Another feature of the body of light is that at the time of attaining buddhahood, having completed the four visions of leap-over practice, one does not discard the body, leaving behind a corpse. Nor does the body dissolve into atoms, as in the resultant phase of cutting-through. What happens is that coarse matter is transformed into the subtle nature of light, or more precisely (since this is not really a transformation of matter), it is a question of the transformation of the vision that seems to transform matter in our sensory perception. Since the body remains connected to the subtle mind or awareness (rig pa), and not severed as in ordinary death or in the dissolution of the atoms, the body of light is able to bring about benefit to innumerable beings. This doctrine very closely resembles what is described for the resurrection body of Jesus Christ: the resurrected body is not severed from the divine and human consciousness of Christ. Moreover, the resurrected body continues to be present in the sacramental rituals of the church, particularly in the Eucharist, in order to bring about salvation without limits of time, space or ordinary perception. It is interesting that, according to the research in primary sources presented above, there is a question of the relativity of perception and there is also a possibility for leaving behind relics. In the Christian experience of the resurrection, the category of “faith” (Greek: pistis) describes the relativity of perception, as is clear from the earliest Christian texts that survive (the authentic letters of Paul101). At the same time, the category of anamnetic memory (that is, memory that brings about presence, and not just memory of a past event) is operative in the Eucharist and other sacraments that make present the risen Christ. The mysterious relics of the shroud, the Eucharistic elements, and the various visionary experiences also coincide with what has been said above about relics for the benefit of sentient beings. Some of the Eucharistic miracles are quite extraordinary, defying the normal decay processes associated with flesh and blood (Lanciano, and more recently in Argentina102). It is also significant that the blood relics of the Shroud of Turin and other physical relics (the Holy Face in Manupella, Abruzzo, Italy, and the Sudarium [wiping cloth] in Orviedo, Spain) as well as the Eucharistic relics all have characteristics in common, such as the relatively rare AB blood type. These phenomena suggest that the resurrection of Jesus had, and continues to have, features in common with the Tibetan rainbow body/ body of light phenomenon.
In our next chapter, we will explore a kind of Christian spiritual practice, historically antecedent to Tibetan dzogchen, in order to coordinate our study of both the rainbow body and the resurrection. This moves our essay forward towards a consideration of the origins of the great perfection.