Three kayas 三身（法、報、化）

Three kayas (Skt. trikāya; Tib. སྐུ་གསུམ་, ku sum; Wyl. sku gsum):

1. dharmakaya,
2. sambhogakaya and
3. nirmanakaya.

The three 'bodies' of a buddha. They relate not only to the truth in us, as three aspects of the true nature of mind, but to the truth in everything. Everything we perceive around us is nirmanakaya; its nature, light or energy is sambhogakaya; and its inherent truth, the dharmakaya.

Further Reading

• Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying revised and updated edition (HarperSanFrancisco and London: Rider, 2002), pages 346-347.
• Thinley Norbu, The Small Golden Key (Shambhala Publications, 1999), pages 68-93.
• The Sūtra of the Three Bodies, Trikāyasūtra, the Trikaya Sutra, an explanation of the three kayas: nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya and dharmakaya by the buddha, answering a question of the bodhisattva Kshitigarbha.