Manifested body
manifested body
応身 (Skt nirmana-kaya; Jpn ojin )
One of the three bodies of a Buddha, the others being the Dharma body and the reward body. The Sanskrit term nirmana-kaya literally means body of transformation.
The manifested body is the physical form that a Buddha assumes in this world in order to save people. In other words, it is the body with which a Buddha carries out compassionate actions to lead people to enlightenment.
A Buddha of this kind is called a Buddha of the manifested body.
The T'ient'ai school distinguishes two types of manifested body: the inferior manifested body, or the Buddha who appears for the sake of ordinary people,
persons of the two vehicles, and bodhisattvas who have not yet reached the first stage of development (the forty-first stage of bodhisattva practice);
and the superior manifested body, or the Buddha who appears for the sake of bodhisattvas at the first stage of development and beyond. See also three bodies.
see also: Nirmaṇakāya
