superior manifested body ［勝応身］ ( shō-ōjin): Also, Buddha of the superior manifested body. One of two types of manifested body, the physical form in which a Buddha appears in order to save the people; the other is the inferior manifested body. The manifested body, the Dharma body, and the reward body constitute the three bodies of a Buddha. The Buddha of the superior manifested body is the Buddha who appears for the sake of bodhisattvas at or above the first stage of development, i.e., the forty-first of the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice. The Buddha of the inferior manifested body is the Buddha who appears for the benefit of ordinary people, persons of the two vehicles (voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones), and bodhisattvas below the first stage of development.