The Relationship Among the Three Bodies: Dharmakāya, Sambhogakāya, and Nirmāṇakāya

The tathāgatagarbha neither increases nor decreases, and the manas also neither increases nor decreases; countless transformation bodies and immeasurable six-consciousness bodies are all subsumed under the tathāgatagarbha and the manas. At the same time, the six faculties of the dharma-realm neither increase nor decrease, the six sense-objects of the dharma-realm neither increase nor decrease, the six consciousnesses of the dharma-realm neither increase nor decrease, and the five aggregates (pañcaskandha)—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—neither increase nor decrease. These phenomena are like illusions and conjurations, without any intrinsic substance, and therefore have never increased or decreased; illusory arising and illusory ceasing can never be grasped, and therefore there is no increase or decrease; all dharmas arise from the conjunction of causes and conditions and are not real in themselves—they have never arisen and never ceased—and therefore there is no increase or decrease.

Although the transformation bodies are also sentient beings, they must be subsumed under the manas, and the manas is one and only; therefore the transformation bodies also neither increase nor decrease. What makes a sentient being a sentient being is that it possesses a complete set of props and costumes, including the eight consciousnesses, and may also include the physical body. The Dharmakāya is the eighth consciousness, the Sambhogakāya is the seventh consciousness, and the transformation bodies are the six consciousnesses. No matter how many transformation bodies the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have, they all exist by relying on the Dharmakāya and the Sambhogakāya and belong to the Dharmakāya and the Sambhogakāya; a transformation body cannot exist independently. Therefore, strictly speaking, a transformation body on its own cannot be counted as a sentient being, because it lacks self-mastery (avaśatā) and independence.