20. Perfect Buddhahood
After perfection of the tenth bhumi one attains Buddhahood, the complete nature of all-pervading wisdom called Dharmakaya.
This is the complete perfection of benefit for oneself; it is the state which embodies all the excellent qualities of Dharma practices; it is the state of the perfection of the Sangha.
There is no speculation, nothing to investigate.
It is free of all the conceptual thoughts of dualities, so this state is called “non-conceptual thoughts of the co-emergent primordial wisdom,” the total perfection of peace and bliss beyond conceptual thought and expression.
It is free of all limitations and vast as the limitless nature of space.
It is the completely unfabricated nature, beyond the compounded and the uncompounded.
It is the state of nonduality of the relative and absolute truths.
It is also the basis for the manifestation of all the different forms of a Buddha.
The Samboghakaya, the celestial wisdom body which is marked with 112 attributes, manifests to the great bodhisattvas who are highly accomplished in their spiritual training. Each and every physical mark is the symbol of purification of all the obscurations and development of all the excellent qualities.
The Nirmanakaya, the emanation body, manifests in the world for ordinary people and gives Dharma teachings at different levels to suit beings’ mental faculties and dispositions. From their point of view, trainees perceive them as being on different levels, but in the state of Buddhahood there is no differentiation.
All the Buddha’s manifestations are aspects of wisdom awareness.
The unborn nature of that all-pervading, unfabricated wisdom is Dharmakaya; that which is unceasing is Sambhogakaya; its nondual nature is Nirmanakaya; the inseparable nature of all three is called Svabhavikakaya.
Dharma Lord Gampopa very carefully explains the nature of Buddha and the interdependence of the three kayas that manifest to benefit sentient beings.
Source: Gampopa, Dharma Lord. The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings. Translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Edited by Ani K. Trinlay Chodron. Boulder, Colorado: Snow Lion, 1998.
