Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 2/24/2009

Question
QUESTION: how can we reconcile the concept of the bodhisattva and the arhats? since the arhat is the first strp of bodhisattvahood how can the arhats be bodhisattva if they arrived to nirvana after death?

how are bodhisattvas depicted? why are they are not depicted as monks, since monks have the greater chance of being bodhisattvas? by the way how are the bodhiattas depicted are they monks or what?

is nirvana being one with the dharmakaya?

ANSWER: Thank you, Lance,  very much for giving me a chance to answer your question. The answers I will give you are based on my knowledge thus far in my Tibetan Mahayana practice. So they may not be the same as the answers others give.

Although arhats and bodhisattvas do go through some of the same steps to reach their goals, you ask how can arhats be bodhisattvas.  They cannot.  They both have different final goals they are seeking.

From what I understand, the arhat practices meditation and compassion and the like in order to achieve nirvana as their final goal.  This is because it was believed by the early Buddhists that there could only be one Buddha at a time, so nirvana was the highest level they could reach.

Later in the northern part of India and into Tibet the Mahayana Buddhists came along and based on their interpretation of what Buddha taught, they decided nirvana, or individual liberation was not enough.  They decided that a person had to attain bodhichitta, which is the express and continual wish to achieve enlightenment in order to free all beings from suffering. Once the person is able to generate this mind continually, they become a bodhisattva and everything they do from then on is motivated by bodhichitta. So their final goal is buddhahood which they enter into in order to be of service to all sentient beings and lead them to buddhaood as well.

I am not quite sure what you want to know when you ask how are bodhistattvas depicted.  There are many famous bodhistattvas and each one is depicted differently.  Examples are Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani. They are each depicted in the aspect of their highest realized form in order to inspire others to reach the same attainments they did. Although I know that Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha were both monks before becoming bodhisattvas, from my side, it would not be as inspring to have them depicted as simple monks.  It is more inspiring to see them in statuary form in a more exalted form.  However, there are meditations where one does view them in their monks’ robes.  

Then you ask if nirvana is being one with the dharmakaya.  From what I have learned, if we equate nirvana with enlightenment or buddhahood, then when a sentient being becomes enlightened he becomes a Buddha.  Buddhas can manifest back into samsara (or the world you and I are living in) in three forms,  called the three kayas.  And how each of us sees the Buddha depends on our level of wisdom. A Buddha will manifest in the Nirmanakaya or created body which manifests in time and space, which is usually equated with the body, the sambhogakaya,  the body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation, which is usually equated with speech and as dharmakaya form, or truth body which has no limits or boundaries, which is usually equated to the mind of the buddha. So each kaya is a function of an enlightened being. So to answer your question, one attains the three kayas, including dharmakaya when one enters the state of enlightenment and becomes a Buddha.

I hope these answers help a bit.  Please do not hesitate to ask any further questions.


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QUESTION: so, clear light? the sambhogakaya is a some sort of a spirit visitation or an enligtened being seen in deep meditations?

what happens once the arhats die and not reborn again so where are they?

if the bodhisattvas can go back to samsara? why they need to delay enligtenment they can also become a buddha and help people as well?

what happens if a person died and parinirvaned?

is the dharmakaya the true body of all beings because from what i hear sambho and nirmana are just projections or teaching aids?

do you agree if someone dont like to be a buddhist practioner bodhisattvas cannot also help them?

ANSWER: Greetings, again, Lance.  You sure ask some amazing questions.

I am having a bit of trouble answering your questions for a couple of reasons.  One is that you are asking questions that are just about above my level of learning.  But I am going to try to stretch my mind and learn along with you and then answer the questions.  The other reason is that you are mixing up two kinds of Buddhism; Theravada and Mahayana.

Theravadans believe that becoming an arhat and reaching nirvana is the pinnacle of one’s spiritual practice.  Mahayanists believe that becoming a Buddha and reaching Buddhahood is the pinnacle of one’s spiritual practice. So if you have questions specifically about being an arhat or nirvana, you should ask a Theravadan. The same with parinirvana.  To the best of my knowledge, Mahayanists only use the term parinirvana to mean the state the Buddha passed into when he died.

To the best of my knowledge, clear light is the state one reaches either during a sneeze, during orgasm, right before one falls asleep or during the dying process. It is when one can recognize clear light and remain in it during the dying process that one can reach enlightenment or, I believe reach a pure land. I assume a highly realized being can reach clear light in deep meditation but I am not aware of it. To the best of my knowledge it is neither sambogakaya or a spirit visitation.  Clear light is a state of being.

I guess you could term sambogakaya as a spirit visitation in that it is one of the forms in which a Buddha can manifest and I presume that one would have such a “visitation” during meditation.  But I am not at a place in my practice yet for that kind of thing to manifest to me yet.

I would say that since all beings possess Buddha nature, it follows that they also possess the three kayas and once any sentient being becomes enlightened they will be able to manifest in any of those three forms. And as a Buddha, one would manifest in one of those three forms in order to teach other sentient beings. And yes, they would be projections because a Buddha would project himself in one form or another and because all things we see are merely an appearance to mind, as a moon shining on a still lake.

I do not quite understand your last question. I believe that if someone does not believe in Buddhism, then a skillful bodhisattva would recognize that and try to help them in a way that has nothing to do with Buddhism.  Your question makes it sound like bodhisattvas can only help people who like Buddhism and that is not true.  Bodhisattvas have compassion for all sentient beings and once they attain buddhahood, they can provide help in what ever way that sentient being needs it, whether they like Buddhism or not.

I hope this provided some answers to your questions.  I am sorry I am not advanced enough to be of more use to you.  But don’t hesitate to write if you think there are questions I can answer.  And make sure to speak to the Theravadens too.



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QUESTION: thanks for the answer you mean one does not necessarily to be buddhist to be enligtened every religion could do?

my mahayana friend said the permanent existence is just the dharmakaya and the nirmana and sambho are mere projections? i mean all is one and one is all? all buddhas are one?

is buddha nature some sort of a soul? same as the atman?

i do not understand, its meditation the "blanking of the mind"? detaching of evrything that pertains to the world?


is that true the bodhisattvas cannot save you just by simply bringing you to nirvana instantly without doing anything ie bhakti style?  

Answer
Thank you for letting me answer more of your questions.

According to the Mahayana Buddhists, and perhaps all Buddhists, every sentient being has the Budddha Nature or potential to become a Buddha.  And one does not have to convert to Buddhism to study it and learn what one needs to become a Buddha.  So as far as that goes, any one of any religion could do it.  After one has learned a certain amount, it is assumed one would convert to Buddhism and take refuge in the Three Jewels. Usually, in order to advance to where one has high insights and revelations, one has to rely on the Three Jewels. However, there probably have been people who have reached Enlightenment who have not been Buddhist.

Perhaps your Mahayana friend is right. As it says in my profile, I can answer basic Buddhist questions and you are asking things that are a bit above my learning curve. But I will try to answer. To the best of my knowledge, dharmakaya is the truth body or the spiritual body of a Buddha. The literal translation of dharma is “that which upholds or supports” so that make sense that the dharmakaya would be the truth body which supports the other two bodies of an enlightened being.  It is the basic nature of an enlightened being, therefore, I guess, although I am not certain of it, one would say it has a permanent existence. And out of that truth body the nirmanakaya and sambhokaya manifest. As far as I know, all Buddhas share the same mind.

Buddha nature is the highest potential a human being can reach once they have perfected their mind to its highest level. As far as I know, it is not the same as a soul or an atman.  One’s very subtle nature is the closest thing that Buddhists have to a soul.  

There are some who teach that meditation is blanking the mind.  Mahayana Buddhists as far as I know do not believe that.  They believe in calming the mind and learning to control the mind and the thoughts that enter into the mind.  They use the mind to subdue their emotions so they no longer control us and we control them.  It is also used to understand the world as it truly is and gain wisdom to reach enlightenment. There is part of meditation where we learn to detach from things for a couple reasons.  First, nothing exists the way we think it does and secondly, we learn not to attach ourselves to anything because when we form attachments, they invariably bring about suffering. So we do use our meditation practice to learn to detach.

Enlightened or highly-realized beings help ordinary beings get out of the cycle of suffering by teaching them the Dharma. That's the main way that they help suffering beings. No one can take anyone to nirvana or enlightenment. We have to do that for ourselves individually.  Otherwise, if Bodhisattvas could save you by bringing you to nirvana, their deep compassion for all sentient beings would have caused them to bring all of us to enlightenment already and no one would currently be suffering.  But since we make our own karma, we have to be the ones to get ourselves to enlightenment by following the teachings of the Buddha and applying them in our own lives.
Don’t hesitate to ask anything further