The four kayas (Buddha bodies) as protectors

Jeffrey

This is from the lojong teachings which Trungpa Rinpoche taught. The lojong teachings were brought by Atisha to Tibet. He traveled to Indonesia and studied these teachings under another master. Atisha had a brother who I guess was a trainwreck or something or other negative. Because these teachings were so effective with his brother he had to preserve and teach them.

The four kayas are: dharmakaya which is the empty space of mind, samboghakaya is the message that becomes clear from the dharmakaya I'd say a little along the lines of the holy ghost in Christianity (warning bells go off!). It is very blissful to have messages abiding in Samboghakaya. Nirmanakaya is the Buddha on earth who beings in the age of a teaching Buddha have a relationship through their studies and through their heart. Finnally svabhavikakaya is the signification of inseparablity of all of the kayas.

Here is a reference from tricycle: http://www.tricycle.com/web-exclusive/train-your-mind-seeing-confusion

Trungpa taught that when we have a phenomena come into view first we are not sure what to make of it. Our mind feels confused but really we are opening our assumptions to a new possibility. This corresponds to dharmakaya. Then we form a relationship to it and that is nirmanakaya. There is an earthy element to nirmanakaya I AM SPECULATING. Samboghakaya is the one that shows a flash of meaning connecting nirmanakaya with dharmakaya. The unknown is known. Finally svabhavikakaya is when the sense of a whole comes to the situation which is like panoramic. Things are seen to come from nowhere, abide nowhere, and go nowhere. So there are these arisings but they all are just empty forms, voices, and thoughts.

Because all phenomena are the trikaya we are protected.

I'll update this thread if I get a better understanding. The chapter of Training the Mind by Trungpa Rinpoche that I am reading is very profound (to me) and I want to study the text more.

Jeffrey

::snip::

In everyday experience, it is often hard to pin down what exactly is happening and why. Whenever we begin to figure things out, there is always some kind of slippage. Things begin to make sense, but just almost and not quite. We keep trying to chip away at our confusion, to straighten it out, to get rid of it, imagining ourselves somehow coming out on the other side, into a nonconfused state where everything is workable. But according to this slogan, rather than getting rid of our confusion, what we really need to do is to examine it and in doing so transform our view of it. We need to look below the surface to how we perceive reality altogether.

::snip::

Straight_Man

Thank you, @Jeffery.