Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute commentary, Khensur Rinpoche systematically analyzes the four bodies of Buddha as presented in the Ornament of Clear Realization. He begins with the resultant wisdom truth body—the final fruit of meditating on the three exalted wisdoms—then explores its manifestations: the nature truth body (absence of all obstructions), the wisdom truth body (the exalted consciousness simultaneously perceiving all phenomena), the enjoyment body (a subtle form perceptible only to bodhisattva superiors, dwelling in the highest pure land and teaching the great vehicle), and the emanation body (appearing in ordinary form in the world, as Buddha Śākyamūni did). He clarifies the five certainties governing the enjoyment body and explains why emanation bodies lack these fixed qualities. A detailed scholastic presentation for those studying Buddha-nature and the path structure.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-08-10 – Side 2 – KR.MP3
UUID: 5bb6d245-4275-4413-b78f-9ffa395f0d5a
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-08-10
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,035
From the path of accumulation up to just before the final moment of just the final moment, just before the end of the continuum, just before the end of the continuum. So it’s all the way up through the path of accumulation to just before the end of the continuum. The boundary for the momentary preparation is that moment which is the end of the continuum, just before Buddhahood. So it’s like there’s two different, within this boundary from the path of accumulation up to meditation, they’re like China and India. They each have their area in which they cover.
They don’t overlap in any way. China doesn’t overlap India. They’re a completely separate country. They have their separate boundaries. So the path, the final preparation starts at the path of accumulation and goes up to just before the end of the continuum.
And then the momentary preparation is the end of the continuum. The next moment would be Buddhahood. So we have completed the four preparations and now we’re coming to the eighth of the categories. That is resultant, wisdom, truth, body. Resultant, wisdom, truth, body.
And there are four parts: definition, synonyms, division, and boundaries. The definition to a resultant wisdom truth body is, as is stated here on the handout, the final fruit that attained through the force of meditation upon the aspects of the three exalted wisdoms, which is the means for attaining it. The final fruit that is attained through the force of meditation upon the aspects of the three exalted wisdoms, which is the means for attaining it. So the final fruit, that is the final attainment, the ultimate, that which is ultimately attained. And how is it attained?
It’s attained by means of meditating on the three exalted wisdoms. Again, the definition is the final fruit that is attained through the force of meditation upon the aspects of the three exalted wisdom, which is the means for attaining it. So the synonym for resultant wisdom truth body is Buddha. Buddha. Buddha and wisdom truth body are different names for the same thing.
There’s no difference except by just the names are different. Whatever is a Buddha must be a wisdom truth body. Whatever is a wisdom truth body must be a Buddha. Like floor and matok. Matok is Tibetan and flour and matok.
And like water and chu. We have Tibetan water and chu. Pani. In in Sanskrit, Hindi. So the divisions, there are four.
There is nature body, wisdom truth body, enjoyment body, emanation body. The four bodies of the Buddha. So discussing the first nature body. Nature truth body, It is called nature body because it is unvarying in nature and has an unchanging nature. It is The factor which is the elimination of all faults.
Generally we can talk about the two types of obstruction. The afflictive obstructions, the two obstructions, the afflictive obstructions and the knowledge obstructions. Afflictive obstructions are mainly the afflictive emotions which bind one to cyclic existence And the knowledge obstructions are the obscurations which prevent one from seeing all phenomena. That is to say prevent one from attaining omniscience. So the elimination of these two obscurations, which represent all faults, that factor, which is the elimination or the non-existence of these two obstructions, is the nature truth body.
It is unconditioned and permanent. So the factor, which is the cessation, the elimination, the abandonment of all faults is the nature of truth body. Factor of the abandonment, the elimination, cessation of all faults is the nature truth body. The consciousness which simultaneously and directly perceives all phenomena as if they were in the palm of one’s hand is the wisdom truth body. So this is an exalted knower.
It’s a path. It’s a consciousness. The consciousness of a Buddha. And it has the ability that it can simultaneously and directly realize the nature of all phenomena. Just see them as if they were in the palm of your hand.
They appear that way. This is the wisdom truth body, the qualities of the wisdom truth body. So the wisdom truth body is most simply the exalted wisdom, the exalted knower in the continuum of a Buddha. The exalted knower in the continuum of a Buddha. It is able to simultaneously realize all phenomena because it has no obscurations.
It has no hindrances. It realizes all phenomena. Then the enjoyment body. This is the being who was on the momentary preparation. That is the bodhisattva.
A being, when he attains Buddhahood, that being becomes the enjoyment body. That being becomes the being. It becomes the enjoyment body. An enjoyment body is a form body possessing the five certainties. And when we say form body, we mean a being possessing form.
A being which possesses form is a form body and that form body possesses five certainties. So the five certainties. The first certainty is the certainty of signs and marks. And this represents that this body possesses the 32 signs and 80 marks. And the 32 signs are for example crown protrusion of a Buddha, elongated ears, the curled hair in the forehead, the wheels on the hands and feet, the Dharma wheels on the hands and feet, there are 32 of these marks.
And these are signs of 80 inner qualities which such a body possesses. So this is the first certainty that an enjoyment body is certain to have these thirty two and eighty signs and marks. So the five certainties. The first one was the certainty of signs and marks. The second is the certainty of retinue.
And this is that in order to, that only the enjoyment body is so subtle that only bodhisattva superiors are able to perceive it. Only bodhisattva superiors are able to perceive it. Therefore, the enjoyment body gives a teaching, within that teaching retinue, within the students who are receiving that teaching, there are only bodhisattva Superiors. Now bodhisattva Superior is those Bodhisattvas who have reached a superior path, which is the path of seeing and the path of meditation. So only Bodhisattvas on the path of seeing and the path of meditation take teachings from an enjoyment body.
Those Bodhisattvas on the path of accumulation and preparation cannot take teachings. They’re not able to perceive an enjoyment body. Now that’s the certainty of retinue — only surrounded by bodhisattva superiors. The certainty of teachings, the third, that the enjoyment body only teaches great vehicle. Since the enjoyment body is only surrounded by bodhisattva superiors, He only teaches great vehicle teachings.
So the certainty of teachings, the certainty of time that the enjoyment body will remain until cyclic existence is empty, That the bodhisattva will remain until cyclic existence is empty. That is to say, until all sentient beings are freed from cyclic existence, the enjoyment body will remain. And then the fourth is certainty of place. And this is the residence of an enjoyment body. It’s only in the highest pure land.
That is Og Min. The highest pure land. That is the Buddha field called Og Min. This is where it is certain to reside. So if we were to give an example of an enjoyment body, Vajradhāra.
Example of an enjoyment body So then the next body is the emanation body. And there are many types of emanation bodies, but amongst us there is the type called supreme emanation body which is the highest of these various types. And the reason it’s considered supreme is because the supreme emanation body is an emanation of an enjoyment body. Supreme emanation body is an emanation of an enjoyment body. So amongst all these various, as I said, types are of emanation bodies.
The supreme amongst us is determined as supreme emanation body And it is only this body which enacts the 12 deeds of the Buddha. The 12 deeds. It is only the supreme emanation body. So an example of a supreme emanation body is Buddha Śākyamūni who descended and enacted the 12 deeds in India. So, Śākyamūni Buddha was in emanation of an enjoyment body, taking birth in this world and acting the 12 deeds and therefore is referred to as the supreme emanation body.
So the emanation body does not possess the five sign, no I’m sorry, does not possess the five certainties. For example, that he does not possess the certainty of place. An enjoyment body is certain to reside in highest pure land whereas the emanation body resides in our world for example. That the time that the emanation body has a specific period of time that it resides in the world. That for example, then they enter into parinirvāṇa, parinirvāṇa.
They’re not certain as to the teachings because they not only teach the great vehicle teachings, but they also teach the lesser vehicle teachings. They are not certain as to retina because anyone who has the karma can perceive them. So therefore there is no certainty as to retinue. So the resultant wisdom truth body, the boundaries are that it’s found only in the state of Buddhahood. It’s not found in the state of a sentient being or the state of a sentient being but only in the state of Buddhahood.
So when we say state, literally the word is like grounds. So if we were to translate this word literally as grounds, it’s only on the Buddha grounds. But when we say grounds, we don’t mean a place. We’re talking about a path, a consciousness. So it’s usually translated as state rather than ground.
So we’ve completed the explanation of the eight categories. The three exalted knowers, the four preparations, and the resultant wisdom truth body from the point of view of the definition, synonyms, divisions and boundaries. So if you have some questions. So so The body of the enjoyment of the body is extremely subtle and without having a great deal of merit we aren’t able to perceive it. It only resides in highest pure land.
It doesn’t descend into the desire realm. If being lesser than a superior were to look, they would not see it. It would just be empty. That space would just be empty. So the at the the instant, when he’s done the abiding in the final the momentary preparation, he still has a gross body and then the next moment he attains a subtle body.
Even though a person would be perceiving a non superior would be perceiving that body, that first moment and the second moment he would no longer be able to perceive the body because it would go from gross to subtle. Would retain the enjoyment body. Buddha Śākyamūni. He didn’t have an enjoyment body. So Buddha Śākyamūni was an emanation of an enjoyment body.
So the emanation body which emanated Buddha Śākyamūni had an enjoyment body. But Buddha Śākyamūni did not have an enjoyment body. He had an emanation body. I think I messed that all up. Let me try that again.
Buddha Śākyamūni Buddha Śākyamūni was an emanation of an enjoyment body. The enjoyment body which emanated him had an enjoyment body. Buddha Śākyamūni did not have an enjoyment body, but he had an emanation body. Yeah. That’s I I think So it would be helpful to clear up this confusion.
The nature truth body is permanent. The wisdom truth body is a consciousness. The enjoyment body and the emanation body are beings. They’re not form.
They have form, they are not form. They have bodies, they are not body. We are we are beings. We are not bodies. We have a body.
We are not body. So the the being which that Buddha Śākyamūni was enlightened. Buddha Śākyamūni was an emanation of a being who had achieved Buddhahood previously. And in order to teach the Dharma, the enjoyment body of that being emanated in an emanation body who was Śākyamūni Buddha for the sake of teaching the Dharma. So recall, there are many, we use this word tulku.
Tulku? That’s what we’re transmitting as emanation body. And they are emanated in order to teach the Dharma. Tulkus.