A (hopefully) quick and easy question for Buddhism scholars:
Is there any direct correlation between the trikāya (three bodies of Buddha) and trisvabhāva (literally 'three natures,' but three modes of perceiving reality: deluded, relative, and ultimate)? Do the three svabhāvas map onto the three bodies in a one-to-one fashion, such that one perceiving in the deluded mode would perceive the physical body of a Buddha, one perceiving in a relative mode would have a vision of a cosmic Buddha or celestial Bodhisattva, and one perceiving in the ultimate mode would perceive the Dharmakāya, the ultimate truth? The last makes sense to me, but I'm unclear on the other two.
Thank you in advance!
Jeff
Dr. Jeffery D. Long Professor of Religion and Asian Studies Elizabethtown College
Series Editor, Explorations in Indic Traditions: Theological, Ethical, and Philosophical
Lexington Books
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