Mastery Appearing as Three Bodies

Why the Dharma-, Enjoyment-, and Transformation-Body Are the Manifestation-Structure of One Buddha-Fruit Mastery, Not Three Separate Buddhas

中文主題：自在現為三身——法報化三身何以是一佛果自在之顯現結構，而非三尊分立之佛

I. The Question

The prior two papers handled what the Tathāgata's mastery "is" and "is not": P01 set it as the ultimate mastery, signed by the ten epithets; P02 distinguished it from the bodhisattva's as categorically different (the perfected of the fruit-level, not the path-bound of the causal). This paper takes up the natural next question: this ultimate mastery — how does it appear?

The question presses because of an imagination easy to slide into: that "the ultimate mastery" is a hidden, markless, unsayable, structureless absolute — being already complete and unobstructed, it seems to dissolve into one light without distinction, beyond saying. Were it so, the Attainment axis could lay down its pen at P02: the mastery being full, the rest is idle talk. But the canon does not treat the buddha-fruit so. The buddha-fruit's mastery is not hidden and markless; it has a sayable manifestation-structure — the three bodies: the dharma-body (self-nature body), the enjoyment-body (which further opens into self-enjoyment and other-enjoyment), and the transformation-body.

The thesis: the Tathāgata's mastery appears as three bodies, and the three bodies are precisely the manifestation-structure of this one buddha-fruit mastery, not three separate Buddhas. The three bodies are not three distinct Buddhas (one dharma-body Buddha, one enjoyment-body Buddha, one transformation-body Buddha, set side by side as three), but three faces of one and the same buddha-fruit mastery, divided by "to whom it appears": the dharma-body is the substance of the mastery (the pure dharma-realm, the support of all that appears), the enjoyment-body is the mastery's enjoyment-face toward its own self-witnessing and toward the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds, the transformation-body is the mastery's face of manifestation toward those below the grounds, the two vehicles, and ordinary beings. One mastery, appearing as three bodies according to whom it meets.

And this appearing has two crucial properties this paper will establish. First, the three bodies are disclosed by the transformation of the basis — not three bodies out of nowhere, but three bodies disclosed by turning the defiled into the pure (turning the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms, turning away the store-consciousness); so "the manifestation-structure of mastery" is "the structure of the transformation of the basis." Second, the three bodies are permanent — the dharma-body permanent by nature, the enjoyment-body permanent without interruption, the transformation-body permanent in continuity; so the mastery's appearing is not a matter of arising and ceasing but is permanent.

This paper thus advances the Attainment axis from "what the mastery is" to "how the mastery appears." Carrying forward: P01's ten epithets are the mastery's signature (its readable aspect); this paper's three bodies are the mastery's manifestation-structure (its visible aspect) — name and body alike are the disclosure of the mastery. This paper rests on the Yogācāra account (the Cheng weishi lun, the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, the Yogācārabhūmi) of the three bodies. The argument runs in three moves (§III): the three bodies as the manifestation-structure of one mastery, not three Buddhas (appearing according to whom they meet · the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies rest on the dharma-body); the three bodies disclosed by the transformation of the basis (the manifestation-structure of mastery is the structure of the transformation of the basis · the dharma-body is the Buddha's alone); the permanence of the three bodies (the mastery's appearing is permanent). Section IV cuts the interdisciplinary convergence (reason in §VI). Section V offers middle-way corrections. Section VI concludes and hands the detail of the four wisdoms to P04.

II. The Canonical Basis

2.1 The three bodies in full: dharma-body · enjoyment-body (self- and other-enjoyment) · transformation-body

The standard establishment of the three bodies is in the Cheng weishi lun, fascicle 10, the ultimate stage. The treatise judges the "dharma-body" to have three distinct aspects:

如是法身，有三相別：一、自性身，謂諸如來真淨法界，受用、變化平等所依，離相寂然，絕諸戲論……即此自性，亦名法身……二、受用身，此有二種：一、自受用，謂諸如來三無數劫，修集無量福慧資糧……恒自受用廣大法樂。二、他受用，謂諸如來由平等智，示現微妙淨功德身，居純淨土，為住十地諸菩薩眾……合此二種，名受用身。三、變化身：謂諸如來由成事智，變現無量隨類化身，居淨、穢土，為未登地諸菩薩眾、二乘、異生……¹

"Thus the dharma-body has three distinct aspects. First, the self-nature body: the pure dharma-realm of the Tathāgatas, the equal support of enjoyment and transformation, free of marks, quiescent, beyond all idle elaboration… this self-nature is also called the dharma-body. Second, the enjoyment-body, of two kinds: (i) self-enjoyment — the Tathāgatas, over three incalculable aeons gathering measureless provisions of merit and wisdom… ever self-enjoy a vast dharma-bliss; (ii) other-enjoyment — the Tathāgatas, by the wisdom of equality, manifest a subtle pure body of merit, dwelling in a pure land, for the bodhisattvas abiding in the ten grounds… these two together are called the enjoyment-body. Third, the transformation-body: the Tathāgatas, by the wisdom of accomplishing tasks, manifest measureless transformation-bodies according to kind, dwelling in pure and impure lands, for the bodhisattvas not yet ascended the grounds, the two vehicles, and ordinary beings…"

The three bodies stand plainly here, and each is bound to "for whom" it appears: the self-nature body (dharma-body) is "the equal support of enjoyment and transformation" — the supporting substance of the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies; the enjoyment-body divides in two, self-enjoyment "ever self-enjoying a vast dharma-bliss" (the Buddha's self-witnessing) and other-enjoyment manifested "for the bodhisattvas abiding in the ten grounds"; the transformation-body manifested "for the bodhisattvas not yet ascended the grounds, the two vehicles, and ordinary beings." The enjoyment-body's opening into self- and other-enjoyment the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra also marks (self-enjoyment pervading the dharma-realm, continuous and unchanging, the Buddha's own witnessing; other-enjoyment appearing as suits the bodhisattvas above the grounds).² Already the division of the three bodies shows itself to be a division of "to whom it appears."

2.2 The three bodies disclosed by the transformation of the basis: the manifestation-structure of mastery is the structure of the transformation of the basis

The three bodies are not established out of nowhere but disclosed by the "transformation of the basis" (turning the defiled into the pure). The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha takes the three bodies as the substance of the "wisdom that is the fruit of that [path]" (the buddha-wisdom attained at the path's end), and marks the dharma-body as "the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas":

此中自性身者，謂諸如來法身，一切法自在轉所依止故。受用身者，謂依法身……變化身者，亦依法身……³

"Here the self-nature body is the dharma-body of the Tathāgatas, for it is the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas. The enjoyment-body rests on the dharma-body… the transformation-body also rests on the dharma-body…"

"The support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas" is the very thread of this paper: the dharma-body is the support of "the mastery's turning" (the mastery moving freely over all dharmas); the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies "rest on the dharma-body" and arise. So the three bodies are the appearing of the mastery, and what they rest on is the dharma-body (the substance of the mastery). How is this appearing established? The Cheng weishi lun takes the "five-fold nature" (the pure dharma-realm and the four wisdoms) to comprise the three bodies, bound to the transformation of the basis:

以五法性攝三身者……論說轉去阿賴耶識，得自性身；圓鏡智品，轉去藏識，而證得故。中二智品，攝受用身……後一智品，攝變化身……⁴

"Comprising the three bodies by the five-fold nature… the treatise says: turning away the store-consciousness, one attains the self-nature body, for the mirror-wisdom class, turning away the store-consciousness, realizes it. The middle two wisdom-classes comprise the enjoyment-body… the last wisdom-class comprises the transformation-body…"

Turning away the store-consciousness (the pivot of turning the defiled into the pure) attains the self-nature body; the four wisdoms — mirror, equality, observation, accomplishing — comprise the three bodies severally. So "the manifestation-structure of mastery (the three bodies)" is "the structure of the transformation of the basis (turning consciousness into wisdom)" — the mastery is not an absolute existing out of nowhere, but disclosed by turning the defiled into the pure, its manifestation-structure (the three bodies) being what its transformation-structure (the four wisdoms) accomplishes. And this dharma-body is the Buddha's alone: the Yogācārabhūmi (citing the Saṃdhinirmocana) judges the transformation of the basis attained by the two vehicles to be named only a liberation-body, not a dharma-body:

若於諸地波羅蜜多善修出離，轉依成滿，是名如來法身之相……聲聞、獨覺所得轉依……不名法身……名解脫身……當知化身相有生起，法身之相無有生起。⁵

"If, in the grounds and perfections, one well cultivates emergence and the transformation of the basis is fulfilled, this is named the mark of the Tathāgata's dharma-body… the transformation of the basis attained by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas… is not named a dharma-body… it is named a liberation-body… know that the transformation-body's mark has arising, the dharma-body's mark has no arising."

"The transformation of the basis fulfilled" is the mark of the Tathāgata's dharma-body; the two vehicles too have a transformation of the basis, yet attain only a liberation-body, not a dharma-body (the sūtra states: by the liberation-body, the two vehicles are equal with the Tathāgata; by the dharma-body, there is difference). This squares with P02: the dharma-body (the substance of the mastery) is the Buddha's alone, the two vehicles and even the bodhisattva's causal level unfilled. The Buddhabhūmi-śāstra too sums up the buddha-ground as established by the five dharmas, "by the pure dharma-realm possessed of all merits, the difference of the three bodies"⁶ — the difference of the three bodies built on the pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms disclosed by the transformation of the basis.

2.3 The permanence of the three bodies: the mastery's appearing is permanent

The three bodies being the appearing of the mastery, is this appearing permanent or impermanent? The Yogācāra masters judge "the three bodies permanent," yet the sense of each one's permanence differs. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha first poses the question: the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies being impermanent, how does the sūtra say the Tathāgata's body is permanent? It answers by "the dharma-body they rest on being permanent":

佛受用身及變化身，既是無常，云何經說如來身常？此二所依法身常故。又等流身及變化身，以恒受用無休廢故，數數現化不永絕故……如來身常應知亦爾。⁷

"The Buddha's enjoyment-body and transformation-body being impermanent, how does the sūtra say the Tathāgata's body is permanent? Because the dharma-body these two rest on is permanent. Further, the outflow-body and transformation-body, by ever enjoying without cease, by repeatedly manifesting without final end… the Tathāgata's body, know, is called permanent in this way too."

The Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, citing the Sūtrālaṃkāra, sets up three kinds of permanence to judge the three bodies:

《莊嚴論》說，常有三種：一、本性常，謂自性身，此身本來性常住故；二、不斷常，謂受用身，恒受法樂無間斷故；三、相續常，謂變化身，沒已復現化無盡故。⁸

"The Sūtrālaṃkāra says permanence is of three kinds: first, permanence by nature — the self-nature body, for this body is by origin permanent; second, permanence without interruption — the enjoyment-body, for it ever savors the dharma-bliss unbroken; third, permanence in continuity — the transformation-body, for, vanished, it re-appears, its manifesting inexhaustible."

The dharma-body is "permanent by nature" (by origin permanent), the enjoyment-body "permanent without interruption" (ever savoring the dharma-bliss unbroken), the transformation-body "permanent in continuity" (vanished it re-appears, manifesting inexhaustibly). The Cheng weishi lun further judges the self-nature body (dharma-body) permanent by nature, without arising-or-ceasing:

說自性身本性常故；說佛法身無生滅故；說證因得非生因故；又說法身諸佛共有，遍一切法，猶若虛空，無相無為，非色心故……⁹

"It is said the self-nature body is permanent by nature; it is said the Buddha's dharma-body has no arising-or-ceasing; it is said it is attained by a realizing cause, not a producing cause; again it is said the dharma-body is common to all Buddhas, pervading all dharmas, like space, markless, unconditioned, neither form nor mind…"

The dharma-body is permanent by nature, without arising-or-ceasing, attained by a "realizing cause" (not produced by a "producing cause"), pervading all dharmas, markless, unconditioned, neither form nor mind. So the mastery's appearing (the three bodies) is permanent: the dharma-body permanent in substance, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies, resting on the permanent body, called permanent by their unbroken continuity.

III. The Core Argument

Section II has set out three things: the three bodies each bound to "for whom" they appear, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies resting on the dharma-body (2.1); the three bodies disclosed by the transformation of the basis, the dharma-body the Buddha's alone (2.2); the three bodies permanent (2.3). This section establishes the thesis: the three bodies are the manifestation-structure of one buddha-fruit mastery, not three separate Buddhas. In three layers — the manifestation-structure not three Buddhas; disclosed by the transformation of the basis; the appearing permanent.

3.1 The three bodies are the manifestation-structure of one mastery, not three separate Buddhas

Break first the "three Buddhas" reading. To read the three bodies as three distinct Buddhas (a dharma-body Buddha, an enjoyment-body Buddha, a transformation-body Buddha, set side by side as three) is to take a division of "body" for a division of "Buddha." But the treatises state plainly: the three bodies are not three Buddhas, but one dharma-body's twofold manifestation.

The proof lies in the grammar of 2.1. The Cheng weishi lun judges the self-nature body (dharma-body) "the equal support of enjoyment and transformation" — the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies take the dharma-body as their supporting substance; the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha states plainly "the enjoyment-body rests on the dharma-body… the transformation-body also rests on the dharma-body" (2.2). The enjoyment- and transformation-bodies "resting on" the dharma-body, the three bodies are not three Buddhas set side by side, but the twofold manifestation arising from one dharma-body (the substance of the mastery). The division of the three bodies is a division of "to whom it appears" (capacity), not a division of "three Buddhas": the dharma-body is the substance of the mastery (the pure dharma-realm, the equal support of all bodies, quiescent and markless), not appearing toward any capacity; the enjoyment-body is the mastery's enjoyment-face toward its own self-witnessing (self-enjoyment, ever savoring the dharma-bliss) and toward the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds (other-enjoyment); the transformation-body is the mastery's face of manifestation toward those below the grounds, the two vehicles, and ordinary beings (manifesting according to kind). One buddha-fruit mastery — toward itself, self-enjoyment; toward the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds, other-enjoyment; toward beings below, the transformation-body — one and the same mastery, appearing in three faces according to the capacity it meets.

So the "three bodies" are to "one mastery" as one person's "true countenance toward an intimate, courteous countenance toward a guest, stooping countenance toward a child" are to the person: not three persons, but one person's threefold countenance according to whom he meets. The three bodies are the manifestation-structure of the mastery (three faces appearing according to capacity), not three separate Buddhas. Carrying forward from P01: the mastery's readable aspect is the ten epithets (name), the mastery's visible aspect is the three bodies (body) — name and body alike are the mastery's disclosure, not something existing apart from the mastery.

3.2 The three bodies disclosed by the transformation of the basis: the manifestation-structure of mastery is the structure of the transformation of the basis

The second layer establishes whence the three bodies come. The three bodies are not three bodies out of nowhere, but disclosed by the "transformation of the basis" (turning the defiled into the pure). Per 2.2: turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body, and the pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms (the five-fold nature) comprise the three bodies — the mirror-wisdom turning away the store-consciousness realizes the self-nature body, the equality-wisdom manifests other-enjoyment, the observation-wisdom manifests the mastery of teaching (comprising the enjoyment-body), the accomplishing-wisdom manifests the transformation-body. So "the manifestation-structure of mastery (the three bodies)" is "the structure of the transformation of the basis (turning consciousness into wisdom)": the mastery is not an absolute so-of-itself, existing out of nowhere, but is disclosed by turning the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms, turning the defiled into the pure — its manifestation-structure (the three bodies) being just what its transformation-structure (the four wisdoms) accomplishes.

This binds this paper's thread to P01–P02. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha calls the dharma-body "the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas" (2.2): the mastery's turning (moving freely over all dharmas) rests on the dharma-body. So the Tathāgata's "mastery" is not an abstract unobstructedness, but a structural completeness with a support (the dharma-body), a manifestation (the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies), and a provenance (the transformation of the basis). And this dharma-body is the Buddha's alone: the Yogācārabhūmi judges the two vehicles' transformation of the basis to attain only a liberation-body, not a dharma-body (2.2) — which confirms P02's distinction (the fruit-level the Buddha's alone, the causal level unfilled): the two vehicles and even the bodhisattva's causal level too have their transformation of the basis, their liberation, yet the dharma-body (the full manifestation of the substance of the mastery) is the Buddha's alone. The detail of the four wisdoms (turning consciousness into wisdom) on which the three bodies rest belongs to TATHAGATA-P04, "Turning Consciousness to Wisdom: The Four Wisdoms Full"; this paper only marks the four wisdoms as the three bodies' transformational basis, without unfolding their internal structure.

3.3 The permanence of the three bodies: the mastery's appearing is permanent

The third layer establishes the permanence of the three bodies. The Tathāgata's mastery's appearing (the three bodies) is not a matter of arising and ceasing but is permanent. Per 2.3: the dharma-body permanent by nature (by origin permanent, without arising-or-ceasing, unconditioned, attained by a realizing cause), the enjoyment-body permanent without interruption (ever savoring the dharma-bliss unbroken), the transformation-body permanent in continuity (vanished it re-appears, manifesting inexhaustibly). The judgment of three kinds of permanence (Sūtrālaṃkāra / Buddhabhūmi-śāstra) states plainly: the dharma-body is permanent by "substance-permanence," the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies permanent by "resting on the permanent body, unbroken in continuity." So the mastery's manifestation-structure is a permanent structure — not a momentary appearing soon ceasing, but the dharma-body permanent in substance, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies continuous without end.

This sense of "permanence" this paper takes on the Yogācāra / Sūtrālaṃkāra judgment, to fix the one point that "the Tathāgata's mastery's appearing is permanent." It must be marked honestly: the teaching of "the three bodies permanent" is a clear judgment of the Yogācāra stream (the Saṃgraha, Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, Cheng weishi lun, Sūtrālaṃkāra); whereas "the three bodies permanent vs the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies impermanent" is itself broadly debated among the schools and traditions (whether the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies are permanent or not, whether the dharma-body is form, and so on), a full debate beyond this paper's scope and not its task. This paper takes only the Yogācāra sense of "the dharma-body permanent by nature, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies called permanent as resting on the permanent body," to delimit the one point "the mastery's manifestation-structure is permanent," marking it as a Yogācāra-stream judgment, with divergent views coexisting and no adjudication of the traditions' relative rank (see §V).

✅ Doctrinally sound: taken together, the three layers support "the three bodies are the manifestation-structure of one buddha-fruit mastery, not three separate Buddhas" — the manifestation-structure not three Buddhas (the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies rest on the dharma-body; the three are one mastery's three faces appearing according to capacity), disclosed by the transformation of the basis (turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body; the five-fold nature comprises the three bodies; the manifestation-structure of mastery is the structure of the transformation of the basis; the dharma-body is the Buddha's alone), the appearing permanent (permanent by nature · without interruption · in continuity). This paper takes the Yogācāra establishment of the three bodies as its basis, marks the cross-tradition full debate of permanent vs impermanent as a Yogācāra-stream judgment without adjudicating it (§V); the detail of the four wisdoms on which the three bodies rest is handed to P04.

IV. Interdisciplinary Convergence

(This paper deliberately omits the interdisciplinary-convergence section; the rationale is given in §VI. The manifestation-structure of "one substance appearing in three faces according to capacity" does resemble physics' "one light source appearing in three aspects through media" or pragmatics' "one subject's register-shift toward different addressees," yet the former is dominated by "refraction through an external medium" and the latter by "adaptation to a social situation," both only superficially like this paper's sense of "the three bodies disclosed by the transformation of the basis, the dharma-body permanent in substance and the Buddha's alone" — the three bodies are not refractions through external conditions but a permanent structure disclosed by the transformation of the basis. To force the convergence would falsify; better to leave it out.)

V. Middle-Way Corrections

This section clears away three common misreadings bearing on the thesis.

❌ Misreading 1: "The three bodies are three separate Buddhas (a dharma-body Buddha, an enjoyment-body Buddha, a transformation-body Buddha, set side by side as three)." This the paper breaks in full. The treatises state plainly that the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies "rest on the dharma-body" (the Saṃgraha), and the self-nature body is "the equal support of enjoyment and transformation" (the Cheng weishi lun) — the three bodies are not three Buddhas set side by side, but one dharma-body's (the substance of the mastery's) twofold manifestation (3.1). The division of the three bodies is a division of "to whom it appears" (capacity): the dharma-body as substance (not appearing toward capacity), the enjoyment-body as the face toward self-witnessing and the ten-ground bodhisattvas, the transformation-body as the face toward those below. One buddha-fruit mastery appears as three bodies according to capacity, not three separate Buddhas.

⚠️ Correction 2: "The three bodies permanent" is a judgment of the Yogācāra / Sūtrālaṃkāra stream; the cross-tradition full debate of "the three bodies permanent vs the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies impermanent" this paper does not adjudicate. This paper takes the Yogācāra stream's (the Saṃgraha, Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, Cheng weishi lun, Sūtrālaṃkāra) sense of "the dharma-body permanent by nature, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies called permanent as resting on the permanent body," to delimit the one point "the mastery's manifestation-structure is permanent" (3.3). Yet "whether the three bodies (especially the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies) are permanent, whether the dharma-body is form, the sameness or difference of the dharma-body and suchness" is broadly debated among the schools and traditions, a full debate not this paper's task. This paper marks it as a Yogācāra-stream judgment, with divergent views coexisting and no adjudication of the traditions' rank; the reader should not take this paper's "three bodies permanent" as a cross-tradition settled conclusion.

⚠️ Correction 3: The two vehicles' transformation of the basis = a liberation-body, not a dharma-body (the Yogācārabhūmi citing the Saṃdhinirmocana), is a clear scriptural judgment (the dharma-body the Buddha's alone), which this paper records without disparaging the two vehicles. The Yogācārabhūmi judges the transformation of the basis attained by the two vehicles to be named only a liberation-body, not a dharma-body (2.2). The measure of this judgment must be marked honestly: the sūtra states "by the liberation-body, all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are equal, equal, with the Tathāgatas; by the dharma-body, there is difference" — the two vehicles are equal with the Buddha in the liberation-body (the same in liberation), differing only in the dharma-body (the full manifestation of the substance of the mastery). This paper records this clear scriptural judgment of "the dharma-body the Buddha's alone" (squaring with P02's distinction of fruit and cause) without disparaging the two vehicles' liberation; the two vehicles and the Buddha are equal in liberation, and this measure of the scripture this paper records without adding or subtracting. Also, the enjoyment-body's opening into self- and other-enjoyment is a frame of the Yogācāra / Buddhabhūmi-śāstra (the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra marks the two kinds of enjoyment-body-and-land); this paper marks it as a Yogācāra-stream establishment.

VI. Conclusion

Essential restatement. The Tathāgata's mastery appears as three bodies, and the three bodies are the manifestation-structure of one buddha-fruit mastery, not three separate Buddhas. Three layers support this: the manifestation-structure not three Buddhas — the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies rest on the dharma-body, the self-nature body is the equal support, the three are one mastery's three faces appearing according to "for whom" (dharma-body as substance · enjoyment-body as enjoyment-face · transformation-body as manifestation-face), not three separate Buddhas (3.1); disclosed by the transformation of the basis — turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body, the five-fold nature (pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms) comprises the three bodies, "the manifestation-structure of mastery" is "the structure of the transformation of the basis," and the dharma-body is the Buddha's alone (the two vehicles' transformation of the basis yields a liberation-body) (3.2); the appearing permanent — the dharma-body permanent by nature, the enjoyment-body permanent without interruption, the transformation-body permanent in continuity; the mastery's appearing is a permanent structure (3.3).

Guidance for practice. This paper corrects, for the practitioner, two imaginations. First, do not take the buddha-fruit's mastery for a hidden, markless absolute — as if completeness dissolved into one light without distinction, beyond saying. The buddha-fruit's mastery has a sayable, visible manifestation-structure: the three bodies. Second, do not take the three bodies for three separate Buddhas, to be grasped at severally (seeking to see the enjoyment-body Buddha, to meet the transformation-body Buddha, as three different objects). The three bodies are one mastery's three faces appearing according to capacity: the transformation-body beings meet, the other-enjoyment body the ten-ground bodhisattvas receive, and the self-enjoyment of the Buddha's self-witnessing and its substance the dharma-body, are one and the same buddha-fruit mastery appearing toward different capacities. What the practitioner should recognize is not "three Buddhas" but "one mastery's threefold manifestation" — recognizing which, one neither grasps the transformation-body as ultimate (the transformation-body's mark has arising) nor doubts the dharma-body's being (the dharma-body permanent in substance, attained only by realizing). And since the three bodies are disclosed by the transformation of the basis, what practice tends toward is not "to seek separately an enjoyment- or transformation-body" but "to turn the defiled into the pure" — the transformation of the basis fulfilled, the appearing of the three bodies is complete of itself, as turning consciousness into wisdom the four wisdoms appear of themselves, not sought apart from consciousness.

Open questions. First, this paper cuts the Section IV interdisciplinary convergence ("one substance, three faces" is only superficially like "light-source refraction / register-shift"). Second, the cross-tradition full debate of "the three bodies permanent vs impermanent" this paper takes on the Yogācāra judgment and marks, without adjudicating the traditions; should a later paper treat "the dharma-body and suchness · the sense of permanence" across traditions, it will be handled there in its own section. Third, the three bodies are disclosed by the four wisdoms (turning consciousness into wisdom); this paper only marks the four wisdoms as the three bodies' transformational basis, without unfolding their internal structure (which consciousness each of the great-mirror, equality, observation, and accomplishing wisdoms turns, which body each comprises) — this belongs to TATHAGATA-P04, "Turning Consciousness to Wisdom: The Four Wisdoms Full," to which this paper hands the baton.

Notes

References

Primary Buddhist Sources

• Cheng weishi lun (成唯識論). By Dharmapāla et al., trans. Xuanzang. T31, no. 1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗. Fascicle 10, the ultimate stage (the three bodies in full · the five-fold nature comprising the three bodies · turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body · the self-nature body permanent by nature).
• Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (root text, 攝大乘論本). By Asaṅga, trans. Xuanzang. T31, no. 1594《攝大乘論本》(玄奘譯)Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Xuanzang tr.)T31, No. 1594View on CBETA online reader ↗. Fascicle 3, "The Wisdom That Is the Fruit of That" (the three bodies as the substance of the fruit-wisdom · the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas · the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies resting on the dharma-body · the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies impermanent, the dharma-body permanent).
• Buddhabhūmi-śāstra (佛地經論). By Bandhuprabha et al., trans. Xuanzang. T26, no. 1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗. Fascicle 1 (by the pure dharma-realm possessed of all merits, the difference of the three bodies); fascicle 2 (the enjoyment-body opening in two); fascicle 7 (the three kinds of permanence, citing the Sūtrālaṃkāra).
• Yogācārabhūmi (瑜伽師地論). Spoken by Maitreya, trans. Xuanzang. T30, no. 1579《瑜伽師地論》Yogācārabhūmi-śāstraT30, No. 1579View on CBETA online reader ↗. Fascicle 78, the section of ascertainment (citing the Saṃdhinirmocana: the transformation of the basis fulfilled = the mark of the Tathāgata's dharma-body · the two vehicles' transformation of the basis = a liberation-body, not a dharma-body).

Modern Scholarship

(This paper cites no modern scholarship; the argument rests entirely on Buddhist primary sources, following the open-source spirit of "return to the source." The interdisciplinary-convergence section having been cut, no corresponding modern literature appears.)

Sūtra & Śāstra Index

Point	Source	CBETA id
The three bodies in full (self-nature · enjoyment〔self- and other-〕· transformation)	Cheng weishi lun fasc. 10	T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0057c20
The enjoyment-body opens in two (self-enjoyment pervading · other-enjoyment per capacity)	Buddhabhūmi-śāstra fasc. 2	T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0293b11
The self-nature body = dharma-body = the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas · the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies rest on it	Mahāyāna-saṃgraha fasc. 3	T31n1594《攝大乘論本》(玄奘譯)Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Xuanzang tr.)T31, No. 1594View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0149a18
The five-fold nature comprises the three bodies · turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body	Cheng weishi lun fasc. 10	T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0058a06
The transformation of the basis fulfilled = the Tathāgata's dharma-body · the two vehicles' = a liberation-body, not a dharma-body	Yogācārabhūmi fasc. 78	T30n1579《瑜伽師地論》Yogācārabhūmi-śāstraT30, No. 1579View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0733c16
By the pure dharma-realm possessed of all merits, the difference of the three bodies	Buddhabhūmi-śāstra fasc. 1	T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0291b22
The enjoyment- and transformation-bodies impermanent · the dharma-body they rest on permanent	Mahāyāna-saṃgraha fasc. 3	T31n1594《攝大乘論本》(玄奘譯)Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Xuanzang tr.)T31, No. 1594View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0151c25
Three kinds of permanence (by nature · without interruption · in continuity)	Buddhabhūmi-śāstra fasc. 7	T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0326b01
The self-nature body permanent by nature · the dharma-body without arising-or-ceasing · attained by a realizing cause	Cheng weishi lun fasc. 10	T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0058a15

Series Cross-Reference Index

• ★ TATHAGATA-P01, "The Ground Where Naming Is Full" (foundation): P01 set the ten epithets as the mastery's readable aspect (name); this paper sets the three bodies as the mastery's visible aspect (body). Name and body alike are the mastery's disclosure, not something existing apart from it. This paper's "mastery appearing as three bodies" carries forward P01's "mastery signed as the ten epithets."
• ★ TATHAGATA-P02, "Two Sets of Ten Masteries" (foundation): this paper's "the dharma-body is the Buddha's alone · the two vehicles' transformation of the basis yields only a liberation-body" squares with P02's distinction of fruit and cause — the dharma-body (the full manifestation of the substance of the mastery) is the fruit-level Buddha's alone, the two vehicles and even the bodhisattva's causal level unfilled.
• TATHAGATA-P04, "Turning Consciousness to Wisdom: The Four Wisdoms Full" (forthcoming · the baton passed): this paper marks the three bodies as disclosed by "turning consciousness into wisdom · the five-fold nature comprising the three bodies," but does not unfold the internal structure of the four wisdoms; which consciousness each of the great-mirror, equality, observation, and accomplishing wisdoms turns, and which body each comprises, is handed to P04.
• TATHAGATA-P10, "The Ultimate Non-Abiding Nirvāṇa: The Terminus of Both Axes" (closing the division · the terminus of both axes): this paper establishes the permanence of the three bodies (the dharma-body permanent in substance, the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies permanent in continuity); P10 closes at "the non-abiding nirvāṇa · unobstructed mastery" — the relation of the dharma-body's permanence to the non-abiding nirvāṇa is gathered up there.

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Paper: TATHAGATA-P03 · 自在現為三身 · The Mastery of the Tathāgata · Part 2 · The Three Bodies Author: 釋慧鏡 (Shi Huijing) · Project: 指月 / Pointing-at-the-Moon · Series: The Attainment Signatures（證 自在簽名） License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CBETA collation: 全文引用均依 CBETA 電子佛典核校（《成唯識論》T1585、《攝大乘論本》T1594、《佛地經論》T1530、《瑜伽師地論》T1579）。Pāli 引文採 PTS reference 雙軌標示（本分區為大乘，無 Pāli 雙軌義務）。 Repository: https://github.com/pointing-at-the-moon/attainment-signatures

Footnotes

1. Cheng weishi lun, fascicle 10 (the ultimate stage · differentiations), T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0057c20. By Dharmapāla et al., trans. Xuanzang. Judging the dharma-body to have three aspects: the self-nature body (the pure dharma-realm, the equal support of enjoyment and transformation), the enjoyment-body (self-enjoyment ever savoring the dharma-bliss / other-enjoyment manifested for the ten-ground bodhisattvas), the transformation-body (the accomplishing-wisdom manifesting according to kind, for those below the grounds, the two vehicles, ordinary beings). CBETA-collated. ↩

2. Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, fascicle 2, T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0293b11. By Bandhuprabha et al., trans. Xuanzang. Marking the enjoyment-body-and-land as of two kinds — self-enjoyment pervading the dharma-realm, continuous and unchanging, the Buddha's own witnessing; other-enjoyment appearing as suits the bodhisattvas above the grounds. The basis for "the enjoyment-body opening in two." ↩

3. Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (root text), fascicle 3, "The Wisdom That Is the Fruit of That, part 11," T31n1594《攝大乘論本》(玄奘譯)Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Xuanzang tr.)T31, No. 1594View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0149a18. By Asaṅga, trans. Xuanzang. Taking the three bodies as the substance of "the wisdom that is the fruit"; the self-nature body is the dharma-body, "the support of the mastery-turning over all dharmas," the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies both arising as "resting on the dharma-body." The thread of this paper's thesis. ↩

4. Cheng weishi lun, fascicle 10 (the ultimate stage), T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0058a06. Comprising the three bodies by the five-fold nature (pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms): turning away the store-consciousness attains the self-nature body (the mirror-wisdom realizing it), the equality- and observation-wisdoms comprise the enjoyment-body, the accomplishing-wisdom comprises the transformation-body. The Yogācāra establishment of the three bodies as disclosed by the transformation of the basis. ↩

5. Yogācārabhūmi, fascicle 78 (the section of ascertainment · citing the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra's "Chapter on the Tathāgata's Accomplishment of Tasks"), T30n1579《瑜伽師地論》Yogācārabhūmi-śāstraT30, No. 1579View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0733c16. Spoken by Maitreya, trans. Xuanzang. Taking "the transformation of the basis fulfilled" as the mark of the Tathāgata's dharma-body; judging the two vehicles' transformation of the basis to be named only a liberation-body, not a dharma-body (by the liberation-body the two vehicles equal the Tathāgata, by the dharma-body there is difference); the transformation-body's mark has arising, the dharma-body's mark has no arising. The root scripture for "the dharma-body disclosed by the transformation of the basis · the Buddha's alone." ↩

6. Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, fascicle 1, T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0291b22. "By the pure dharma-realm possessed of all merits, the difference of the three bodies." Summing up the buddha-ground as established by the five dharmas (pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms), the difference of the three bodies built on the pure dharma-realm and four wisdoms disclosed by the transformation of the basis. ↩

7. Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (root text), fascicle 3, "The Wisdom That Is the Fruit of That, part 11," T31n1594《攝大乘論本》(玄奘譯)Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Xuanzang tr.)T31, No. 1594View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0151c25. Marking the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies as impermanent in substance; that the sūtra says "the Tathāgata's body is permanent" is on the permanence of the dharma-body they rest on, glossing the enjoyment- and transformation-bodies' permanence-in-continuity by "ever enjoying without cease, repeatedly manifesting without final end." ↩

8. Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, fascicle 7, T26n1530《佛地經論》Buddhabhūmi-śāstraT26, No. 1530View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0326b01. Citing the Sūtrālaṃkāra on three kinds of permanence — the self-nature body "permanent by nature" (by origin permanent), the enjoyment-body "permanent without interruption" (ever savoring the dharma-bliss unbroken), the transformation-body "permanent in continuity" (vanished it re-appears, manifesting inexhaustibly). The Yogācāra standard judgment of "the three bodies permanent." ↩

9. Cheng weishi lun, fascicle 10 (the ultimate stage), T31n1585《成唯識論》Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi-śāstraT31, No. 1585View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0058a15. Judging the self-nature body (dharma-body) permanent by nature, the Buddha's dharma-body without arising-or-ceasing, attained by a realizing cause (not produced by a producing cause), common to all Buddhas, pervading all dharmas, markless, unconditioned, neither form nor mind. The direct definition of the Yogācāra "dharma-body permanent." ↩