Dharmadhatu

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Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) may be defined as the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhatu) of Dharma and denotes the collective 'one-taste' (Sanskrit: ekarasa) dimension of Dharmata.

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu (Tibetan: chos kyi dbyings; Chinese: 法界) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of Truth" and of the noumenon, where Tathata (Reality "as-it-is"), emptiness, dependent co-arising and the unconditioned, uncreated, perfect and eternal Buddha are one.

Historical origin

Kang-nam Oh (2000: pp. 280–281) charts the origin of dharmadhatu and mentions pratityasamutpada, Avatamsaka Sutra, Tsung-mi and Fa-tsang:

This idea of dharmadhātu-pratītyasamutpāda which was originally found in the Avataṁsaka-sūtra or Hua-yen ching,^[1] was fully developed by the Hua-yen school into a systematic doctrine palatable to the Chinese intellectual taste. The dharmadhātu doctrine^[2] can be said to have been, by and large, set forth by Tu-shun (557~640 C.E.), formulated by Chih-yen (602~668), systematized by Fa-tsang (643~712), and elucidated by Ch’eng-kuan (ca. 737~838) and Tsung-mi (780~841).^[3]

Various views of dharmadhatu

In the glossary to The Lotus-Born, dharmadhātu is defined as: "The ‘realm of phenomena;’ the suchness in which emptiness and dependent origination are inseparable. The nature of mind and phenomena which lies beyond arising, dwelling and ceasing."^[4] On the Friends of the Heart website dharmadhātu is defined as: "Literally, the root of dharma, i.e., emptiness."

Scott (1998) translates Nāgārjuna who links the dharmadhātu with nirvana:

The dharmadhatu is the ground
For buddhahood, nirvana, purity, and permanence^[5]

Therefore, dharmadhātu is the purified mind in its natural state, free of the obscuration rendered by dualism; as well as the essence-quality or nature of mind, indeed the fundamental ground of consciousness of the trikaya accessed via the mindstream.

Yutang Lin (2001) qualifies the dharma in dharmadhātu, it:

...refer[s] to spiritual states that transcend senses and consciousness, and are unspeakable or unimaginable. Under this meaning of "dharma" all dharmas are mutually dependent causes and conditions of their coexistence. Whatever the ordinary worldly view may be, in this sense of "dharma," all dharmas are equal as one of the dharmas and this equality transcends considerations of their differences in being real/unreal, superior/inferior, or abundant/deficient. In this sense of "dharma" the word "Dharmadhatu," literally "realm of dharmas," refers to the collection of all dharmas (Ch: fa chieh, fa jie). "Attaining Buddhahood" or "Attaining Dhammakaya" means having transcended all and any limitations that are due to artificial concepts, subconscious activities, desires and feelings, will and attachment, time and space, etc., and having regained the original state of Dharmadhatu in harmonious oneness.^[6]

To an entity that has realised their buddha-dhatu or essential buddha-nature, dharmadhātu is also referred to as the dharmakaya/dhammakaya, literally "body of Dharma [Truth]," of that entity.

Yutang Lin (2001) affirms the nonlinear, holistic essence-quality of dharmadhātu, unbounded by space and time:

According to the correct view of Dharmadhatu all dharmas in the past, all dharmas at present and all dharmas in the future are all together in the Dharmadhatu. Dharmadhatu is neither limited by space nor by time.

Scott (1998) translates Nāgārjuna praising dharmadhātu:

As butter, though inherent in the milk,
Is mixed with it and hence does not appear,
Just so the dharmadhatu is not seen
As long as it is mixed together with afflictions.

And just as the inherent butter essence
When the milk is purified is no more disguised,
When afflictions have been completely purified,
The dharmadhatu will be without any stain at all.^[7]

In this poem, "afflictions" may be understood as dukkha, illusionment (compare Maya) or the non-awareness of rigpa, the primordial and constitutional essence-quality.

Scott (1998) translates Nāgārjuna defining bodhicitta (or heartmind) as the medium through which dharmadhātu is perceived and realised:

Sentient beings’ essence free of substance
Is the sphere that is encountered on this plane.
Seeing this is the royal bodhicitta,
The dharmakaya free of every flaw.^[8]

Scott (1998) translates Nāgārjuna who established a relationship between the bhumi and dharmadhātu:

Just as the moon when it is new
Visibly grows larger bit by bit,
Those who have reached the bhumis
See the dharmakaya more and more.^[9]

It is one of the Five Wisdoms (dharmadhātu wisdom, mirror-like wisdom, equality wisdom, discriminating wisdom and all-accomplishing wisdom). It is the antidote to the poison of delusion. It is associated with Vairocana.

In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states of himself that he is the "boundless Dharmadhatu" - the Totality itself.

In Dzogchen text Gold refined from ore^[10] the term Dharmadhatu is translated as 'total field of events and meanings' or 'field of all events and meanings.' Such translation seems to be paralleling a modern Western philosophical approach to Philosophy of time: Eternalism.

See also

• Four Dharmadhātu

Notes

1. ^ There are three Chinese translations in the name of Ta-fang-kuang-fo hua-yen-ching. 1) T.9, no. 278, tr. by Buddhabhadra in sixty fascicles during 418-420; 2) T.10, no. 279 , by Śiksānanda in eighty fascicles during 695-699; and 3) T.10, no. 293, by Prajñā in forty fascicles during 795-798. The last one is basically equivalent to the last chapter of the previous versions, i.e., the Chapter on Entering into Dharmadhātu. This chapter is available in Sanskrit as an independent sutra called Gaṇdavyuha-sūtra, one ed. by D. T.Suzuki and H. Idzumi (Kyoto: The Sanskrit Buddhist Texts Publishing Society, 1934-36), and the other ed. by P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 5 (Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Post Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960).
2. ^ To be exact, it should be called the “dharmadhātu-pratītyasamutpāda” doctrine. But for the sake of convenience, it will be referred to as dharmadhātu doctrine hereafter.
3. ^ Oh, Kang-nam (2000). The Taoist Influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A Case of the Sinicization of Buddhism in China. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, No. 13, (2000). Source: [1] (accessed: January 28, 2008) pp. 280-281
4. ^ Trimondi, Victor & Victoria (2003). The Shadow of the Dalai Lama: Glossary of some Tantric Terms. Source: [2] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
5. ^ Scott, Jim (1998). In Praise of Dharmadhatu. (In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.) Source: [3] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
6. ^ Yutang Lin (2001). Dharmadhatu. Source: 'Dharmadhatu' (accessed: January 24, 2011).
7. ^ Scott, Jim (1998). In Praise of Dharmadhatu. (In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.) Source: [4] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
8. ^ Scott, Jim (1998). In Praise of Dharmadhatu. (In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.) Source: [5] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
9. ^ Scott, Jim (1998). In Praise of Dharmadhatu. (In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.) Source: [6] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
10. ^ Mañjuśrīmitra. Primordial experience. An Introduction to rDzogs-chen Meditation. Translated by Namkhai Norbu and Kennard Lipman in collaboration with Barrie Simmons. Shambhala, Boston & London, 2001

References

• Oh, Kang-nam (2000). The Taoist Influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A Case of the Sinicization of Buddhism in China. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, No. 13, (2000). Source: [7] (accessed: January 28, 2008)
• Trimondi, Victor & Victoria (2003). The Shadow of the Dalai Lama: Glossary of some Tantric Terms. Source: [8] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
• Tsogyel, Yeshe, (terton: Nyang Ral Nyima Oser), Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, (Editor Marcia Binder Schmidt) (1990). The Lotus-Born: The life story of Padmasambhava. Rangjung Yeshe Publications. Source: http://www.rangjung.com/books/lotus-born_glossary.htm (accessed: January 17, 2007).
• Friends of the Heart website. Source: http://www.friendsoftheheart.com/meditation_resources/left/glossary.shtml (accessed: January 17, 2007).
• Yutang Lin (2001). Dharmadhatu. Source: [9] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
• Scott, Jim (1998). In Praise of Dharmadhatu. (In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.) Source: [10] (accessed: January 17, 2007).
• The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes (Nirvana Publications 1999-2000), tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page.