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.

An Overview of Mahayana Buddhism according to D.T. Suzuki

"Mahayana is not content to make us mere transmitters or "hearers" of the teachings of the Buddha..." --Suzuki

Many who ponder the Way, or the ideas of Eastern thought, particularly Buddhism make the assumption that it is a belief, a practice, a way that originates in the Far East. Yet nothing is further from the truth. Buddhism is, in its origins, a faith coming directly to the East and later, to the world from India. Via the ancient trade routes, such as the Silk Road, travelers brought their ideas, goods, technology and culture to the Far East, especially to China in the central and northern regions where the earliest Buddhism is to be found. It later spread to the south and more deeply into Asia.

Thus to be clear, the earliest forms such as Cha'an and Mahayana spring directly from their Indian neighbors and at times, even in modern practice, strongly resembles Yogi Hinduism. Mahayana remains the parent of most, if not all, modern forms of Buddhism now practiced.

It is important to recall this lineage from which the Way descends to practitioners of today. This important point even makes it possible to consider aspects of Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and even orthodox Christian beliefs. The author of the book considered here, Suzuki, does indeed make references to these other ways of seeing; he does not exclude them in the endeavor towards enlightenment.

Many writers of Buddhist topics will expound at length on "sentient beings," an imperfect way to describe the Buddhist notion of emptiness and perfect knowledge. Perhaps English lacks the precise Pali word or view to illustrate the notion that everything depends upon everything else; that as everything is in some form joined to everything else, there is a "vivification" (Suzuki's word) of all matter.

Yet we are cautioned not to become attached to notions; they are only for learning. Once learned, they, and even the Buddha's words, are of no use or substitution for the real, experienced way. So it may be said that the one who desires perfect knowledge, perfect insight is the Enlightened one. He practices to free himself of all worldly cares and sufferings.

Mahayana teaches the purification of self for the aid and enlightenment of others. Practitioners live in the world as it is; they do not avoid the ills or negatives of the everyday world. In other words, Bodhisattvas find their Way in everyday life and work in which they are purified, offering their presence for the benefit of all.

Suzuki further describes the Mahayana Bodhisattva as such:

"The Bodhisattva is a personification of love and sympathy, which freely issues from the font of his inner will. He gathers the clouds of wisdom and virtue, in which he manifests himself in manifold figures; he produces the lightnings of Buddhi, Vidyas... shaking the whole world with the thunder of Dharma, crushing all the evil ones; pouring forth the showers of good law, he quenches the burning flames of ignorance..."

This passage alludes to what has been thought to be the ideal life held out by Mahayanists... They are not content to make us mere transmitters or "hearers" of the teachings of the Buddha. We are inspired to the noblest heart of Shakyamuni, in full recognition of the human soul... it seeks to develop all the "possibilities of our soul-life, which by our strenuous efforts will one day be realized even on this earth of impermanence.' 'We, as individual existences, are nothing but shadows...

We, as mortal beings, are nothing more than thousands of dusty particles, haphazardly scattered about" in the winds of karma; when we unite in the love and intelligence of the Dharmakaya, we are Bodhisattvas... and can overcome the overwhelming blast of ignorance... acts of loving kindness will lead to Bliss, to the whole community to which he belongs.

"Because a stream of love flows from the Bodhichitta (Intelligence-heart), fed by the inexhaustible spring of Dharmakaya." Ignorance leads only to egotism, hatred, avarice, disturbance, and universal misery. Bodhisattvas dwell, in varying degrees, in the stream of Dharmakaya, the body of love, the Universal One.

*This article appeared here previously in August 2009

Mahayana, Dharmakaya and Love

"The Dharmakaya of the Buddha is always present, always alive... Vairochana is made of light, peace, flowers, joy..."
-- Cultivating the Mind of Love, by T.N. Hanh

The Mahayana teachings as presented by Suzuki in his book, Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism, are complicated and simple; they're essential and overlooked; it is central to understanding and experience by practitioners of all stripes. Please study Suzuki a bit for yourself. These small essays cannot cover this topic. Indeed they would not; each must struggle them out for ones' self.

And I give my gratitude to my first teacher of all things, my friend, Liang-HuiMei. From her loving presence in my life, a whole world, way, and language was opened to me. I know she is teaching still. Gasho.

Suzuki declares that we are all Bodhisattvas. "As Shakyamuni was a Bodhisattva, so we are all destined to become Bodhisattvas, when, in a certain sense, we understand that we are all one in the Dharmakaya... The Dharmakaya manifests in us as Bodhi (knowledge-intelligence)." As soon as we come to live in this love and intelligence, individual existences are no hindrance to the "turning over" of one's spiritual merits to the service of others. Abandon, says Suzuki, "our selfish thoughts of entering into Nirvana that is conceived to extinguish the fire of heart, leaving only cold ashes of intellect... have sympathy for all, turn over your merits, however small, to the benefit and happiness of others."

This spirit of universal love prevails in all Mahayanism. Nagar-juna in his writings on the Bodhichitta gives a view of the Bodhisattva. He says, "the essential nature of all Bodhisattvas is a great, loving heart... therefore do not cling to the blissful taste produced by the varied methods of mental tranquility (dhyana), do not covet fruit of meritorious deeds... the Bhodisattvas inspired with great energy, mingle with birth and death; they are like Lotus flowers who rise out of the mire, yet remain uncontaminated."

The Bodhichitta, or intelligence-heart, like the Dharmakaya is essentially love and intelligence (karuna and prajna). Suzuki compares the Christ, seeing him to be a Bodhisattva, a Buddha. He says in the West, Jesus, the Christ is perhaps the best, most accessible example available. He writes, "one who understands the nature of bodhichitta sees everything with a loving heart, for love is the essence of the Bodhichitta. The Bodhichitta is the highest essence. The Bodhichitta abiding in the heart of sameness (samata), creates individual means of salvation (upaya).

The Bodhichitta is naturally present in the hearts of all beings. He is a reflex of the Dharmakaya, he has no compulsions; he is free from beginning to end. He has no impurities nor prejudice. Present in the heart of all beings, like the moon, it shines with silvery light on clear, cloudless nights, reflected then in every drop, every mass of water on the earth, reflected like so many stars descended on earth."

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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