A Historical Comparison

To get a somewhat clearer view of the figure of the bodhisattva central to Mahayana Buddhism, we will turn once again to the first traces of a theological discussion between Christianity and Buddhism in eighth-century China. Although the translation of a number of passages of the Jesus Messiah Sutra cited in Chapter 5 is disputed and scholars are anxiously awaiting better translations, a few striking observations can be made on the basis of the translations now available.

In one fragment, the buddhas are associated with angels and their work with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In the other, Buddha even seems to be placed directly alongside God. But then the question arises immediately as to which dimension of existence (kaya) in the doctrine of the Buddha's three dimensions, the so-called trikaya, is associated with God here. Is it the nirmanakaya, the visible (historical) Buddha and those who became buddhas after him because of how they lived on earth? Or is it the sambhogakaya, the heavenly buddhas, who are present in a beneficial way for us? Or is it the dharmakaya, the non-physical essence of a buddha, the buddhahood that can in principle be attained by anyone?

This teaching of the buddha's three dimensions of existence – (1) as a historical buddha, (2) as an auspiciously present heavenly buddha, and (3) as an internal ideal that every believer can in principle attain – seems to play a key role in the way in which Christians attribute meaning to Jesus in a Buddhist context now as well.