San Lo Bu Pm Pc 49Precious Things
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ratana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Ratana Discourse (Precious Things)
Background
The Ratana discourse (Pāli: Ratana, meaning “precious things”) is recorded in the Vinaya of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. This discourse arose in the context of the Buddha guiding his disciples regarding the true value of material and spiritual treasures in the life of practice.
According to the Pāli scriptures, the Buddha often reminded bhikkhus that what we consider “precious” in the world is often only attention fixed on fleeting, unstable material things. The Ratana discourse raises the basic question: What is truly precious for one who follows the Buddhist path?
The Vinaya context of practice emphasizes that things usually considered highest in society, gold, jewels, fame, and power, cannot compare with the inner “treasures” that the Buddhadharma brings. This is a fundamental lesson in transforming one’s view of values (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) in the process of practice.
Main Content
The Ratana discourse focuses on three main kinds of “precious things” taught by the Buddha. First is reverence for the Three Jewels of the Buddhadharma: the Buddha, the awakened teacher; the Dharma (Dhamma), the sublime teaching; and the Sangha, the community of those who practice rightly.
Second, the discourse emphasizes that the truly “precious things” are the ethical qualities each bhikkhu needs to develop: patience, concentration, wisdom, and compassion. These qualities cannot be stolen, cannot be destroyed by fire or water, and accompany the practitioner throughout life.
Third, the Ratana discourse teaches that understanding impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anattā) is the highest precious treasure. This understanding leads to nirvana, the state of absolute freedom from all bondage.
This discourse also records that those who practice according to this teaching will experience inner peace and release from fear.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.