Understanding Dhammakāya: A Noble Identity : หน้า 79/141

As a noun, the term refers to the new identity of a noble person once he/she is transubstantiated either from the worldly plane to a supramundane plane or from a lower transcendent state to a higher. A close reading suggests that there are different levels of dhammakāya and they can be developed up to the final perfection. Nevertheless, dhammakāya in each level can be regarded as being 'sufficient' as a 'complete body' capable of performing the function pertaining to that particular transcendent state. Dhamma kaya, therefore, represents the reality spiritually realized by, and identified with, the Buddha, rather than his teaching. In other words, dhammakāya in the Pali canonical context represents the dhamma-body instrumental to enlightenment. It is the body from which the Buddha's teachings originate, rather than being a 'collection of his teachings' as has been previously claimed. **Appendix:** *Theravādin Views on the Term* *Dhammakāya* Traditional writings mark the attempts of the early community to understand the Buddhist teaching(s) intellectually. In the Theravādin traditional writings, two commentators who provide main explanations of the term are Buddhaghosa and Dhammapala. Buddhaghosa, in most instances, refers to dhammakāya substantively. He either relates the term to the Buddha’s purified