03-06-2012, 12:00 AM
In the Chán (禪) (Jp. Zen) tradition, the Sambhogakāya (Chin. 報身↔baoshen, lit. "retribution body"), along with the Dharmakaya and the Nirmanakaya, are given metaphorical interpretations. In the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Chan Master Huineng describes the Samboghakaya as a state in which the practitioner continually and naturally produces good thoughts:
"Think not of the past but of the future. Constantly maintain the future thoughts to be good. This is what we call the Sambhogakāya.
"Just one single evil thought could destroy the good karma that has continued for one thousand years; and just one single good thought in turn could destroy the evil karma that has lived for one thousand years.
"If the future thoughts are always good, you may call this the Sambhogakāya. The discriminative thinking arising from the Dharmakāya (法身↔fashen "Truth body") is called the Nirmanakāya (化身↔huashen "transformation body"). The successive thoughts that forever involve good are thus the Sambhogakāya."
"Think not of the past but of the future. Constantly maintain the future thoughts to be good. This is what we call the Sambhogakāya.
"Just one single evil thought could destroy the good karma that has continued for one thousand years; and just one single good thought in turn could destroy the evil karma that has lived for one thousand years.
"If the future thoughts are always good, you may call this the Sambhogakāya. The discriminative thinking arising from the Dharmakāya (法身↔fashen "Truth body") is called the Nirmanakāya (化身↔huashen "transformation body"). The successive thoughts that forever involve good are thus the Sambhogakāya."