RAINBOW BODY - MAHA-PARI-NIRVANA
The Buddhist term, Mahaparinirvana, meaning "great, complete Nirvana".
It usually refers to the ultimate state of Nirvana by an Awakened Being also termed a Buddha or "arhat" in Pali.
In Buddhism, parinirvana is the “final nirvana”, usually understood to be within reach upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening called bodhi.
(Sanskrit: parinirvāṇa; Pali: parinibbāṇa; Chinese: bō niè pán)
In Hinduism and Yoga parinirvana is called Mahasamadhi.
Mahaparinirvana is the goal in the Mahayana Buddhism and unlike "ordinary" Nirvana (awakening, enlightenment), Mahaparinirvana is the sublimest state realized by a soul, a state in which the Buddhic being awakens to "the Eternal and the Pure".
It is the ultimate attainment of Buddhist practice and implies a release from the bhavachakra, Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth as well as the dissolution of all worldly physical and mental aggregates.
This dissolution has the possibility of dissolving the physical form completely from 3 dimensional reality. There have been many souls that have achieved this state of actualization in Buddhist documentation.
In Pali: Arahant has the opportunity at the moment of physical death, when the mundane skandhas (constituent elements of the ordinary bodymind) are shed and only the Buddhic skandhas remain, to dissolve or incorrupt the physical form.
Normally this is thought to occur most easiest at the time of death but it may also (in the Mahayana) be attained during a Buddha's physical lifetime too. This is rare.
Parinirvana is depicted in the iconography of Indian religions and thangkas of Tibetan Buddhism by the five rainbow colors, the Five Pure Lights.
In the Dzogchen lineages of Mantrayana, parinirvana and mahasamadhi are refined into the phowa of the mindstream as the Rainbow Body.
The parinirvana of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha) is depicted in the Pali Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
To read more on this topic go to the realization page or click here.
© 2008 James Barrett Contact Me