DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45392#0328
Buddha & the Gospel of Buddhism
it no longer be considered water ? ” It is that of Behmen
when he says the Enochian life “ is in this world, yet as
it were swallowed up in the Mystery; but it is not altered
in itself, it is only withdrawn from our sight and our
sense ; for if our eyes were opened, we should see it ” :1
Paradise is still upon earth, and only because of our
self-thinking and self-willing we do not see and hear
God.2 It is that of Whitman, when he says there “ will
never be any more perfection than there is now, nor any
more of heaven or hell than there is now,” and inquires,
“ Why should I wish to see God better than this day ? ”
Strange and hard that paradox true I give.
Objects gross and the unseen soul are one.
The Buddhas
In the realm of absolute ^paramartha) truth we may speak
only of the Dharmakaya as void. But there exists also
for us a realm of relative {samvritti) truth where the
Absolute is made manifest by name and form; to the
dwellers in heaven as Sambhogakaya, the Body of Bliss,
and to those on earth as Nirmanakaya, the Body of
Transformation.
The Sambhogakaya is the Buddha or Buddhas regarded
as God in heaven, determined by name and form, but
omniscient, omnipresent, and within the law of causality,
omnipotent. A Buddha, in this sense, is identical with
1 The Forty Questions.
2 The Supersensual Life, Dialogue i. Closely parallel to a passage of
the Avatamsaka Sutra : “ Child of Buddha, there is not even one living
being that has not the wisdom of the Tathagata. It is only because of
their vain thought and affections that all beings are not conscious of
this.”
246
it no longer be considered water ? ” It is that of Behmen
when he says the Enochian life “ is in this world, yet as
it were swallowed up in the Mystery; but it is not altered
in itself, it is only withdrawn from our sight and our
sense ; for if our eyes were opened, we should see it ” :1
Paradise is still upon earth, and only because of our
self-thinking and self-willing we do not see and hear
God.2 It is that of Whitman, when he says there “ will
never be any more perfection than there is now, nor any
more of heaven or hell than there is now,” and inquires,
“ Why should I wish to see God better than this day ? ”
Strange and hard that paradox true I give.
Objects gross and the unseen soul are one.
The Buddhas
In the realm of absolute ^paramartha) truth we may speak
only of the Dharmakaya as void. But there exists also
for us a realm of relative {samvritti) truth where the
Absolute is made manifest by name and form; to the
dwellers in heaven as Sambhogakaya, the Body of Bliss,
and to those on earth as Nirmanakaya, the Body of
Transformation.
The Sambhogakaya is the Buddha or Buddhas regarded
as God in heaven, determined by name and form, but
omniscient, omnipresent, and within the law of causality,
omnipotent. A Buddha, in this sense, is identical with
1 The Forty Questions.
2 The Supersensual Life, Dialogue i. Closely parallel to a passage of
the Avatamsaka Sutra : “ Child of Buddha, there is not even one living
being that has not the wisdom of the Tathagata. It is only because of
their vain thought and affections that all beings are not conscious of
this.”
246