Dharmadhatu (; ; ) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhÃÂtu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality. Entire Dharmadhatu was filled with an infinite number of buddha-lands (Sanskrit:àbuddhaká¹£etra) with ineffable number of Buddhas. This realm is beyond of everything, and it is visible only to Buddhas and all other Bodhisattvas in existence.
In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhatu means "realm of all phenomena", "realm of all things" (the entire universe with all visible and invisible things) or "realm of eternal truth". It is referred to by several analogous terms from Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, such as tathÃÂtà(reality "as-it-is"), à Âà «nyatà(emptiness), pratitya-samutpada (dependent co-arising) and eternal Buddha. It is the "deepest nature, or essence".
Dharmadhatu is the purified mind in its natural state, free of obscurations. It is the essence-quality or primal nature of mind, the fundamental ground of consciousness of the trikaya, which is accessed via the mindstream.
When the buddha-nature has been realised, dharmadhatu is also referred to as the DharmakÃÂya, the Body of Dharma Truth.
It is associated with supreme cosmic buddha Vairocana.
Kang-nam Oh traces the origin of dharmadhatu to the Avatamsaka Sutra. It has been further developed by the Hua-yen school:
The à ÂrëmÃÂlÃÂdevë Sà «tra (3rd century CE), also named The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala, centers on the teaching of the tathagatagarbha as "ultimate soteriological principle". It states that the tathagata-garbha is the "embryo" of the Dharmadhatu and the Dharmakaya:
In the à ÂrëmÃÂlÃÂdevë Sà «tra, there are two possible states for the Tathagatagarbha:
The sutra itself states it this way:
The DharmadhÃÂtustava ("In praise of the Dharmadhatu"), attributed to NÃÂgÃÂrjuna though questioned, is a treatise on the dharmadhatu. According to the DharmadhÃÂtustava, the dharmadhatu is the ground which makes liberation possible:
According to the DharmadhÃÂtustava, the dharmadhatu is seen when the afflictions are purified:
In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha states of himself that he is the "boundless Dharmadhatu" - the totality itself.
The Dharmadhatu is comprehended by one of the Five Wisdoms:
In the Dzogchen text Gold refined from ore, the term Dharmadhatu is translated as "total field of events and meanings" or "field of all events and meanings".