The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

THE UNIVERSAL PROCESS 347
1. The absolute nature, uncovered at the moment of death
in the Ground Luminosity, is called the Dharmakaya, the
dimension of "empty," unconditioned truth, into which illusion
and ignorance, and any kind of concept, have never entered.
2. The intrinsic radiance of energy and light that is spontaneously
displayed in the bardo of dharmata is called Sambhogakaya,
the dimension of complete enjoyment, the field of
total plenitude, of full richness, beyond all dualistic limitations,
beyond space or time.
3. The sphere of crystallization into form revealed in the
bardo of becoming is called Nirmanakaya, the dimension of
ceaseless manifestation.
Remember now that when we looked at the nature of
mind, we saw that it had these three same aspects: its empty,
skylike essence, its radiant luminous nature, and its unobstructed,
all-pervasive, compassionate energy, which are all
simultaneously present and interpenetrating as one within the
Rigpa. Padmasambhava describes this in the following way:
Within this Rigpa, the three kayas are inseparable and fully present
as one:
Since it is empty and not created anywhere whatsoever, it is the
Dharmakaya,
Since its luminous clarity represents the inherent transparent radiance
of emptiness, it is the Sambhogakaya.
Since its arising is nowhere obstructed or interrupted, it is the Nirmanakaya.
These three being complete and fully present as one, are its very
essence}
The three kayas, then, refer to these three intrinsic aspects
of our enlightened mind; they also, of course, refer to different
capacities of our perception. The vast majority of us are limited
in our vision, and only perceive the Nirmanakaya dimension
of form and manifestation. This is the reason that for
most of us the moment of death is a blank and a state of
oblivion, for we have neither encountered nor evolved any
way of recognizing the Dharmakaya reality when it arises as
the Ground Luminosity. Nor do we have any hope of recognizing
the Sambhogakaya fields as they appear in the bardo of
dharmata. Because our entire life has been lived out within the
realm of the impure perceptions of the Nirmanakaya manifestation,
so at the moment of death we are transported directly