INTRO TO BUDDHISM

THREE PRECIOUS JEWELS;
 
THE BUDDHA, THE DHARMA & THE SANGHA
 
In Buddhism one takes refuge by entrusting one’s spiritual growth and well-being in the Three Precious Jewels. The three precious jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. In the Buddha, the fully enlightened teacher, perfect qualities of enlightenment is sought. In the dharma, the true path and realization of the path is sought and in the sangha the spiritual community, perfect companionship on the path to buddhahood is sought.
 
The deeper meaning of taking refuge emerges when the objects of refuge become perfected states of one’s own inner potentials.
 
In the context of tantric preliminary practices, refuge is also taken in the ‘three roots’ ; the guru, meditational deity and dakini; along with doctrinal protectors.
 
The Buddha unifies the multiplicity of diverse human unities into a community Sangha, a oneness, by means of the universal Dharma. The community acts with one accord, where once there was a panoply of views and ignorant chaotic action, now there is order, governed by the liberative principles of dharma.
 
The Buddha; Immutable and immeasurable free of all limitations, radiant beyond compare, the Tathågatas communicate the profound joy of enlightenment. Called into being by Great Compassion, the Buddhas of our aeon appear in all realms of existence, illuminating the view and the path that liberates all sentient beings from sufferings of birth and death.[i]
 
The term Buddha is an epithet for those who have achieved enlightenment (bodhi), the goal of the Buddhist religious life. Buddha comes from the Sanskrit root ‘budh’; meaning to awaken, and the Buddhas are those who have awakened to the true nature of things as taught in the Four Noble Truths. Doctrinally, the Buddhas are those who have attained nirvana by destroying all defilements. Accordingly they are free of sensual craving, becoming, and ignorance.
 
The Dharma; The Dharma is the good law, truth unimpaired by desires and delusions that ensnare human beings; the Dharma is the Buddha’s teachings in words, signs, and actions, delivered with regard for all living beings; the Dharma is the view and the path which leads to liberation from suffering. Imparted in three turnings, the Buddha’s teachings provide three vehicles to realization, benefiting all in accordance with their needs and understanding.[ii]
 
Dharma is a term of great significance. It has several meanings. Fundamentally it means spiritual law or Truth.
It can also refer to the natural order or universal law that underpins the operation of the universe in both the moral and physical realms.
It can also denote the totality of Buddhist spiritual teachings, which allow individuals to live in harmony with universal laws. This is the sense that is occurs as one of the three precious jewels.
It is also used to describe (in the Abhidharma system of taxonomy) to refer to the individual elements that collectively constitute the empirical world.
 
The Sangha is the natural expression of enlightened understanding, mirroring the interconnectedness of all forms of existence. The Sangha is the community that continues the Buddha’s presence in the world, upholding the model of mindful action and a harmonious way of life. Founded by the Buddha, governed by his teachings, supported by generations of realized masters, the Sangha is a refuge from the attitudes and actions that bind beings to suffering.[iii]
 
In its classical Buddhist usage, the term refers mainly to the spiritual communities of ordained practitioners, both monks and nuns. The actual sangha, when viewed as an object of refuge in the context of the Three Precious Jewels, is a sublime, highly realized assembly of those who have gained a direct insight into the nature of reality, emptiness.
 
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
 
The four noble truths are the foundational propositions of Buddhist doctrine enunciated by the Buddha in his first sermon. The four noble truths concern the means whereby suffering can be relieved by non-attachment to material, or transient things. In effect, wisdom is an end product of the process of experience, of learning in the material world, the accomplishment of the in1carnation process. The four noble truths concern the transmutation of the effects of experience in the material realm (samsara), rather than mere negation.
 
            The first Truth is the fact that all life is suffering (flawed or dissatisfactory), or results in suffering sooner or later.
 
            The second shows that the cause for suffering is desire, the never-ending craving of the senses. It is, in effect, an aspect of the selfish grasping of the separative lower self for things it wants from all around to sustain "itself". This concerns the illusion of a "self" that is separate from all other "selves". It produces indifference to, or avoidance of, the real needs of others, except when it is self-serving. It is this attitude of separativeness that is the cause for the thirst for sentient existence, whilst an innate desire for union with the com1plementary self at first (by means of the sexual experience) pro1duces vehicles through which a being can manifest the illusion of self. Later this desire is transmuted into the quality needed to tread the path to libera1tion, a deliver1ance into, or fusion with that which can be considered to be the All-self, or Non- Self. It is the battle between the concept of self and the innate prompt1ings for consummatory union with the "All" that produces the ma1jor sufferings of the practitioner on the Path.
            At first separativeness is instinctive, the result of being caught up in the urgings and promptings of the great mass of beings, and is sponsored by ignorance. Later, as understanding from the result of continued experience grows, it is willfully manifested. (In which case, the potential for suffering is increased exponentially.) Or else steps are taken to abnegate these effects when the person begins to tread the path to self-realisation, which causes the consequent diminishing of suffering. This is the result of the realisation of the third Noble Truth.
 
            The third Noble Truth states that by the elimination of such desire and craving, by the fostering of an enlightened attitude and compassionate understand1ing, the cause of all man-made suffering will be removed.
            The various steps allowing the cultivation and development of this atti1tude constitutes the fourth self-evident Truth. These steps are the follow1ing of the Noble Eightfold Path, which involves:
 
1. Right understanding
            This implies obtaining an intellectual grasp of the essence of all religious philosophies, the cause and result of the enlightenment process, of wrong actions and attitudes, of the mysteries of ßunyata of our being/non-being, and nowadays also of the basic laws and precepts discovered by scientific investigation. One obtains such understanding through contemplative reflection upon the nature of the Four Noble Truths, and hence the expansion of the philosophy into the remainder of the Buddha-dharma.
 
2. Right aspiration
            This implies aspiration towards the development of Love-Wisdom/ bodhicitta. It follows naturally from the obtaining of right understanding and concerns the setting of one's feet on the path that leads to liberation from the realms of suffering and death, to the portals of the Heart of life wherein enlightenment resides.
 
3. Right speech
            Once the right attitude of mind has been developed, then the person curbs all idle chatter out of necessity, and cultivates silence, the speaking of only that which will benefit others, or be productive of the liberative results. The effect of one's erroneous or zealously misdirected speech, or writings (an extension of speech), can produce the most long-lasting and serious damage to the development of the practitioner and his/her endeavours to cultivate harmlessness. The power of the written word for good or for bad is obvious to all. The way that one speaks, to whom one speaks to, defines one’s social acquaintances and boundaries. The nature of that speech determines the nature of relationships. Speech must be skilfully presented, so as to endeavour to unite all warring factions (of ideas) into one common embrace.
            Speech must be made sacred, a creative endeavour brought to the precincts of the temple of the heart, and thence made to never leave that temple, for to officiate in all modes of the Bodhisattva vow. The cultivation of silence is necessary if the being is to meditate and utilize Sacred Mantras with effectiveness.
 
4. Right action
            Once the person is actively able to cultivate his speech, which necessitates the development of an effective meditative rhythm, which is productive of an unabated dhyåna (the meditation Mind), then this automatically finds its expression in all aspects of life. His/her relation to all sentient beings unfolds meditatively so that at all time the most skilful means can be found in meeting their needs. This is the keynote of the Eightfold Path, for action, not belief is central to the Buddhist mode of religion. Only direct (experimental) action will produce the concrete expression of the other aspects of the Path. It involves what we do and refrain from doing, and thus concerns the deepest self-analysis and scrutiny of the real motives for all actions. Dhyåna evokes an attitude of receptivity to the Voice of Silence within, for to obey the dictates of the manifesting dharma for external application.
 
5. Right livelihood
            Right action carries naturally through into right livelihood, which takes naught from others that is not given, nor harms the development of any other being. It therefore implies following the Bodhisattva path of harmlessness and service to others.
            It necessitates the person to be able to vision the direction that the course of events in his chosen field may take in order to develop qualities that may be of greatest future benefit to those one is endeavoring to serve.
            Right livelihood also means sincere heartfelt, ritualistic devotion to the Nature  and to the karmic opportunities of life, which provides one with the resources that are the mainstay of one's livelihood.
 
6. Right effort
            One must learn to strive for enlightenment with steadfast, persevering, and one-pointed aspiration with all one's heart and mind, and to never lose sight of the development of bodhicitta. Only thus is enlightenment acquired. It is a persistent striving that with certainty will overcome all the obstacles to obtaining the goal, and will produce the production of the qualities and goods needed to meet all needs.
 
7. Right mindfulness
            If the other precepts are followed, then all that prevents the person from obtaining release from suffering falls away. One is left with concentrated energies that are assimilated and projected towards the goal. It produces perfect mindfulness of all things, concentrating upon that which is productive of meditative development and the demonstration of the dharma. The purpose is the gaining of enlightenment and the elimination of the karma that ties all sentient beings to material existence. It produces a specific effortless tension which empowers the application of the meditation in which the mind-nature is held steady, unwavering, in Light.
            When focussed (upon a form or idea) tension becomes the seed that can effectively explode into that which empowers complete unfoldment of any stream of realisation, or else it can direct one to realms beyond all thought. It is effortless because it is the outcome of long periods of meditative unfoldment that has become a spontaneous state of transcendence manifesting through the being, there being naught in him/her to resist the realisation of the most potent energies or revelations. The revelations are centred around the thought that there can be no true liberation for one if the all is not also bought to such a state of freedom (from suffering). This then defines the parameters of right mindfulness of purpose and of liberation for all. It is the Bodhisattva way.
 
8. Right absorption
            Right absorption is an absorption into that  which is Void of all discernible characteristics, but which is the fount of all liberative insight. Esoterically, this can also be seen as an absorption into the Heart of the Council of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
 
 
 Compiled by Ruth Fitzpatrick
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[i] Tharthang Tulku, “The Three Jewels and History of Dharma Transmission”, Crystal Mirror, Journal of Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Centre, V. 6 (Dharma Publishing, 1971), p. 3.
[ii] Tharthang Tulku, “The Three Jewels and History of Dharma Transmission”, Crystal Mirror, Journal of Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Centre, V. 6 (Dharma Publishing, 1971),  Ibid., p. 27.
[iii]Tharthang Tulku, “The Three Jewels and History of Dharma Transmission”, Crystal Mirror, Journal of Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Centre, V. 6 (Dharma Publishing, 1971), Ibid., p. 81.

Tsong Khapa

Founder of the Gelug school