Celebration of Buddha's Birthday

On May 16th Green Dragon Temple celebrated Buddha's Birthday. The morning lecture was given by Tenshin Reb Anderson. He spoke about the birth of Buddha and the three bodies of Buddha. The lecture was followed by a ceremony on the lawn and Taiko drumming led by Rev. Tom Kurai of Los Angeles.

Photos of the event can be seen here.

The three bodies of Buddha are the truth or reality body, the bliss body and the transformation body.

1. Truth or Reality Body (Dharmakaya)

• The truth body is that which pervades and underlies all experience and all appearances;

• it is the essential body.

• Has no beginning or end.
  

2. Bliss body (Sambogakaya)

• The bliss body is the joyful experience of Buddha's Enlightenment

• it is the Wisdom body

• Has a beginning but no end.
  

3. Transformation body (Nirmanakaya)

• The transformation body is the corporeal manifestation of Buddha in a human body
  

• It is the Action body

• Has a beginning (birth) and end (death)

You can listen to the Reb's entire talk on the SFZC website.

If you have ever wondered why the Buddha touched the earth when he attained enlightenment, it had to do with these three bodies of Buddha. Check out an interesting article by Reggie Ray, which covers this and the three bodies in more depth.