..续本文上一页e kayas, His Holiness the Third Karmapa explained in which way the ultimate wisdom of glorious Buddhas never changes.

　　Three permanences

　　The permanent essence: the dharmakaya

　　The essence of the dharmakaya is permanent. The wisdom of the Buddha nature is changeless, always has been, from the time of an ordinary state of mind until realization of the dharmakaya arose for an inpidual who worked to worthy himself or herself. And the dharmakaya remains changeless until samsara is fully exhausted of sorrow and want.

　　Permanence is usually a topic of refutation in Buddhist treatises and texts, so one may wonder whether speaking about permanence of the dharmakaya in a Mahayana text isn”t a contradiction. But, the dharmakaya is not a thing; it is not fragmented. Its nature is dharmadhatu that transcends all conceptualisations of being existent, non-existent, both, and neither. Thus its nature is permanent, whereas the nature of the form kayas is not. Does this mean that the form kayas are impermanent and without an essence

　　 No. They have qualities of permanence too.

　　The continuous nature: the sambhogakaya

　　The sambhogakaya is characterized by the permanence of continuity. It manifests in a pure realm and in connection with the impermanence of each instant in time, i.e., it is only due to the passing of a moment that the next moment can arise – duration that unremittingly arises and ceases over and again. The sambhogakaya emanation will never stop; the continuous realm of the sambhogakaya will never end.

　　Five definite qualities of the sambhogakaya are:

　　(1) The definite place is the pure realm in which the sambhogakaya teaches. The pure realm seems to be impermanent but its essence is permanent.

　　(2) The definite pupils are Bodhisattvas on high levels of attainment. Only such beings can be pupils of a sambhogakaya emanation.

　　(3) The definite teachings are the final teachings of the Buddhadharma, not the provisional. The sambhogakaya manifestation only imparts Mahayana teachings.

　　(4) The definite teacher is the master who does not pass away or is subject to death, as is the case for a nirmanakaya incarnation.

　　(5) The definite time of the sambhogakaya does not vary like that of ordinary beings, i.e., there is never a time when it does not teach. And the definite time is not subject to a schedule. The Wheel of Dharma is turned, softly and gently, continuously.

　　The uninterrupted and spontaneous aspects: the nirmanakaya

　　The nirmanakaya is characterized by the permanence of uninterruptedness. It does not have the permanent aspect of the dharmakaya or the permanent continuity of the sambhogakaya. The nirmanakaya appearance of Buddha Shakyamuni, for example, was born in Lumbini approximately 2500 years ago and passed away in Kushinagara, so impermanence and discontinuity are a characteristic of the nirmanakaya. But a nirmanakaya has the permanence of succession since its activities never come to an end. There are one thousand Buddhas in the present aeon. The activities of the Buddhas continue until samsara, which is endless, is exhausted.

　　Three kinds of nirmanakaya are:

　　(1) The born nirmanakaya manifests as a human being.

　　(2) The created nirmanakaya is a being that appears immediately and spontaneously.

　　(3) The variegated nirmanakaya manifests in the form of animals and so on.

　　That is how the nirmanakaya possesses the permanence of uninterrupted activities.

　　The nirmanakaya has two qualities: it is spontaneous and it is uninterrupted. Spontaneous activity means that a Buddha never grows weary or exerts effort to teach and help others. As it is, some people receive the teachings and practice them for their personal relief. Others may think that they can benefit all beings and practice for this reason. There are other pupils …

《The Buddha Nature》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…