The Doctrine of Suchness and the Dharmakaya

"The light of Dharmakaya is like unto the full moon..." 
--Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, by D.T. Suzuki.

Considering the "doctrine of Suchness," D. T Suzuki writes, "it appeared to all speculative to be of use in everyday human lives... it must pass through some practical modification before it fully satisfies our spiritual needs...
this modification of pure reason is necessary from the human point of view; because mere abstraction is pointless, lifeless without tangible content; as such it cannot satisfy our spiritual cravings with empty abstraction...
the truth is, religious consciousness, first of all, demands fact...
on the other hand if logic be all important, then sentiment follows its trail in a dry, arid void...

The truth is, that in this life,  the will predominates, and the intellect sub-serves... abstraction is good for the exercises of the intellect, but questions of life and death must have something more than theories...
it must be a faith born of the innermost consciousness of our being...
What practical transformations then has the doctrine of Suchness, in order to meet the religious demands, to suffer?"

God. Buddhism does not use the word God often, if at all.
 While not to be judged as atheism, Buddhist thought outspokenly acknowledges the presence in the world of a reality which transcends all limits, yet is everywhere, immanent, manifesting itself in full glory, and by which we live and have our being...
The religious object of Buddhism is generally thought of as "Dharmakaya," "Vairochana," or "Amitabha," several of its names.

In the west, scholars very often translate the Dharmakaya to mean "body of the law." This interpretation, while in current use, is not very accurate, and often the source of serious misunderstandings by Western thinkers.
Today, as the term is now used, especially by those practitioners in the Eastern regions (of  origin), often misunderstanding the meaning of "Dharma." These basic misunderstandings of doctrine accounts chiefly for the failure to recognize Mahayanaism as central to all developed Buddhist thought.
"If we were to always translate dharma by law, it seems to me that the whole drift of our treatise would become unintelligible," wrote Suzuki.

To Mahayanists, Dharma means many things, depending upon context. Words such as thing, substance, being, reality--both specific and general, are effective renderings for dharma then. The Dharmakaya is effectively rendered as both an intelligence, and a spirit. Thus terms such as God and All are not always sufficient to its original meaning.

The Dharmakaya is described by Suzuki as not exactly equivalent to suchness: "it is a soul, a willing and knowing being, one that is will and intelligence, thought and action." It is not understood as an abstract principle or a metaphysical principle like suchness, but is a living spirit, manifesting itself in nature and in thought... There is no place in the universe where this body does not prevail...
It is free from all opposites and divisions, yet works in all things to lead them to enlightenment."

It is not a mere abstraction, standing apart from this world. Dharmakaya is a spiritual existence, absolutely real, true and the reason for all beings; it is the upaya, free from struggles or compulsions; it is beyond understanding.
It is love; the body of all beings is the Dharmakaya, and the Dharmakaya is the body of all beings...And, as we enter further into the will and spirit of the Dharmakaya, this will becomes freely our own; a realization of the free will of the Dharmakaya.
We move towards the supreme goodness; every good we do is absorbed into the universal store of merits, no more or less than Dharmakaya. Every existence, a reflection of Dharmakaya, worthy of its all embracing love.

Other Mudras

"the soul must empty itself to be filled with God." by St. John of the Cross

While many perceive the yogic mudras as part of esoteric Asian practice, the Simple Mind would confer with others who see them as signs and gestures, common in all human communities. Everything from the simple upheld hand to hail a taxi in New York to the upturned palm to indicate sincerity in Beijing or honesty in Rome, hand gestures or mudras are everywhere. In some spheres of life we are all connected in some way or another. It is part of what makes us human as opposed to another animal species.

Writing in the book, Christians talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists talk about Christian prayer, edited by Rita Gross and Terry Muck, Donald Mitchell writes "One's day is offered to God in a way that changes one's attitude toward others -- one lives more for their happiness... Vows [are] aspirations to pursue a higher good...' Mitchell continues, speaking on his topic with reference to the Buddhist teacher, Robert Aitken, he notes: 'as Aitken says, realization must be sustained; healing and reconciliation must be sought when unity is broken... this healing and reconciliation includes one's relationship with God. Dharani, Mudras and chanting, in both Buddhism and Christianity, [each in its customary forms,] creates an atmosphere... where one's mind is transformed." Gestures, both great and small, play their part.


With physical practice and devotions such as prostrations, chanting and other physical responses the practitioner may then move the awakened mind into a sense of wholeness, unity and glimpses of the divine, moved with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes Mitchell, concluding his essay. Resting in the 'now moment' there is the experience of life as it is, just this moment. 

The Buddhist precepts as discussed by many, lead the practitioner to awareness that there is no lesser nor greater, no aware or unaware, not even large or small; yet there is just this moment. Likewise Christians too, it seems, seek to live in the 'now moment.' The practice of Christian symbols, or Mudras have long played a part in that from the earliest times of persecution to modern devotional practice. Today mudras are part of many personal and communal practices worldwide.

Mahayana and the Daharmakaya

"The light of Dharmakaya is like unto the full moon..." Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, by D.T. Suzuki.

Considering the "doctrine of Suchness," D. T Suzuki writes, "it appeared to all speculative to be of use in everyday human lives... it must pass through some practical modification before it fully satisfies our spiritual needs... this modification of pure reason is necessary from the human point of view; because mere abstraction is pointless, lifeless without tangible content; as such it cannot satisfy our spiritual cravings with empty abstraction...the truth is, religious consciousness, first of all, demands fact... on the other hand if logic be all important, then sentiment follows its trail in a dry, arid void...

The truth is, that in this life, the will predominates, and the intellect subserves... abstraction is good for the exercises of the intellect, but questions of life and death must have something more than theories... it must be a faith born of the innermost consciousness of our being... What practical transformations then has the doctrine of Suchness, in order to meet the religious demands, to suffer?"

God. Buddhism does not use the word God often, if at all. While not to be judged as atheism, Buddhist thought outspokenly acknowledges the presence in the world of a reality which transcends all limits, yet is everywhere immanent, manifesting itself in full glory, and which we live and have our being... The religious object of Buddhism is generally thought of as "Dharmakaya," "Vairochana," or "Amitabha," several of its names.

In the west, scholars very often translate the Dharmakaya to mean "body of the law." This interpretation, while in current use, is not very accurate, and often the source of serious misunderstandings by Western thinkers. Today, as the term is now used, especially by those practitioners in the Eastern regions (of its origins), often those same thinkers misunderstand too, the meaning of "Dharma." These basic misunderstandings of doctrine accounts chiefly for the failure to recognize Mahayanism as central to all developed Buddhist thought. "If we were to always translate dharma by law, it seems to me that the whole drift of our treatise would become unintelligible."

To Mahayanists, Dharma means many things, depending upon context. Words such as thing, substance, being, reality-both specific and general, are effective renderings for the dharma then. The Dharmakaya is effectively rendered as both an intelligence and a spirit. Thus terms such as God and All are not always sufficient to the original meaning.

The Dharmakaya is described by Suzuki as not exactly equivalent to suchness; "it is a soul, a willing and knowing being, one that is will and intelligence, thought and action." It is not understood as an abstract principle or a metaphysical principle like suchness, but is a living spirit, manifesting itself in nature and in thought... There is no place in the universe where this body does not prevail... It is free from all opposites and divisions, yet works in all things to lead them to enlightenment."

It is not a mere abstraction, standing apart from this world. Dharmakaya is a spiritual existence, absolutely real, true and the reason for all beings; it is the upaya, free from struggles or compulsions; it is beyond understanding. It is love; the body of all beings is the Dharmakaya and the Dharmakaya is the body of all beings...And, as we enter further into the will and spirit of the Dharmakaya, this will becomes freely our own; a realization of the free will of the Dharmakaya. We move towards the supreme goodness; every good we do is absorbed into the universal store of merits, no more or less than Dharmakaya. Every existence, a reflection of Dharmakaya, worthy of its all embracing love.

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