Buddhism and its three jewels

Indrajeet Dey

The Three Jewels are the foundation of all forms of Buddhism, and the first jewel is the Buddha. The word Buddha means ‘the Awakened One’. And it does not mean only Shakyamuni Buddha, formerly Prince Siddhartha, who became a perfect Buddha in the sixth century before the common era in India. Buddha means all those who have awakened from the sleep of ignorance and blossomed in their full potential.

 Awakened and blossomed, they are teachers of others. That role is just as important as the fact that they are awakened themselves. Remember that awakening, freedom from suffering, salvation, liberation, omniscience and Buddha hood, all come from your own understanding and your insight into your own reality. It cannot come just from the blessing of another, from some magical empowerment, from some sort of secret gimmick, or from membership in a group. It can’t even come only through your faith, although some good faith may help. It can’t come through meditation, at least not by meditation alone.

 So, the most important elements of the Buddha is that the Buddha is a teacher and he teaches us. Now, teaching is not indoctrition; it is not imposing a dogma. Teaching gives us a set of methods that we can use to develop ourselves, to learn, to think over, to meditate upon, and filly, to gain deep, profound, transforming insight, wisdom, and understanding.

 So, we take refuge in the Buddha-  mo buddham sharam gacchami. We turn to the teaching of the reality of bliss, the teaching of the method of achieving happiness in whatever form it comes to us, whether it comes as Christianity, whether it comes as humanism, whether it comes as Hinduism, Sufism, or Buddhism. The form does not matter. The teacher is Buddha to us, one who can point the way to our own reality for us. He could be a scientist; she could be a religious teacher.

 The second jewel of refuge is Dharma. We take refuge in the Dharma- mo dharmam sharan gacchami. Dharma means ‘to be held’. Dharma in its highest meaning means reality. Beneath that, it has a wide range of other meanings.  The highest meaning of Dharma is the reality that holds us informed about freedom from suffering, holds us in a state of bliss. Dharma is our own reality that we seek to understand fully. Dharma, therefore, also consists of those methods and the teaching of those methods that are the arts and sciences which eble us to open ourselves.

 Virtues and ethics and practices are also Dharma. Even the qualities that we develop, the positive qualities that lead us toward freedom and reality, those are dharma. That is how dharma came to mean a religion in some contexts, and also ‘duty’ and other kinds of routine in the Vedic Brahmanism, before Buddha used it in the liberating way.

 In later Hinduism, in the Bhagavad-Gita, dharma was used by God to say, “Do your dharma,” meaning, “Do your duty.” “Follow your role as a warrior, Arju!” said God. “Krish, you warrior, follow your dharma!” But in Buddhist terms, dharma means more like Joseph Campbell’s great statement, “Follow your bliss!” Bliss is your freedom. So it means, “Follow your freedom!”

Ultimately, we take refuge in reality itself, because that is the only secure refuge. If we take refuge in any unrealistic thing, it can be blown down but when we take refuge in reality, that is what endures. It is uncreated. It is not made by anyone. It lasts. It is there, and therefore it can give refuge. The fil taking of refuge is embodying reality in our being, realizing that reality is our body and breath and thought and mind. Therefore, the fil refuge is only being Buddha ourselves. But meanwhile, to whatever extent we can open to reality, we take refuge in reality, the second jewel.

 The third jewel is the Sangha, the community of those who enjoy the jewels of refuge, who learn that teaching, seek that understanding, and work to embody that dharma. They are consciously evolving toward being Buddhas, sharing their understanding and bliss with others, as teachers of freedom to other beings, helping them discover these jewels. This includes all Buddhists everywhere and through time, in Sri Lanka, in Thailand, in Burma, in Tibet, in Chi, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Vietm, in ancient times and still now in India.