Foundations of Buddhist learning
Pāli: tiratana · Sanskrit: triratna · Vietnamese: Tam Bảo
The Three Jewels are the three precious sources of refuge for Buddhist learners: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The Buddha is the awakened one and also the ideal of awareness toward which practitioners aspire. The Dharma is the teaching, the path of practice, and the truth to be personally verified through life. The Sangha is an authentic community of learning and practice that preserves and lives by the Dharma. They are called “jewels” because these three sources of refuge help the mind lose its way less when pulled by greed, anger, and delusion. The Three Jewels are not sacred objects to petition for a change of fortune, nor a reason to hand responsibility to others. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels means returning to wisdom, ethical conduct, mindfulness, and wise spiritual friends. Beginners can start by studying a clearly sourced discourse, keeping one small precept, and associating with a transparent, non-coercive community.
A guide by Inti Foundation · updated
Revering the Buddha without studying the Dharma can reduce respect to emotion. Studying the Dharma without a wholesome community can isolate practice. Following a community without verifying through the Dharma can lead practitioners into blind faith.
On an ordinary day, taking refuge in the Three Jewels can mean choosing truthful speech, stopping a harmful action, reading a sourced passage of scripture, and seeking advice from someone who lives wholesomely.
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The Three Jewels comprise Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha: the awakened one, the path of the teachings, and an authentic community of learning and practice.
The Three Jewels are the three sources of refuge; taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the vow and practice of returning to rely on those three.
No. The focus is learning and living according to wisdom, ethical conduct, mindfulness, and spiritual friendship, rather than asking an external power to change everything.
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Sources for deeper reading
The Inti source page offers deeper reading about Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and taking refuge in the Three Jewels through conduct rather than seeking good luck.
