Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse from the Shangpa Masters

224 Timeless Rapture
the spiritual path; and those that arise naturally as the result.
First, the three bodies that abide in the basis [are twofold]: Sentient
beings (the inner contents of the universe’s environment) naturally
possess the complete three bodies of enlightenment—death
is the body of ultimate enlightenment; life is the body of perfect
rapture; and birth, the manifest body. Chapter 10 of Matrix of Mystery
Tantra states:
The body, speech, and mind of the sentient beings of the three
realms
Unite Vajra Bearer’s body speech, and mind; meditate on
equanimity.
The universe’s outer environment also naturally possesses the
complete three bodies of enlightenment—space is the body of ultimate
enlightenment; the four elements are the body of perfect rapture;
and their manifold appearances, the manifest body…
Second, the spiritual path’s three bodies are as follows. To rest the
mind within its spacelike purity is the body of ultimate enlightenment;
to have the mind’s sacred circle [of deities] arise is the body
of perfect rapture; and to perform [such visualizations] as to emit
light from the deities’ sacred circle and to gather it back is the manifest
body…
Third, the three bodies that arise naturally as the result are as follows.
When the three bodies naturally present in the basis are
engaged in spiritual practice guided by the spiritual master’s teaching,
they naturally arise even without having been wished for. For
example, when crops are properly tended and rice grows, its husks
form at the same time. That is to say, from the body of ultimate
enlightenment, like space, appearances of the form bodies of
enlightenment, equal to the bounds of space, will arise to benefit
disciples, sentient beings in numbers equal to the bounds of space.
(Ibid., pp. 10-12)
Thus Buddhas Shakyamuni and Vajra Bearer, forms that appear for beings’
benefit from the same source, the ultimate body of enlightenment, are
likened to husks that have grown along with rice.
Each of these buddhas is commonly assigned a number, but for very dif-