“As I have expounded, Śāriputra, the meaning of the dharma-body is inseparable from, indivisible from, not cut-off from, not different from the inconceivable qualities definitive of a buddha, greater in number than the sands of the Ganges, [namely,] the merits and insight of a tathāgata.
“It is like a lamp, Śāriputra, whose brightness, color and tactile sensation are inseparable and indivisible [from the lamp itself]. Again, it is like a maṇi gem whose characteristics of brightness, color and form are inseparable and indivisible [from the gem itself]. The meaning of the dharma-body expounded by the Tathāgata, Śāriputra, is also once again like this: It is inseparable from, indivisible from, not cut-off from, not different from the inconceivable qualities definitive of a buddha greater in number than the sands of the Ganges, the merits and insight of a tathāgata.
Most profound assertion that there is no disruption in the equivalence between the Absolute Buddha Body of the Dharmakaya and ITs function in the Tathagatakaya: the perfect embodied mindfulness of the Tathagata.
“This dharma-body, Śāriputra, is one which has the quality of being unborn and unperishing. b) It is unlimited in the past and unlimited in the future, because it is free from the two extremes. It is unlimited in the past, Śāriputra, because it is free from a time of birth, and it is unlimited in the future because it is free from a time of perishing.
The Unborn Buddha Mind and Translucent Constitution is unlimited in scope (A Timeless Dharma-BEing) and unparalleled in transcending the three-times.
“The Tathāgata’s dharma-body, Śāriputra, is permanent because of its quality of immutability, because of its quality of inexhaustibility. The Tathāgata’s dharma-body, Śāriputra, is constant because it can permanently be taken as a refuge, because it is equal with the future limit (of saṁsāra). The Tathāgata’s dharma-body, Śāriputra, is tranquil because of its non-dual nature, because of its nature as free from discrimination. The Tathāgata’s dharma-body, Śāriputra, is unchangable because of its imperishable nature, because of its non-created nature.
The Tathagatakaya is immutable and thus permanent in Stature. IT is the eternal refuge from the samsaric stranglehold. Untouched by discriminating faculties ITs Dharmatic imperative is crystal clear and imperishable.
“When this very same dharma-body, Śāriputra, ensnared by limitless defilements greater in number than the sands of the Ganges, drifting on the waves of the world from beginningless ages, comes and goes through birth and death, then it is termed ‘Beings.’
(Silk) The RGV in Sanskrit has: “This very dharma-body, Śāriputra, hidden by tens of millions of sheaths of limitless defilements, borne along by the current of transmigration, wandering through deaths and births in the destinies of beginningless and endless transmigration, is termed ‘The quintessence/realm of beings.’”
Silk also delineates the import of this passage quite succinctly:
The connection between the realm of beings and the state of being a tathāgata is expressed in the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra as follows: “In this connection the true nature (dharmatā) of a tathāgata, being in the womb (garbha) inside the sheaths of such defilements as desire, anger, misguidedness, longing and ignorance, is designated ‘sattva.’ When it has become cool, it is (devoid from all phenomenal outflows—inclusion mine). And because it is then completely purified from the sheaths of defilements of ignorance, it becomes a great accumulation of knowledge in the realm of sentient beings (sattvadhātu).The world with its gods, having perceived that supreme, great accumulation of knowledge in the realm of sentient beings speaking like a tathāgata, recognizes him as a tathāgata.” (Silk, pg. 104)
“When this very same dharma-body, Śāriputra, repels the anguish and suffering of birth and death in the world, banishes all desires, practices the ten perfections, collects the eighty-four thousand teachings, and cultivates the practices leading to bodhi, then it is termed ‘bodhisattva.’
It is then designated as a Bodhi-Being.
“Once again, Śāriputra, when this very same dharma-body is free from the covering of all the world’s defilements, beyond all suffering, and free from the stains of all defilements, it attains purity, it attains perfect purity, and dwells among the pure dharmas of the other shore. It reaches the stage of what is desired by all beings, it thoroughly penetrates all spheres (of knowledge), and there is none surpassing it. It is free of all hindrances, free of all obstacles, and it attains sovereign power over all things. [This then] is termed ‘Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Awakened One.’
IT is now most thoroughly ITSELF, revealing ITs storehouse (Sugata-garbha) of Absolute Ascendancy over defiled phenomena. ITs function now is as the Lord of the Dharma-teaching, i.e., the Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Awakened One.
“Therefore, Śāriputra, there is no quintessence of beings separate from the dharma-body, there is no dharma-body separate from the quintessence of beings. The quintessence of beings is precisely the dharma-body, the dharma-body is precisely the quintessence of beings. These two things, Śāriputra, have one meaning; [only] the names differ.
The Tathagata-garbha in ITs Absolute Nature is precisely the quintessence of Beingness—the Dharmakaya. There is a difference only in function, when AS the Dharma-womb IT is the source of salvation from the dark realms of Mara.
Well nice to see you again my wingman. I post at Mujaku@twitter
Greetings, Zennist! I appreciate your visit. I must say, I am a follower of yours on Twitter, and I must admit, your content is truly remarkable!
So wonderful to see him here and still active online! I owe a lot to the Zennist
I a lot to Tozen, who set me on the lifelong path.
Encountering genuine jnanis online was what caused me to abandon “pop spirituality” and see glimpses of the Real
I’m also very indebted and grateful to Vajragoni, one thing he wrote once about how most advaitins are not really getting it, but that Nisargadatta Maharaj is one of the few good ones. That was very important for me to read early on. His words pierced me.
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It is very interesting how someone can forget what was told yesterday, but when it comes to words that pierce to the “essence”, they are perfectly remembered even after more than a decade. Things Tozen told me still resonate and echo to this day and have rescued me from many wrong turns. Another thing I vividly remember is once I got pulled into the whole Self/No-Self debate in Buddhism and you sternly reproached me saying something like, no, – I paraphrase – this True Self business is right at the core of everything. Those words protected me from being bombarded by all sides by nihilists, which are by far the majority online. –
I would also recommend everyone watch that video set to Vangelis, it has such a perfect “vibe” to it, for lack of a better word. When it says, “You are the Magician and the Bewitched.” – That sentence really encapsulates the essence of the spiritual path, struggle, and the ultimate joy in discovering one’s true power.
It is also good to not only make the path one of dry reading. The trap of intellectualism is extremely enticing for minds like mine — exploring and jumping from one conceptual construct to the next incessantly, as if “one of these mental constructs will finally be the correct one!” — and the Zen sword here helped to cut all that down, there will be no “correct construct”! They are merely provisional helpful pointers and so on. But I find that it is helpful if some of these pointers aren’t just dry text but also, like you did, are in the form of melody and heart-to-heart “media” — this is, I believe, why Indians have such a vast “repertoir”, puja, bhajan, kirtan, etc— while those things can be seen as non-essential appendages, and they can be that for sure, even obstacles— they can also help one immerse more throughout the day in the beatific rather than mundane. It depends on circumstance, temperament, and so on.
In the end, the one doing the puja and the object of the puja, are non-dual, identical; one bows to one’s own Self, in the divine play. And I find now that all of the texts and the other spiritual media were never made to be heard by the body-mind, who immediately distorts and transforms everything for egoic purposes, but that it was all addressed at the Invisible Listener, the Anonymous Rankless One, who truly heard and registered all of that while the body-mind was busy frolicking and monkeying around.
I bow again in gratitude, without those who show us path from Avidya to Vidya, we would be abandoned in this cage — and whether the cage is one of iron, or gold, it is still a cage.
Many thanks for the insightful share. The video you refer to is entitled “You” and can be found in the Bodhi-Pearl playlist at our Bodhichild Channel on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGVBEEYkRME&t=7s