers and the fearlessness.”^[9]

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the concept of Dharmakāya continued to develop into the thought of the Buddha-nature or Tathāgatagarbha. As presented above, the Tathatā, i.e. the real nature existing in all sentient and insentient beings is identified as the Tathāgata in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and is again identified with the Dharmakāya in later sūtra Avataṃsaka. Thus, the Dharmakāya exists in all living beings, however it is obscured with defilements, it cannot manifest.

This concept of Dharmakāya is identical with the thought of the Buddha-nature, as the following declaration presented in the Śrīmālā-sūtra:

世尊,非壞法故,名無始無作無起無盡離.盡常住自性清淨離一切煩惱藏.世尊,過於恒沙不離
不脫不異不思議佛法成就說如來法身.世尊,如是如來法身不離 煩惱藏名如來藏^[10]

The Dharmakāya is beginningless, uncreated, unborn, undying, free from death; permanent, steadfast, calm, eternal; intrinsically pure, free from all the defilement-store; and accompanied by Buddha natures more numerous than the sands of the Ganges, which are nondiscrete, knowing as liberated, and inconceivable. This Dharmakāya of the Tathāgata when not free from the store of defilement is referred to as the Tathāgatagarbha.^[11]

Thus, the Śrīmālāsūtra states clearly that Tathāgatagarbha is the bonded state (with defilements) within sentient beings of Dharmakāya. In other words, when Buddha-nature is bonded with defilements, it is called Tathāgatagarbha. When it is free, it is called Dharmakāya which is the real body of the Buddha, the Buddha himself. It is also necessary to mention here that the Śrīmālāsūtra had come into existence before the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, because the Laṅkāvatārasūtra sometimes quoted and referred to the Śrīmālāsūtra.^[12] Therefore, study of the Dharmakāya in the later Sūtra, i.e. in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, will help to understand clearer its relation with the Buddhanature.

The Dharmakāya really reached its full development in the doctrine of the “three bodies of the Buddha”, or Trikāya of the Yogācāra school. According to this, the Buddha possesses three “bodies” (kāya), they are:^[13]

The Dharmakāya (fashen) is the embodiment of the truth itself, and it is commonly seen as transcending the forms of physical and spiritual bodies. This body is the state of Buddha-nature in its full exposition from the obscureness of defilements.

The Sambhogakāya (baoshen) is the reward-body, whereby a bodhisattva completes his vows and becomes a Buddha. The Buddha Amitābha and his Western Pure Land is an example of the Sambhogakaya body.

The Nirmaṇakāya (huashen) is a physical body of the Buddha or the Buddha‘s body that appears in the world to teach and save others. An example would be Śākyamuni Buddha‘s body.

Chronologically speaking, this familiar later Trikāya approach is not available explicitly in the early Prajñāpāramitā literature. It is also not found in the Nāgārjuna‘s writings. In accordance with the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, Nagarjuna only speaks of a physical body and a dharmakāya, and the concept of Trikāya started to appear with the Yogācāra school founed by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu.^[14]

In brief, the thought of Dharmakāya can be arranged into five chronological stages:

(1) Dharmakāya as the remain the Buddha‘s teachings and as the law of the world such as the Pratītyasamutpāda;

(2) the two-body theory of Rūpakāya and Dharmakāya of Sarvāstivāda, and the Lokottaravāda supramundane approach to the Buddha;

(3) The early Mahāyāna view of the Dharmakāya as Tathatā (Thusness)—the true nature of all things, and hence a universal principle;

(4) The identification of Dharmakāya with Tathāgatagarbha or the Buddha-nature;

(5) The full Trikāya doctrine of the Yogācāra school.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Studies in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, p. 308.

[2]:

Dīghanikāya ii, 154.

[3]:

Saṃyuttanikāya iii, 120; C.Aṅguttaranikāya.F. Rhys Davids (tr.), The Book of Kindred Sayings, Oxford: Pali Text Society, Vol. III, p. 103. (Alam Vakkali kiṃ te pūtikāyena diṭṭhena. Yo kho Vakkali dhammaṃ passati so maṃ passati. Yo maṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati)

[4]:

Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Dīghanikāya Commentary), iii, 865. (Kasmā Tathāgato Dhammakāyo ti vutto? Tathāgato hi tetipiṭakaṃ Buddhavacanam. Hadayena cintetyā vācāya abhinīhari. Ten‘assa kāyo Dhammamayattā Dhammo va)

[5]:

Aṅguttaranikāya i, 286; Saṃyuttanikāya ii, 25; Visuddhimagga 518.

[6]:

Laṅkāvatāra-Sūtra, p. 124 (Laṅkā, p. 143)

[7]:

E. Conze (tr.), The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary, p. 291

[8]:

Da-fang-guang-fo-hua-yan-jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Taisho Tripiṭaka (CBETA 2011) [T9n278], p. 429b18)

[9]:

Guang Xing, The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikāya Theory, p. 84.

[10]:

Taisho Tripiṭaka (CBETA 2011) [T12n353],p. 221c

[11]:

The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, tr. Alex and Hikedo Wayman, p. 98.

[12]:

Laṅkāvatāra-Sūtra, p. 221-23

[13]:

W.E. Soothill and L. Hodous, Aṅguttaranikāya Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, p. 77.

[14]:

Paul Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, p. 179.