Slogan Fourteen

The ultimate protection is emptiness; know what arises as confusion to be the Four Kayas.

From the Lojong for the Layperson booklet:

            Every new perception we have begins with uncertainty and openness (What was that light that flashed in the window?), then gradually comes into focus through organization (Maybe it was from headlights or lightning?). These two stages are linked by a third that forms a relationship between them (I heard thunder.) Finally we have a panoramic experience of the whole (A thunderstorm is rolling in.). The four kayas (qualities of the Buddha mind) follow the same pattern above, but from an enlightened perspective:

• dharmakaya – open, spacious emptiness
• nirmanakaya – manifestation of a boundless variety
• sambhogakaya – connection of the absolute (unrestricted) with the relative (conditional); heightened awareness
• svabhavikakaya – inseparable union of the kayas; present moment experience

Confusion in this slogan refers to any challenge or obstacle we face. Through the practices of awareness and mindfulness, we begin to see the mind is actually fluid and flowing, not fixed. We stop clinging to our thoughts and enjoy the liberation of spaciousness. As Pema Chodron clarifies, “Shunyata [emptiness] is protection because it cuts through the solidity of our thoughts, which is how we make everything – including ourselves – concrete and separate.”

Photo: Slash pine stump with cone and seedling in the foreground.

            Many years ago in the area I now live, native peoples discovered a “blue hole,” or natural spring. They called it “Skywater” and considered it a sacred ceremonial site. An unseen source funnels fresh water through limestone caverns to this place, producing ripples on the surface of the blue hole. At its peak, the spring releases up to 70,000 gallons a minute. The flow of the spring is like watching the process of the mind in meditation. The unseen source is similar to the formless, limitless quality of the mind. Just as the limestone caverns continuously channel the water, so the mind’s energy constantly produces thoughts. The ripples on the water’s surface are like the seemingly solid forms of our discriminating thoughts. The activation of our ego makes them appear substantial, but they come and go, as impermanent as the ripples. Being in the totality of each moment allows us to experience a timeless awareness, empty of preconceived ideas and expectations. It gives us a chance to drop the story line we've been writing and unhook ourselves from the intensity of emotion. 

Edited to add:

Dharmakaya ("reality body of buddha") refers to the boundless, spacious nature of our awareness.

Sambhogakaya ("bliss body of buddha") is the cognitive aspect of our awareness - the knowing quality that experiences life.

Nirmanakaya ("transformation body of buddha") is when boundless awareness, together with its knowing cognition, is expressed as compassionate, beneficial activity.  

John J. Baker, a student of Chogyam Trungpa, expressed the Three Bodies this way:

Things arise from and pass back into nothingness: dharmakaya. Things arise from and pass back into nothingness: nirmanakaya. And as those things arise and pass away, they communicate their unique, brilliant, emotionally moving individuality: sambhogakaya.