Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
Grand Master WeiChueh taught us to employ the four contemplations, i.e., observation, recognition, reflection, and realization to awaken ourselves and others…. As the undertakings of awakening the self and others come to complete perfection, one realizes the awareness of the Buddha, the Original Nature of all sentient beings!
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
The word “Buddha” is a Sanskrit word which means “The Awakened One,” one who is awakened to Reality, to the true nature of the mind, the world, and all sentient beings. Other common epithets of the Buddha are: Tathagata (Thus Come One),1 or Bhagavat (World-Honored One).
The Buddha lived approximately 3000 years ago (some say 2500). He was an Indian prince named Siddhartha, who gave up his throne in order to search for the Truth, to find a way to bring relief to the suffering of humanity. After many years of diligent practice, he reached Supreme Enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi tree. He then exclaimed, “Wonder of wonders! All sentient beings are inherently complete and perfect! But they do not realize it because of their delusions and cravings.” Thereupon he was known as Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha. He then embarked on an endless, compassionate journey to teach living beings how to see Reality, how to gain true wisdom, how to free themselves, and how to achieve true peace and joy. His teaching is known as the Dharma. The Buddha taught for 49 years until he entered nirvana at the age of 80.
Many disciples of the Buddha, following the Buddha’s example, renounced the home life to devote their lives to the practice of Enlightenment or Awakening, to the gaining of wisdom that can transcend suffering, and to teach other sentient beings the same. They formed the ordained community of Buddhist monks and nuns known as the Sangha. Sangha means “purity,” “harmony,” or “harmonious assembly.” The Sangha is responsible for practicing, achieving, preserving, and propagating the Buddha’s teaching. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are called the Three Jewels or the Triple Gem. For Buddhists, being a Buddha is the goal. To realize this goal, we must rely on the Dharma and the Sangha. While the Dharma is like the map describing how to get to the goal, the Sangha is the guide who can read the map and direct us through the jungle of vexations/afflictions and misconceptions. Understood in this way, the Three Jewels are revered as the truly precious ones by all Buddhists.
Buddhist Ideal
Buddhists believe that everyone can become a Buddha. Being a Buddha means being awakened, free from delusions and suffering, and perfect in wisdom and compassion. To be awakened means to see Reality as it is, not as we think it is. Seeing Reality as it is is wisdom, and this wisdom will free us. We are not trapped by external conditions, but by our misperceptions and prejudices. Whatever we do, our actions create reactions that come back to affect us. Because of this, we are responsible for our own actions. Also because of this, we are responsible for our own salvation. And exactly because of this, each one of us is capable of achieving perfection. We just need to know how. The Dharma teaches us how. There are many ways of practice to achieve enlightenment, and they all fall into these general categories: performing good deeds, practicing meditation, and studying the Dharma.
Life of the Historical Buddha
When the Buddha was born to King Suddhodana and Queen Maya in the Lumbini Garden (in the present Nepal close to the Indian border), he is said to have walked seven steps immediately and then
declared, “I am the most venerated of all that exist in the heavens and on the earth.” He was named Siddhartha, “Able to accomplish all.”
As Prince Siddhartha grew up in the protected and luxurious surroundings of the palace, and mastered the traditional philosophy and arts of India, he was not content with his life. Once, when he left the palace, he saw an old man, a sick person, a corpse, and a mendicant monk; he saw the suffering of common people as well as the serenity in the life of the practitioner. He immediately realized that suffering is general to all people and that this is the most important issue concerning all sentient beings. Yet, most people seem to be blind to it or choose to ignore it. He wished to find out, once and for all, the cause of and the remedy to human sufferings. He wished to bring emancipation to all sentient beings.
So one night, he left everyone and everything behind to become a mendicant monk in search of the truth. He went to practice with the best gurus at the time and learned how to achieve the deepest meditative state. However, true knowledge still eluded him. So he left these gurus and went on to live the life of an ascetic, as was popular in India at the time, for six years. He eventually realized that neither hedonism nor asceticism leads to enlightenment. He did not give up; instead, he turned to the wisdom within, saw the illusive nature of all dualities and contemplated on the Middle Way.
He sat under a Bodhi tree for 49 days, and finally reached the Supreme Enlightenment, gaining the true understanding of Reality. He saw that what prevents us from seeing the truth and attaining liberation is because of the Three Poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance. By eradicating the Three Poisons, one gets rid of the root of all delusions and sufferings.
From then on, he became known as the Buddha, “the Awakened One.” He was also addressed as Shakyamuni, “the Sage of Shakya clan.” He began “turning the Dharma Wheel,” and taught all beings the ways to eradicate the Three Poisons and gain enlightenment, ways such as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Principle of Causality, Dependent Origination, Emptiness, the Six Paramitas, and the Middle Way.
The Buddha taught for 49 years, was always patient, ever wise, and never in anger. Most importantly, he lived up to his teachings to the perfection. He entered parinirvana at the age of 80 His chief disciples, such as the Elders Mahakashyapa and Ananda, collected the Buddha’s verbal teachings or Dharma for future generations. These Buddhist scriptures are known as the sutras. The entire collection of Buddhist canon is known as the Tripitaka.
The Buddha’s teaching is similar to science in which knowledge is gained through the examination of reality. The Buddha urges people to practice with right understanding and asks practitioners to discard all beliefs and speculations that could not be proven in actual experiences. However, it differs from science in which the key to right or true understanding begins by looking inward, into our own minds. As all phenomena are perceived by the mind, if the mind is not first trained to be focused, unbiased, and clear, it will not perceive the phenomena truthfully. This is why even scientific discoveries can be mistaken. This is also why meditation practice is crucial to achieving awakening for meditation can lead one to a clear and still mind.
Awaken to the Awareness of the Buddha
To be truly awakened, one needs to have conscious awareness even if one is physically asleep. This awareness does not come from bodily senses but from one’s mind6; in Buddhism, this awareness is called the Original or Buddha Nature. It is the nature that is one’s innate ability to know or be aware; it is also the innate ability to examine and make amend, and finally it is the innate ability to lead one to ultimate awakening or Buddhahood as well.
But, how does one realize this awareness or Buddha Nature? The Buddha taught that awareness is nothing but the manifestation of the mind; it is shown at places where one sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches, and thinks, as well as those where one tells right from wrong, feels cold and hot, and exhibits the abilities to observe. However, there is difference between the awareness of the sentient being and that of the Buddha. That is, sentient beings see reality as what they want to see or as what they think it to be, but the Buddha sees reality as thus, as what it is without any distortions. Thus, it is due to our biased and deluded ways of seeing reality that our Original Nature is covered, thus preventing us and all sentient beings from being Buddhas. To uncover this Original Nature, one needs to consciously bring forth one’s awareness, with respect to which the Grand Master WeiChueh taught us the four contemplations which include observation, recognition, reflection, and realization. He explained:
Observation is to pay attention. Recognition is to recognize our delusive thoughts, drowsiness, and the afflictions in our minds, even the subtlest ones, like a detective catching the stealthiest thief. Reflection indicates that after the thief is caught, we need to teach and transform the thief from a bad person into a good person; that is to reflect, penetrate, and transform our afflictions. After reflection, we must maintain mindfulness at all times and still our minds so that it is in accord with Reality; that is called realization.
The above four contemplations are effective methods which we can always use in our daily lives, even when you are listening to our Dharma lectures. For example, as you are listening, you may suddenly become sleepy. If you do not have the awareness of observation, you will not know that you are sleepy and will continue to sleep and even start dreaming. Suddenly you wake up and do not know that you were dreaming. You may even feel that you have achieved a state of concentration because you have not been observing. If you observe and have the power of attention, you will immediately know when you start to fall asleep and will recognize that it is not the right thing to do. You may think, “I am listening to a special lecture. How can I fall asleep?” When you realize that you are falling asleep, that is the awareness of observation. When you know that falling asleep is wrong and try to overcome it, you give rise to the awareness of recognition. After you overcome it and you no longer feel sleepy, that is the awareness of reflection. Even though you have overcome and penetrated it, you still have this min that can reflect as well as the state that is reflected, a dualistic state. So you must return to the non-dualistic source, maintain right mindfulness, and continue listening to the lecture. This returning to the non-dualistic source and maintaining right mindfulness is the awareness of realization.
If one can continue to employ the four contemplations of awareness in daily activities, one will continuously transform one’s mistaken views and harmful behaviors. In this way, one continuously brings forth and maintains one’s clear awareness. When all mistaken views and harmful behaviors are transformed, one thus comes to achieve the state of enlightenment and the awakening to ultimate Reality.
In the process, one not only achieves self-awakening but also strives to awaken others. As the undertakings of awakening the self and others come to complete perfection, one realizes the awareness
of the Buddha, the Original Nature of all sentient beings!
Bình luận về bài viết này