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LIGHT IN BUDDISM:
The Mahayana process encourages to contemplate all experience as relative, as interdependent. All experience appears relative to causes and conditions. The sprout exists relative to the seed, earth, water, sunlight and air. The flame in an oil lamp exists relative to the wick and the oil. In this way, all phenomena appear relative to causes to conditions and all experience is interdependent.
FOR THE MAHAYANA TRADITION REALITY IS EMPTY, LUMINOUS AND BEYOND EXISTENCE AND NON-EXISTENCE, IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE, AND ALL THE OTHER DICHOTOMIES OF DISCRIMINATING THOUGHT.
This twofold dimension of Buddhahood in terms of the form and truth dimensions is congruent with the classification of the three bodies (or dimensions) of Buddhahood; the terrestrial, celestial and transcendental. The form dimension can be divided into (i) the terrestrial body, and (ii) the celestial body, but the truth or transcendental dimension has no division at all since it is inconceivable, inexpressible and beyond name and form of any kind. The form dimension, however, takes innumerable names and forms. We can call the terrestrial body (or dimension) the earthly manifestation of Buddhahood because it is accessible to all of us all the time, regardless of our state of spiritual development. In contrast, the celestial or exalted dimension is manifested only to the spiritually advanced. | | |
