Nirmāṇakāya
In Mahšyšna Buddhism, one of the three “vestures” or “bodies” (TRIKšYA) of the Buddha, the other two being SambhogakšYA and DharmakšYA. Its literal meaning is “Transformation Body” and was postulated to refer to the Body “in which a Buddha or Bodhisattva appears on earth.” But according to Helena P. BLAVATSKY this is incorrect. A Nirm€Šak€ya, she says, is a person who has left the physical body after death, but retains every other principle except the k€ma-r™pa or body of lower desires (although in another article [CW VII:188 fn.] Blavatsky states that Nirm€Šak€ya are the astral forms of Adepts). Instead of entering the deserved bliss of the after-life, “he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an invisible yet most effective manner . . . Verily a guardian angel, to him who becomes worthy of his help” (Theosophical Glossary, p. 231). In contrast, a person who chooses to live in the Sambhogak€ya or Dharmak€ya vestures loses all contact with the physical world. The Nirm€Šak€ya vesture can be made visible or invisible at will.
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