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

THE UNIVERSAL PROCESS 3471. The absolute nature, uncovered at the moment of deathin the Ground Luminosity, is called the Dharmakaya, thedimension of "empty," unconditioned truth, into which illusionand ignorance, and any kind of concept, have never entered.2. The intrinsic radiance of energy and light that is spontaneouslydisplayed in the bardo of dharmata is called Sambhogakaya,the dimension of complete enjoyment, the field oftotal plenitude, of full richness, beyond all dualistic limitations,beyond space or time.3. The sphere of crystallization into form revealed in thebardo of becoming is called Nirmanakaya, the dimension ofceaseless manifestation.Remember now that when we looked at the nature ofmind, 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 allsimultaneously present and interpenetrating as one within theRigpa. Padmasambhava describes this in the following way:Within this Rigpa, the three kayas are inseparable and fully presentas one:Since it is empty and not created anywhere whatsoever, it is theDharmakaya,Since its luminous clarity represents the inherent transparent radianceof 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 veryessence}The three kayas, then, refer to these three intrinsic aspectsof our enlightened mind; they also, of course, refer to differentcapacities of our perception. The vast majority of us are limitedin our vision, and only perceive the Nirmanakaya dimensionof form and manifestation. This is the reason that formost of us the moment of death is a blank and a state ofoblivion, for we have neither encountered nor evolved anyway of recognizing the Dharmakaya reality when it arises asthe Ground Luminosity. Nor do we have any hope of recognizingthe Sambhogakaya fields as they appear in the bardo ofdharmata. Because our entire life has been lived out within therealm of the impure perceptions of the Nirmanakaya manifestation,so at the moment of death we are transported directly