The Three Jewels:
The Sanskrit term "triratna"
(or tiratna in Pāli) literally means "Three Jewels". In Buddhism the
Three Jewels (or Three Treasures) refer to the Buddha, The Dharma (the Buddha's
teachings) and the Sangha (the community of monks and nuns, or more generally
the community of Buddhist practitioners). The name of this domain
"triratna.info" reflects the contents of this website, information
about Buddhism, not just one of the yānas (see below) but all of Buddhism. At
present this website presents information about one aspect of Buddhism which
everyone can understand and relate to - historical facts, people and their
interconnections with one another. At present this site is organized according
to various Buddhist "transmission lineages". In addition to lineages,
historical, chronological, linguistic, and geographical resources relevant to
the study of Buddhist history are provided. Later, attempts will be made to
fill in more details - such as personal biographies, doctrinal explanations
etc.
What is Buddhism? The Three Turnings of the Wheel of the
Dharma:
Theravāda
Buddhism can be considered to be all
the traditions which trace their source back to Śākyamuni Buddha (ca. 563-423
BCE). Although these traditions differ widely, they all have as their basis the
Four Noble Truths which Buddha Śākyamuni first expounded in the Summer of ca.
528 BCE at Isipatana (Ṛṣipatana) in Sarnath near Varanasi, India. This
teaching is said to have been the first "Turning of the Wheel of the
Dharma".
The present day Theravāda
division of Buddhism, represented by the Buddhist Schools in Sri Lanka, Burma,
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and areas directly bordering these countries, embody
the principles of the "First Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma". Their
doctrine, based upon the Pāli Suttas (Sūtras), is quite literally what the
Buddha said, and propagates the "Arhat" ideal of striving for one's
personal enlightenment as the goal of meditation by means of realizing the
inherent emptiness of one's own "self".
The Theravāda doctrine was
systematized immediately after the Buddha's Mahāparinirvana in ca. 483 BCE and
was divided into three collections - "Tripiţaka" (literally
"three Baskets") - The Sutta Piţaka concerning discources, the Vinaya
Piţaka concerning discipline, and the Abhidhamma Piţaka concerning higher
teachings. These collections were memorized by succesive groups of monks and
several hundred years later were written onto palm leaves. Most recently the
entire Tripiţaka has been digitalized and are available in the the Pāli
language. The present day Theravāda is based upon the study of the Pāli
language, the Suttas, and Abhidhamma. Their meditational practices are
generally based upon of Samatha and Vipassanā meditation.
Mahāyana
The "Second Turning of the
Wheel of the Dharma" was first by propagated by Buddha Śākyamuni on
Vulture Peak near Rajgir, India and is embodied by the Mahāyāna.
The Mahāyāna is represented by numerous Buddhist Orders in China, Japan, Korea,
Vietnam and Taiwan where, during it's development Buddhism superficially
incorporated traits of Confucianism, Taoism and Shintoism. The Mahāyāna is a
later, philosophically more comprehensive, development of Buddhism which differs
from the Theravāda in several respects:
- The altruistic bodhisattva ideal (bodhicitta) which considers one's own enlightenment to be conditional upon the enlightenment of other sentient beings.
- An expansion of the concept of "emptiness" to include the inherent "emptiness" of all phenomenon and not just the emptiness of one's own illusory "self".
- With the exception of Zen, the doctrinal basis of the Mahāyāna primarily relies upon Sanskrit Sūtras which the Theravādins argue are not the direct words of the Buddha. Although this is often true they do represent:
- Sūtras which were given by others in the Buddha's presence and therefore are considered to be sanctioned by the Buddha.
- Sūtras which were predicted by the Buddha in advance.
- Sūtras which were given by persons who were predicted by the Buddha (for example Nagārjuna).
Vajrayana or Mantrayana
The "Third Turning of the Wheel
of the Dharma" refers to the Vajrayāna.
The Vajrayāna is a further development of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism and is
presently practiced in India/Ladakh/Sikkim, Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan as well as
areas directly adjacent to these countries/regions.
Generally speaking the Vajrayāna
incorporates a great number of Buddhist methods and practices which originated
with the Indian Mahāsiddha tradition in the 8th-13th century and which have
been preserved in the Himalaya region after the virtual disappearance of
Buddhism in India after the 13th century.
The four main Orders, and numerous less widely known Traditions of the Vajrayāna all preserve certain Indian practices as their core teachings and transmissions. Additionally over centuries the various Orders have all assimilated, to a varying extents, practices from the other orders/traditions, thus preserving to a large extent the medieval Indian Buddhist Mahāsiddha Tradition.
These Practices which vary from order to order include, among others: Kriya-, Carya-, Mahāyoga- and Anuttarayoga- tantric practices, as well as Mahāmudra, Dzogchen and Lam Dre. Additionally tantric practices first written or developed in Tibet, which include Lam Rim and Chöd, are also practiced by the present day Vajrayāna.
The four main Orders, and numerous less widely known Traditions of the Vajrayāna all preserve certain Indian practices as their core teachings and transmissions. Additionally over centuries the various Orders have all assimilated, to a varying extents, practices from the other orders/traditions, thus preserving to a large extent the medieval Indian Buddhist Mahāsiddha Tradition.
These Practices which vary from order to order include, among others: Kriya-, Carya-, Mahāyoga- and Anuttarayoga- tantric practices, as well as Mahāmudra, Dzogchen and Lam Dre. Additionally tantric practices first written or developed in Tibet, which include Lam Rim and Chöd, are also practiced by the present day Vajrayāna.
Vajrayāna practitioners also engage
in the study of Theravāda and Mahāyana Sūtras, Śastras (Commentaries) as well
as a variety of other subjects which were once practiced and taught at the four
great Indian universities: Nālandā, Vikramaśila, Somapuri, and Odantapurī. Four Noble Truths, Eight-fold
Path, Karma, Samsara, and Nirvana, personal God, The concept of a personal God
does not fit into the Buddhist system of religion. Today there are many sects
of Buddhism. Many differ in their concept of the divine and of Buddha. In
general, Buddhists are pantheistic in their view of God. Many view God as an
impersonal force which is made up of all living things and holds the universe
together.
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