The Buddha Master has told us that there are numerous states within the different levels of dhyana and wisdom, or seeing prajna. He explains the first step as the “plain dharmakaya,” and that the entire process also includes the pure dharmakaya, nirvana with remaining reliance, and nirvana without reliance. There is also the Great Nirvana of No Abiding when one is able to enter the state of the profound bright samadhi of the Tathagatas and one can abide in the state of unity of the dharmakaya and the universe. Then it is possible to pursue the cultivation of and attain the Great and Perfect Mirror Wisdom, the Wisdom of Equality in Nature, the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is Undertaken, the Wisdom of Marvelous Observation, and the Wisdom of the Essential Nature of the Dharma Realm. Only by entering the great nirvana of no abiding is it possible to realize these five wisdoms and the four bodies as a Buddha.
So how does His Holiness explain what the plain dharmaka is?
“There is the state where for the first time suddenly delusive thoughts are removed, such that the prior thought is already gone, and the next thought has not yet arisen. After achieving such a state or after realizing such a state due to introspection on a certain matter, there are the following several steps. Pay attention. There is seeing. Some people see it. That means they illuminate their mind and see their original nature. Once they see it, if they recognize it, that is called having seen one’s original nature. However, seeing such nature is not the same as abiding in such nature. One has not entered and abided in such nature yet. One should enter and abide in original nature, seizing that enlightening illumination without leaving it or being attached to it. Only that can be called dhyana. It can be considered as dhyana only if one seizes that enlightening illumination.“
“Now, seeing original nature for the very first time is called the plain dharmakaya. With the plain dharmakaya, you certainly have not ended the cycle of birth and death. That is because your karmic forces produced over continual lifetimes and eons and your karmic hindrances that bind you will still cause you to experience muddledness and will still cause you to commit wrongdoings. It is even possible that within one or two years you will go from being a very devout person to being a mid-level person, and then devolve from being the mid-level. This all the more applies to those who have not seen the plain dharmakaya. You can imagine just how pitiful this state of an ordinary person is“.
This definition is from a preliminary translation of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra as discussed in Learning from Buddha College & Seminary Course DCB21.
CLICK for an earlier and related article on “Seeing and Awakening.”
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