"No self exists in the sense of a permanent, eternal, integral, and independent substance within an individual existent." WisdomLib

Related to the concept of emptiness. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

When I understand that this glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.
Ajahn Chah

... This group of languages includes old and modern Persian, Kurdish, Ossetic, Pashto, Beluchi, and Scythian, as well as the languages more closely related to Sanskrit: Assamese, Bengali, Bihari, Cutchi, Gujerati, Hindi, Kashmikri, Magadhi, Sinhalese (on Sri Lanka) and Urdu.

In the Veda, Arya is the name by which the authors refer to themselves and their own people. The other people in india are called Dasyu. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

The Aryan people probably migrated into india around 5000-3000 BCE. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Originally this word meant "breath", then, in the sense of "last breath", its meaning develops into "spirit". Yet the concept of an individual spirit or soul is curiously underdeveloped in Hinduism, if one compares its evolution in Christian thinking.

From a Western point of view, on the other hand, the abstract concept of atman is very difficult to grasp, precisely because it is not limited to an individual soul or spirit. Atman is our innermost self, so deeply hidden inside our minds that most people never even discover it. The sages, however, (Plato's "philosphers") recognize in the innermost nucleus of their psyche that which is identical with the divine world-soul, the cosmic all-soul out of which all moving life and thinking perception emanates, the Universal consciousness, atman.

Tat tvam asi: thou art that."
This is the famous phrase containing the essence of Hinduism, which is the philosophy of self-identification. Not what distinguishes me from other beings, but that which unifies me with the Essence of Life of the Universe itself, that is me, that is my own essence, the element of all the elements, out of which the entire creation grew like a tree growing out of a seed, the seed containing the essence.

Atman thus means "world-spirit, the limitless ocean of the soul-universe," as well as "individual soul, my own spirit". Whoever can think through these two absolutely contradictory concepts and see them as one, that person has begun to grasp the essence of Hinduism. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

In some teachings of Buddhism, there are five atmans: Atman - 'sight',
Niratman - 'hearing',
Antaratman - 'breath',
Paratman - 'voice',
Chetanatman - 'consciousness', which gives unity to the whole. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"The beautiful is the experimental proof that the incarnation is possible." go: more at Wikipedia.org (new window - secure tab)Simone Weil

The next existence to which one will be reborn.

Part of samsara to which all human beings are chained.

The 10th of the twelve links of dependent origination, as pictured on the wheel of life.

The Buddha is often sculpted in this mudra position, which represents the moment when he called the earth to witness (sparsha) that he had never interrupted his severe asceticism and was never seduced. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"Given by Shiva to Vishnu as a weapon to destroy the demons. Vishnu throws it in such a way that it emits sparks while rotating. It never misses its mark." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Also samsara, Wheel of Dharma, Wheel of Life.

... the 136 hells below, the 26 heavens above, and in between the worlds of the animals, ghosts, demons, and people. The center is Mount Meru." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Used by the 13th Dalai Lama for the relationship between
tibetan lamas and mongol khans or emperors of
"china" region's Qing dynasty. go: Patron and priest relationship - at Wikipedia.orgref

They may represent the quintessence of a teaching as well as the experience of a certain state of consciousness, which hereby can be recalled or recreated deliberately at any time. Therefore they are also called supporters, receptacles or bearers of wisdom (vidyadhara).

They are not different from mantras in their function but to some extent in their form, in so far as they may attain a considerable length and sometimes represent a combination of many mantras or 'seed-syllables' (bija-mantras), or the quintessence of a sacred text.

They were a product as well as a means of meditation: “through deep absorption (samadhi) one gains a truth, through a dharani one fixes and retains it.” ref

The mudra of the Dhyani-Buddhas Vairocana and Maitreya, signifying the never-ending cycle suffering cause by ever-returning births and deaths, which is in turn caused by samudaya (desire). biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref
See also bhava cakra, samsara.

The other two aspects are the sambhogakaya (enjoyment body), and nirmanakaya (enamation body),

Dharamakaya is: "The ultimate body, the absolute. It is without form, substance, or concept of any sort, including existence and nonexistence. It is the formless form we enter through the gateless gate. The dharmakaya is, as it says in one Vajrayana chant, 'nothing whatever but everything arises from it.'" LionsRoar

... Literally 'the Body of the Law', the substance of the Law, which is Buddha themself, being pure Truth. This substance has no shape, so that it is not in any place, nor is there a place where it is not. It neither comes nor does it go anywere." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"The 'Body of Quiddity' or 'Essential Body' of all the Buddhas; the 'Body of the Norm'; the inexpressible reality underlying everything." biblio: Born Trungpa"ref

The Fire Sermon

The earnest spiritual aspirant ... advances like a fire, burning all his fetters. The Buddha

The artist should be like the prisoner, tied to the stake, signaling through the flames. Antonin Artaud

"Lord Buddha said: 'This is true suffering; this is true cause; this is true cessation; this is the true path.'

He also said: 'Know the sufferings; give up their causes; attain the cessation of sufferings; follow the true paths.'

Again, he said: 'Know the sufferings although there is nothing to know; relinquish the causes of misery although there is nothing to relinquish; be earnest in cessation although there is nothing to cease; practise the means of cessation although there is nothing to practice.'
...
According to the Madhyamika theory (originally taught by Nagarjuna, ... a theory which remains supreme among all the theories of different Buddhist schools, the explanation of these Truths is this: True suffering means Samsara (the entire round of existence, of birth and rebirth ) arising from Karma (that is, action and reaction) and from delusion. True cause means karma and delusion, which are the causes of true suffering. True cessation means the complete disappearance by degrees of the preceding two truths. The true path is the method by which we arrive at true cessation."

-- XIV Dalai Lama biblio: HHDL Introduction to Buddhismref

"The latest of the four schools ... founded early in the fifteenth century by Lobsang Tragpa (Tsongkhapa) ... In this school great emphasis is laid on scriptural study and learning generally." [ ref ] biblio: Born in Tibet, Chogyam Trungparef biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

Main goal is to reach enlightenment (bodhi), and become an arhat.

"seek to attain nirvana for the individual's own sake. ... the mind should be trained to exercise a strong will in order to renounce Samsara: it should pursue religious ethics, and simultaneously practice concentration (Samadhi) and meditation ( Vipassana: Tibetan - Lhagthong ), so that delusion and the seeds of delusion may be purged, and may not grow again. Thus Nirvana is attained. The paths to be followed including the Paths of Preparation, Application, Seeing, Practice and Fulfillment."
-- XIV Dalai Lama biblio: HHDL Introduction to Buddhismref

One school of Hinayana is Theravada.

(This particular terminology belongs to the Northern schools of Buddhism; the Southern schools do not use these terms). biblio: Born in Tibet, Chogyam Trungparef

The leader of this school is the Karmapa Lama (?), or Gyalwa Karmapa. One of its teachers is the Trungpa Tulku
All monks of this school are given the first name Karma after the founder of the school.

“Patient contemplation, affectionate contemplation of our sadness, is just one more invitation to practise contemplation first instead of practising reactivity first, judging first, talking first.” go: article about patience by Corrado Pensa at buddhismnow.com (new window - secure tab)">ref

Nice article by Corrado Pensa at Buddhism Now and good discussions at Buddhism Stack Exchange.

'Sex is a powerful force in us all. In itself it is neither "good" nor "bad." But it can certainly create problems." ... It is "just about the strongest urge there is" and like all other forms of attachment can be a hindrance to enlightenment.

'"I am in love" means "I want me to be happy, through you";
"I love" means "I want to see you happy."'

more at go: "Buddhism and Sex" at Viet.net (new window - secure tab)Viet.net

Tibetan word ku is the honorific term used to refer to an enlightened being's 'body'. lü designates an 'ordinary' person's body.

From go to 'kaya' at RigpaWiki.org (new window - secure tab)RigpaWiki

Bodies, or aspects, in which the Universal Buddha dwells in the cosmos as a living spirit, motivated by compassion for our suffering, full of complete knowledge and wisdom. There are three kayas: Dharmakaya, Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Discussions at: About.com Wikipedia WisdomLib

According to Tibetan astrological calculations, some days in a month could be missed out or repeated, and sometimes in a year a whole month could be missed out or repeated."

"Tibetan months do not have names but are designated by numbers. The seven days of the week are represented by by the sun, moon, and the five visible planets. In ancient Tibet, the calendar followed a 12-year cycle. In the eleventh century, a 60-year cycle named Rabjung was introduced. biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

The Tibetan New Year is called Losar.

Knowing the predilections and capacities of sentient beings, the Buddha lures them to various paths to escape saṃsāra by offering them something that appeals to their limited aspirations. However, this is his skillful method. When they have set out on that path, or even reached its final destination, he reveals that there is only one path and one goal, far superior to what he had taught before: the single vehicle to buddhahood. Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

English often flattens the concept of love in Sanskrit by translating all nine varieties of love with the one word “love”: Pratap Bhanu Mehta 19 aug 2015

“Sanskrit has ninety-six words for love; ancient Persian has eighty, Greek three, and English only one." Lorin Roche 2011

25 pages of Sanskrit words for love: SpokenSanskrit.de

"The presumed dichotomy between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna can be deceptive, as the two terms were not actually formed in relation to one another in the same era." WikiPedia

"Began to flourish in northwest india (in what is now northwest Pakistan) just before the beginning of the Christian era." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan KnappertKnappert

"The Mahayana books are all based on the Sanskrit tradition of Buddhism, many works now in use in China are known only in Chinese translation, the Sanskrit original having been lost." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"The mutation of the original 'pure' Buddhism in China can partly be explained by the fundamental difference in structure between Sanskrit and Chinese. Sanskrit is composed of complex words which are strung together into long sentences with an advanced logical content. Chinese is composed of autonomous monosyllabic roots each of which contains endless reflections of semantic facets, which cannot well be understood without an older master. Thus Mahayana became the doctrine which has to be studied with a hierarchical superior, whereas the original Buddhism teaches spiritual independence." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

The mountain used by the gods for the churning of the milk ocean when they created the universe. The mountain was the pole around which the snake Basuki was wound. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

" ... the root man = 'to think' (in Greek 'menos', Latin 'mens') is combined with the element tra which forms tool-words. Thus mantra is a 'tool for thinking', a 'thing which creates a mental picture'. With its sounds it calls forth its content into a state of immediate reailty." ref

Historically emphasized more in Mahayana than in Theravada Buddhism.

The set of cognitive faculties that enables consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, and memory.
more at Wikipedia

Life is the co-existence of mind (nama) and matter (rupa).
more at Viet.net

Meditation is a vehicle to tame monkey mind. ... when monkey mind is tamed, focused, and quiet, it has great energy and power. What is Monkey Mind?

“[In the Upanishads it is stated that] liberation is ‘untying the knots of the heart’. So, whatever is a knot in the heart is something to be given up, to be renounced, to be let go of.”
— Corrado Pensa, BuddhismNow.com

"The prayer acts as inspiration by arousing the mind's inherent desire for good, which attracts the fulfillment of its aim." go: @FPMT_Nalana on Twitter.com (new window - secure tab)ref

In Tibetan, "monlam" usually refers to the Great Prayer Festival, on the evening of the full moon of the first month of the Tibetan year (called lokhor).

This commemorates the Buddha's victory over heretics at Sravasti.

The great TsongKhapa introduced these festivities, which had been celebrated since the Earth Female Ox year of the seventh 60-year cycle (1409). biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

"Buddha said repeatedly: 'Let all beings be happy.' Gladness should be shared with all those who are in need of it. There should never be hatred or jealousy. Each of us can become a Buddha and approach our fellow beings with the mood of empathetic harmony that causes Buddhas to smile." go to biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan KnappertKnappert

The Manifestation-Body, that is, the form in which the Buddha has shown themself to humanity, as human as possible, going through birth, old age, and death. All the time he is motivated by his compassion for humanity, hoping that people will learn from his example and by following them, will find enlightenment, and an end to pain." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"The state of neither being nor not being, that is, the state of being without opposites. As long as there are opposites, there are conflicts, there is a chain of action and reaction, and a man is the slave of karma." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"the condition of the removal of opposites, ... As a result his consciousness has expanded to include all other conscious minds ... is thus in constant contact with the feeling-centres of all other beings on earth and elsewhere. The result is perfect compasson with all other beings, the effect of a total understanding of each of them." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

"Samsara, in another sense, implies a bondage. Nirvana implies a liberation from this bondage: the true cessation, the third of the Noble Truths. ... If the roots of delusion are thoroughly extracted, if creation of new Karma to cause rebirth in the circle of Samsara is brought to an end, if there are no more delusions to fertilize the Karma persisting from the past, then the continual rebirth of the suffering being will cease. Such a being, however, will not cease to exist. It has always existed in a body with a mortal residue. a body born because of prevous Karma and delusion. But after the cessation of rebirth, after the liberation from Samsara and the achievement of Nirvana, it will continue to have consciousness and a spiritual body free of delusion. This is the meaning of the true cessation of suffering." biblio: HHDL Introduction to Buddhismref

"Nirvana can indicate a lower stage, in which there is simply no suffering, and also it can mean the highest stage, called Buddhahood. This is the stage of supreme Enlightenment, total and unqualified, free from all moral and mental defilement, and from the defilement caused by the power of discriminative thoughts." biblio: HHDL Introduction to Buddhismref
-- XIV Dalai Lama

"Obstacles aren’t to be avoided.
When we apply the right antidotes, they are the path itself."
— Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

skt: "Symbol of Divinity when used as a 'pedestal' by the gods. Signifies the soul rising out of the darkness of ignorance towards the light of knowledge, to rest serenely on the surface of the water." biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Symbol of Maitreya.

skt: Brahma resides on a lotus flower when he creates the earth, Bhu, from the primal ocean. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Buddhism as philosophy:
Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and systematic presentation. Classic philosophical questions include: Is it possible to know anything and to prove it? What is most real? Philosophers also pose more practical and concrete questions such as: Is there a best way to live? Is it better to be just or unjust (if one can get away with it)? Do humans have free will. Wikipedia: Philosophyquestioningref

Buddhism teaching and Socratic questioning:
Socratic questioning is "an educational method that focused on discovering answers by asking questions from his students." Wikipedia: Socratic questioningref
Socratic questioning at Wikipedia
Socratic method at Wikipedia
Nice discussion at Buddhism.StackExchange.com

"In ancient Tibet, the calendar followed a 12-year cycle. Each year was associated with an animal: horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, pig, mouse, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, and snake. In the eleventh century, a 60-year cycle named Rabjung was introduced. combining the animal names with the five elements: wood, fire, earth, iron, and water. In this system, each element was combined twice with the same animal. In order to differentiate the two years bearing the same name, the first was called 'male' and the second 'female'. This cycle began in 1027. A year is called a Lokhor." biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

"Day and night are divided into two-hour periods, designated by the twelve animals as follows: daybreak/hare; sunrise/dragon; morning/snake; noon/horse; afternoon/sheep; evening/monkey; sunset/bird; dusk/dog; early night/pig; midnight/mouse; late night/ox; dawn/tiger." biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

Many jewels (precious objects) appeared when the gods churned the ocean with the pivot at creation.

One of the Three Precious Jewels.
One of the twelve goddesses.

"While we remain more or less enmeshed in a selfhood regarded as our own, past and future lives are continually being produced by those forces which still bind us to worldly existence." biblio: Born in Tibet, Chogyam Trungparef

Not the same as reincarnation

"The idea of reincarnation is part of the Buddhist philosophical framework. It is not part of the Buddha's teachings, but is considered by all Asians, whatever their donomination, to be a natural phenomenon. The Buddha taught that the 'ego' or 'soul' does not transmigrate. A life becomes the result of a previous one through a kind of kinetic energy. Any individual who has reached a high level of spiritual develoment is supposed to be able to direct this energy in a special way at the time of his death, so that it gives birth to a tulku - a reincarnated lama." biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

An enlightened being is reborn as a tulku, or bodhisattva.

"The neat separation between religion and philosophy we insist on today didn't exist in western civilization until the 18th century or so, and there never was such a separation in eastern civilization." source

“The categories 'Buddhism' and 'Hinduism' are products of the modern discourse on 'world religions,' and as such they possess both strengths and weaknesses when applied to contexts in which the word religion itself was not an emic [descrete phonetic] term prior to the modern period.”

“Thailand, in particular, provides an excellent example of the way in which the boundaries between 'Buddhism' and 'Hinduism' — which, according to the parameters of the discourse on 'world religions,' informed as they are by Protestant assumptions about religion, should be wholly separate — are often strained in an actual Asian context.“ source

The answer may only depend on the criteria you are using to define "religion". (I think this is true of most -- all? -- differences in opinions.)
One criteria offered is: “Religion is a means to ultimate transformation.”
“... for something to be considered a religion, it must posit a clear and distinct ultimate reality. ... [and] offer some clear and distinct path, or choice of paths, to the experience of that ultimate reality. ”
— Charles Prebish LionsRoar.com

more definitions:

It can be said that Buddhism is a practice, or an "applied religious philosophy", and not a religion in the strictest sense. Buddhism does contain a set of beliefs concerning reality, but in essence: does not concern itself with "creation"; "gods"; blindly following faith or a moral code (instead emphasizing personal knowledge); reliance on prayer (rather on using personal meditation as a tool for knowledge).

Buddhism is also a religion by any definition of that indefinable term — unless one narrowly defines religion as belief in a creator god. Tricycle.com

Also, again, keeping in mind: "The neat separation between religion and philosophy we insist on today didn't exist in western civilization until the 18th century or so, and there never was such a separation in eastern civilization." Budddhism.About.com

Some more good discussions are at BuddhaNet.net, ReligiousTolerance.org, Homeoint.org,

In deeper connotation, can mean bodhicitta itself. go: Rigpa at THLib.org
(type "rig pa" in the translation box)
"Bodhicitta" in "DM" sectionref

The opposite of the most basic of the basic poisons, ma rig pa, or avidya, ignorance.

more at go: Rigpa at RigpaWiki.orgRigpaWiki go: Rigpa at THLib.org
(type "rig pa" in the translation box)THLib go: Rigpa at Wikipedia.orgWikipedia

Founded by Khion Konchog Gyalpo in the eleventh century. biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

"Sakya" also was the kingdom in which Gautama Buddha was born, and of which he was prince.
(Also called Sakya.)

Some good info is here.

"One of the three aspects of the Buddha's cosmic body. In this body, wisdom and compassion have become one spirit. biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

The other two aspects are the dharmakaya (truth body), and nirmanakaya (enamation body),

“(Hence the word Sanskrit, literally "refined synthesis", the exquisite language of philosophy, consciously selected and composed by scholars from the best elements of the Aryan dialects.)

“For a human being, samskara means "education, refinement, erudition", since that is the decoration of the soul, making a gross mind into a spirtual work of art, the highest intellectual achievement.

“Represented by the Dhyani-Buddha Amoghasiddhi.” biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

Also meaning the karma formations, the second of the twelve links of dependent origination, as pictured on the wheel of life.

"... renouncing attachment, aversion and ignorance, renouncing whatever is toxic, whatever is an extra burden in our lives, whatever complicates and creates knots in our lives."
"We might say that nekkhamma is the direct practice of nonattachment, and that the other virtues are exercises in nonattachment in a less direct way."
"We know what to let go of, when and how [through discernment]. Otherwise it is not renunciation.
— Corrado Pensa, BuddhismNow.com

Thoughts at an extreme(?): "for Buddhists, feeling like you’re ‘losing your grip’ on reality and your once conventional, stable notion of self can mean progress, can carry an air of triumph ..." Ben Joffe

Tibetan Buddhism has traditions of Nyingma, Kagyud, Sakya, Geluk and Jonang.

"Each of the schools adheres to all the teachings of Hinayana Mahayana, including Tantrayana, for Tibetan Buddhists do not separate these teachings, but pay equal respect to them all. For moral guidance, they conform to the Vinaya rules which are principally followed by Hinayanists, while for more esoteric practices, of every degree of profundity, they use the methods of the Mathayana (mahayana?) and Tantrayana schools." biblio: HHDL Introduction to Buddhismref

"All schools recognize the Dalai Lama as the temporal and spiritual leader of all Tibetans." biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

• "The difference between the wise Buddhist and the sectarian Buddhist is like that between the vastness of space and the narrowness of a vase."
  Kongtrul Rinpoche
  With more useful information, at ViewOnBuddhism.org
• A nice, and clear, outline of differences at AlanPeto.com

The same eye with which i see god
is the same eye with which god sees me.
— Meister Eckhart

Of course there are alternate realities.
There are over 7 billion on this planet alone.
— @TheTweetOfGod

We are here to learn how to be.
— ??

The whole universe consists of
a cosmic Self playing hide-and-seek (Lila);
hiding from itself (Maya)
by becoming all the living and non-living things in the universe
and forgetting what it really is —
the upshot being that we are all IT in disguise.
— Alan Watts

All the violence, fear, and suffering
That exists in the world
Comes from grasping at self.
— Santideva

And so, the purpose of Buddhism is
1) to help us learn how to be, and
2) to help us learn how to let go of that being.
— tmx

In the classic Tibetan image of the Wheel of life, it is held by Yama, god of the dead.

Six inner sections of the circle are the six realms of rebirth:
Gods, Demi-gods (Titans), Human Beings, Yi-dag, (Pretas, hungry ghosts) Animals, Hells.

These can be interpreted as the different mental states:

1. godly (powerful)
2. human (moral)
3. hungry ghost (addicted)
4. animal (amoral)
5. hells (suffering).

The twelve sections on the circumference show the twelve links of dependent origination: avidya, sanskara, vijnana, nama-rupa, sada yatanani, sparsa, vedana, trsna, updana, bhava, jati, and jara-marana,

more in texts BuddhismNow WisdomLib

Originated in ancient Mesopotamia as a symbol of the cervix. Came in to india with the Aryans, where it represented Shakti, the mother. Entered Tibet with the teachings of the Hindu, tantric tradition.
In Judaism, it represents the magen david, shield of King David. Did not become a Jewish symbol until late Middle Ages.

To be reached through

1. letting go
2. inviting positive seeds
3. mindfulness-based joy
4. concentration
5. insight

I think of it as bringing all the daily world into your practice all day.

The word tantra originally meant a loom (connected with tantu, thread), then came to mean any structure.

BuddismNow WisdomLib

Advanced meditation teachings, including deity yoga, promising speedy enlightenment.

Makes use of mantras (formulas), yantras (symbols), mudras (hand positions), and mandalas.

go: Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse RinpocheKhyentse Rinpoche reminds us of go: article at Patheos.com (new window - secure tab)"Social media guidelines for so-called Vajrayana students"

... The accused is made to stand for several hours in front of the populace gathered for the occasion. Family, children, and friends are obliged to take part. The accused must criticize himself, and those who are close to him must insult him, beat him and even spit on him. Humiiated and held up to ridicule, the accused often asks for a quick death." biblio: Jetsun Pema, Tibet My Storyref

This punishment was introduced to Tibet with the invasion of the Chinese forces. The psychology of this system was explored in the Stanford prison experiment

"These three bodies are different manifestations of enlightened mind, and they are also the true nature of all sentient beings. In fact, the transformation of conventional body, speech, and mind into the three kayas is the basis of the Vajrayana path." LionsRoar

The best known interpretation is from the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, whose founder Nagarjuna originally propounded the doctrine. Wikipedia

The whole is always there — it is only because of the whole that the particular exists, but one cannot see the whole as one would a part. We say it is like the eye which sees, but cannot see itself, or the knife which can cut, but cannot cut itself. So to see the absolute, one should not hold on to anything in the relative world. Two Levels of Truth

The parable of the blind men and the elephant can be helpful when thinking about views of reality.

Some more good discussions are at Buddhism.About.com,

Form is no other than emptiness; emptiness no other than form. Form is exactly emptiness; emptiness exactly form. The Buddha, The Heart Sutra

Which can also be related to matter (form) and energy (emptiness) — you cannot measure both at the same time.

In tibetan buddhism:

Represented by the second Dhyani-Buddha, Akshobhya biblio: Indian Mythology, Jan Knappertref

The third of the twelve links of dependent origination, as pictured on the wheel of life.

In science and buddhism:

"New theories in neuroscience suggest consciousness is an intrinsic property of everything, just like gravity."
(Integrated Information Theory (IIT), a fundamental theory of consciousness)
discussion between neuroscientist Christof Koch and the Dalai Lama

Along with its related illusions such as "patriotism", "nationalism", "politics", etc., is used by individuals to vent their emotions, by nation-states and governments to control their people, and by businesses to make money — all because caught in samsara and attachedness.

Zen places supreme emphasis on self-power: on the active mobilization of all one’s energies towards the realization of the ideal of enlightenment.

Tibetan Zen

Sam van Schaik has found a tradition of Tibetan Zen in an extensive study of rare ninth- and tenth-century Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang. Lion's Roar, 20 April 2016