Dzogchen / As it is [2]

~Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

We also need to clearly understand what is meant by the tenns 'samsara' and 'nirvana.' Nirvana means the fully realized buddha nature that consists of Body, Speech and Mind aspects. The Body is the essence that simply is. Speech is its nature, the cognizant quality that is vividly present. And Mind is the capacity, which is radiant. 

These three aspects comprise the basic presence of all buddhas. They are none other than their essence, nature and capacity. All sugatas are of this same identity. In the same way, samsara is the body, speech and mind of all sentient beings, which are the deluded expressions of their essence, nature and capacity. In this way, dharmadhatu encompasses all of samsara and nirvana. 

Dharmadhatu is adorned with dharmakaya, which is endowed with dharmadhatu wisdom. This is a brief but very profound statement, because 'dharmadhatu' also refers to sugata-garbha or buddha nature. Buddha nature is all-encompassing: this means it is present or basic to all states, regardless of whether they belong to samsara or nirvana. 

Remember, 'nirvana' refers to the Body, Speech and Mind of all the awakened ones. Body is the abiding essence, Speech is the vividly present nature, and Mind is the radiant capacity. These three, the Body, Speech and Mind of all buddhas, are also known as the three vajras.

This buddha nature is present just as the shining sun is present in the sky. It is indivisible from the three vajras of the awakened state, which do not perish or change. Vajra Body is the unchanging quality, vajra Speech is the unceasing quality and vajra Mind is the undeluded, unmistaken quality. So, the buddha nature or dharmadhatu is the three vajras; at the same time, its expression manifests as the deluded body, speech and mind of all beings. 

In the normal sense of the word, 'body' refers to something perishable composed of flesh and blood. 'Speech' refers to intermittent utterances that come and go and eventually perish. And 'mind' refers to thought states and emotions that come and go, come and go, under the power of dualistic attitude, like beads on a rosary. These mental states are also transient. 

Everyone agrees that the body, speech and mind of living beings are constandy changing, continually coming and going. Still, the basis of our ordinary body, speech and mind is the buddha nature, the dharmadhatu that encompasses all of samsara and nirvana. There isn't a single being for whom this isn't so.