..續本文上一頁到覺悟的境界。
悉達多太子不是在菩提樹下一夜就成佛的。當他在菩提樹下進入禅定時，也沒有超自然的生靈出現，指點他成佛的奧秘。在他覺悟前，有一段漫長的經曆和過程，這些都記錄在《本生經》裏。《本生經》裏很多故事告訴我們，他在過去世時，如何犧牲他的生命來達到成佛的理想。一個人如果要想成佛，必須實踐十種巴拉密(parami)──布施、持戒、出離、智慧、精進、忍辱、堅定、真實、慈悲、平等。實踐十巴拉密須要花很長的時間，甚至要在無數次生死中不斷的學習、鍛煉。這說明了崇高的佛陀在這世間的出現，須要經曆久遠時代磨練的曆程。所以佛陀告誡弟子要度化衆生，不一定要圓成佛道。他們一樣可以通過成就獨覺佛或阿拉漢而進入聖道。
獨覺佛出生在沒有正自覺佛降生的時代，他們通過緣起法──緣生、緣滅而證悟宇宙的真理，雖然他們也一樣證悟涅槃，可是他們沒有正自覺佛的智慧，不能對衆生弘法，只是自己孤獨的生活。
阿拉漢(arahant)證悟涅槃的境界和佛陀一樣。阿拉漢克服了所有的欲望和人性的弱點，阿拉漢接收佛陀的教誨和認識真理。他們也向世人宣告宇宙間的確存在著解脫生死的真理。所以說能降生在佛陀出世的時代是件非常殊勝的事。《法句經》
Trikaya - The Three Bodies of the Buddha
The three bodies of the Buddha consist of Dharma-kaya (Truth body), Sambhoga-kaya (Enjoyment body), and Nirmana-kaya(Manifestation body).
In the Mahayana philosophy, the personality of the Buddha is given an elaborate treatment. According to this philosophy, the Buddhas have three bodies (trikaya), or three aspects of personality: the Dharmakaya, the Sambhoga-kaya, and the Nirmana-kaya.
After a Buddha has attained Enlightenment, He is the living embodiment of wisdom, compassion, happiness and freedom. At the beginning, there was only one Buddha in the Buddhist tradition. He is the historical Sakyamuni the Buddha. However, even during His lifetime, He made the distinction between Himself as the enlightened, historical inpidual, on one hand, and Himself as the Embodiment of Truth, on the other. The enlightened personality was known as the ”Rupakaya” (Form-body) or ”Nirmana-kaya”
(Manifestation-body). This was the physical body of the Buddha who was born among men, attained Enlightenment, preached the Dhamma and attained Maha Parinibbana. The Manifestation-body or physical body of Buddhas are many and differ from one another.
On the other hand, the principle of Enlightenment which is embodied in Him is known as Dharma-kaya or Truth-body. This is the essence of the Buddha and is independent of the person realizing it. ”Dhamma” in this expression means ”Truth”, and does not refer to the verbal teachings which were recorded down in scriptures. The teaching of the Buddha also emanates from the ”Essence” or ”Truth”. So the real, essential Buddha is Truth or the principle of Enlightenment. This idea is clearly stated in the original Pali texts of the Theravada. The Buddha told Vasettha that the Tathagata (the Buddha) was Dharma-kaya, the ”Truth-body” or the ”Embodiment of Truth”, as well as Dharmabhuta, ”Truth-become”, that is, ”One who has become Truth” (Digha Nikaya). On another occasion, the Buddha told Vakkali:”He who sees the Dhamma (Truth) sees the Tathagata, he who sees the Tathagata sees the Dhamma (Samyutta Nikaya). That is to say, the Buddha is equal to Truth, and all Buddhas are one and the same, being no different from one another in the Dharma-kaya, because Truth is one.”
In the Buddha”s lifetime, both the Nirmana-kaya and the Dharma-kaya were united in His. However, after His Parinibbana, the distinction became more pronounced, especially in the Mahayana philosophy. His Manifestation-body was dead and enshrined in the form of relics in stupas: His Dhamma-body is eternally present.
Later, the Mahayana philosophy developed the ”Sambhoga-kaya”, the Enjoyment-body. The Sambhoga-kaya can be considered as the body or aspect through which the Buddha enjoyed Himself in the Dhamma, in teaching the Truth, in leading others to the realization of the Truth, and in enjoying the company of good, noble people. This is a selfless, pure, spiritual enjoyment, not to be confused with sensual pleasure. This ”Enjoyment-body” is not categorically mentioned in Theravada texts although it can be appreciated without contradiction if understood in this context. In Mahayana, the Enjoyment-body of the Buddha, unlike the impersonal, abstract principle of the Dharma-kaya, is also considered as a person, though not a human, historical person.
Although the terms Sambhoga-kaya and Dharma-kaya found in the later Pali works come from Mahayana and semi-Mahayana works, scholars from other traditions did not show hostility towards them. Ven Buddhaghosa in his Visuddhi Magga referred thus to the bodies of the Buddha.
”The Buddha is possessed of a beautiful Rupakaya adorned with eighty minor and thirty-two major signs of a great man, and possessed of a Dharmakaya purified in every way and glorified by Sila, Samadhi°‚, full of splendor and virtue, incomparable and fully enlightened.”
Though Buddhaghosa”s conception was realistic, he was not immune from the religious bias of attributing superhuman power to the Buddha. In the Atthasallini, he said that during the three months” absence of the Buddha, when He was engaged in preaching the Abhidamma to His mother in the Tusita heaven, He created some Nimmita-buddhas as exact replicas of Himself. These Nimmita-buddhas could not be distinguished from the Buddha in voice, words and even the rays of light that issued only by the gods of the higher realms of existence and not by ordinary gods or men. From this description, it is clear that the early Theravadins conceived Buddha”s Rupakaya or Sambhoga-kaya as that of a human being, and His Dharma-kaya as the collection of His Dhamma, that is, doctrines and disciplinary rules, collectively.
《圓成佛道 Attainment of Buddhahood》全文閱讀結束。