Upholding The Wise Penetration at Great Ease Wonderful Seas Bodhisattva asked the Buddha,
‘World Honoured One, how many kinds of Buddha bodies are there?’
The Buddha answered, ‘Good Man! Briefly speaking there are three types of body.
- The Reward Body
- Transformation Body which is the body of response
- The Genuine body which refers to the Dharma Body’
The Bodhisattva asked again,
‘What is meant by the Body of Rewards, the Body of Response and the Genuine Body?
The Buddha answered, ‘For example, as I have revealed to you today the Pure Buddha Lands of all the Thus Come One, those who have attained the Path presently, those who will attain the Path in future are the Buddha in their Reward Body.’
(So we know that all the Buddha who attains Buddhahood in the Pure Lands presently and in future are the Buddha in their Body of Rewards.)
Again the Buddha gave the answer on the Body of Response,
‘Good Men! For instance the present Thus Come One of Taking the Strides of Bravery, the Thus Come One whom the Mara is afraid of, the Thus Come One of Great Kindness and all the Thus Come One who attain Buddhahood in the turbid worlds presently and in future, who reveal the descending from the Tushita Heaven into the world and even until the spreading and upholding of the Proper Dharma, the Dharma of the Image Age, the Dharma Ending Age, you should know that these are the Buddha work in their transformation body, the Body of Response.’
(The eight marks of the Buddha of Response are explained by Asvaghosa in the Great Vehicle Shastra of bringing forth the Faith by the Bodhisattva Asvaghosa
- Descending from Tushita Heaven – The Bodhisattva stayed in the Tushita Heaven. The age of heavenly beings in that heaven is 4,000 years. When the time was ripe, he rode on a white elephant and descended to the world.
2. Entering the Womb – The Bodhisattva rode on an white elephant and entered the womb from the left upper arm of Lady Maya.
3. Dwelling in the Womb – The Bodhisattva carried out the daily activities of walking, standing, sitting and lying down in the mother’s womb. He spoke the dharma for the various heavenly beings six times a day.
4. Leaving the Womb – On the 8th day of the fourth month He was born from the right upper arm of his mother in Lumbini Garden.
5. Leaving Home – At the age of 19 (some version says 25), after contemplating the impermanence of the world, He left the palace to cultivate the Path in the mountain.
6. Accomplishing the Path – The Bodhisattva attained Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree after undergoing six years of ascetic practices.
7. Turning the Dharma Wheel – The Bodhisattva pervasively turned the Dharma Wheel and taught the beings in the heaven and human realms for 50 years after His attainment of Buddhahood
8. Entering Nirvana – At the age of 80 the Bodhisattva revealed the entrance into Nirvana under two Sala Trees. )
The Buddha gave the answer on the Genuine Body. He said,
‘The genuine body of the Buddha is the genuine Dharma Body. It is without a form, cannot be revealed, with no attachment, cannot be seen. No speech is given. There is no dwelling place, no mark and no rewards nor retribution. It is not born nor become extinct. No analogy can be shown to describe it. This is the inconceivable body of the Thus Come One. It is the Dharma Body, the Body of Wisdom, the Incomparable Body with no Equivalent, Vairocana Body, the Body of Empty Space, the Body with No Severance, the Indestructible Body, the Limitless Body, A Truly Genuine Body, not a Fake Body and a Body which is indescribable using analogies. This is the Genuine Body.’
(That is why a mundane man and a cultivator of the small vehicle who are born in the Pure Land is born Buddha Land to see the Buddha in the Reward Body.)
According to Shan Dao Great Master, he said, ‘They are born by relying on the Buddha Great Vows which create a very strong affinity. The Great Vows enable all the Five Vehicles to enter the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha.
Some people asked, ‘If a mundane man, a small vehicle man can be born there, for what reason the Vasubandhu Bodhisattva said in his Shastra of Pure Land that the women, those with impaired roots and the small vehicles will not be born?’
The answer is that the women, those with impaired roots will be transformed into the body of a man replete with full roots. Those of the small vehicles who vow to be born in the Pure Land will attain the position of non-retreating. They will bring forth the mind of a Bodhisattva to advance to Buddhahood.
Extract from the 2nd volume of the Great Vehicle Same Nature Sutra
I'm ORI the Light 