Tag Archive for: The Three Jewels

Definition of the Week (41) – The Sangha Jewel

Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsan

The definition of the Sangha Jewel is: A superior being possessing any of the eight qualities relating to knowledge and liberation.

Definition Key

  1. Knowledge of suchness – Seeing the emptiness of the mind and the lack of inherent establishment of the afflictions, knowing thus the afflictions to be adventitious.
  2. Knowledge of the world of multiplicity – Seeing the emptiness of the complete buddhas, the lack of inherent existence, within all sentient beings.
  3. Knowledge by self – Having personal knowledge of the above two.
  4. Liberation from a level of attachment obscuration.
  5. Liberation from a level of obstruction obscuration.
  6. Liberation from a level of obscurations of inferiority.
  7. Qualities of knowledge.
  8. Qualities of liberation.

Nominal Divisions:

  1. Conventional Sangha Jewel: Any superior being, i.e. Someone realizing emptiness directly.
  2. Ultimate Sangha Jewel: The truth of cessation and the truth of the path.

The way we go for refuge to the Sangha is by taking them as examples. We let us be inspired by the lifestyle and way of practice of the great bodhisattvas or buddhas, such as the Ever-crying Bodhisattva, or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and so forth, and try to emulate them as good as we can.

Definition of the Week (40) – The Dharma Jewel

Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsan:
☞ The definition of the Buddha Jewel is:
A purified truth possessing any of the eight qualities of being beyond thought and so forth, in the continuum of a superior.

Definition Key

  1. Being beyond the though of non-buddhist logicians.
  2. Being free from Karma and afflictions to some degree.
  3. Being from the misleading distorted conception.
  4. Pure because the path does not mix with obscurations.
  5. Clearly realizing the world of suchness and multiplicity.
  6. Having the quality of being an antidote.
  7. Having the quality of the truth of cessation of being free from attachment.
  8. Having the quality of the truth of the path to free from attachment.

Nominal divisions:

  1. Conventional Dharma Jewel: E.g., The twelve categories of the Buddhas teachings or the Lam Rim teachings.
  2. Ultimate Dharma Jewel: The truths of cessation and the path.