Lesson 5

The Triple
Gem – Part 2
(Dhamma &
Sangha)
What’s the Triple Gem?
Buddha (covered in Lesson 4)

Dhamma = Buddha’s teachings

Sangha = Community of
monks,nuns,
lay devotees -
upasaka & upasika)
Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem
It is an unbroken age-old tradition in
Buddhist countries for a Buddhist to
take his refuges in the Triple Gem and to
observe the Five Precepts.
Buddham saranam I go to the Buddha for refuge.
gacchãmi I go to the Dhamma for
Dhammam saranam refuge.
gacchãmi I go to the Sangha for refuge.
Sangham saranam
gacchãmi

For the second time

Dutiyampi Buddham I go to the Buddha for refuge.
saranam gacchãmi For the second time
Dutiyampi Dhammam I go to the Dhamma for
saranam gacchãmi refuge.
Dutiyampi Sangham For the second time
I go to the Sangha for refuge.
saranam gacchãmi
Taking For the third time
Tatiyampi Buddham
saranam gacchãmi
Refuge I go to the Buddha for refuge.
For the third time
Tatiyampi Dhammam I go to the Dhamma for
saranam gacchãmi refuge.
Tatiyampi Sangham For the third time
saranam gacchãmi I go to the Sangha for refuge
Pãnãti-pãtã I take the precept to
veramani sikkhã padam abstain from destroying
samãdiyãmi living beings.

Adinnã-dãnã I take the precept to

veramani sikkhã padam abstain from taking things
not given.
samãdiyãmi

Kãmesu micchã-cãrã
veramani sikkhã padam I take the precept to
abstain from sexual
samãdiyãmi
misconduct.

Musãvãdã
veramani sikkhã padam
Observing I take the precept to
abstain from false speech.
samãdiyãmi Five
Precepts I take the precept to
abstain from taking
Surã meraya-majja-pamã-
datthãnã anything that causes
intoxication or
veramani sikkhã padam
heedlessness.
samãdiyãmi
The Tipitaka (3 Baskets)
Title Purpose

Sutta Discourses, sermons given by

the Buddha and some of his
senior disciples.
Vinaya Pitaka Disciplinary code for the Order
of monks and nuns.

Abhidhamma Profound philosophy and

Pitaka metaphysics of the Buddha’s
teachings (Buddhist
psychology).
The Dhamma can answer the many
questions posed by science.

Albert Einstein once

said that if there is one
religion that would cope
with modern scientific
needs it would be
Buddhism.
The Dhamma can answer many
questions posed by science.
Why?
It is because Buddhism is
free from dogma.
The Buddha had always
stated that an individual
should only accept
something after thinking
rationally and testing it
with his reasoning and
experiences.
The Dhamma can answer many
questions posed by science.
Why? Many scientific discoveries are in line with the
teachings of the Buddha.
Examples:

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

Gravity
The Space-Time concept
Splitting of the atom by Berkeley
Doctrine of Change advocated by Bergson
The Dhamma can answer many
questions posed by science.
Why? Many scientific discoveries are in line with the
teachings of the Buddha.
Other examples:

Advocacy by Prof. William James that the

mind is a stream of consciousness.
Assertion by Spinoza that all existence is
transitory.
Presentation by Schopenhauer about the
truth of suffering and its cause.
The Dhamma can answer many
questions posed by science.
Some of our present-day scientific
philosophers are all unconsciously
making it easier for the modern man
to understand the concepts of
Buddhism.

These scientific discoveries are

basically expounded by the Buddha
through His doctrines of change
(Anicca), sorrow (Dukkha) and no soul
(Anatta) some 2,500 year ago.
Characteristics of Life
Impermanence
(Anicca)
Sorrow Characteristics of
(Dukkha) Life
No self
(Anatta)

All living beings, without exceptions, are subject

to these characteristics.
They are the universal laws of the world and are
scientific in all their aspects.
Characteristics of Life
What is Anicca (Change or Impermanence)?

Nothing can last forever. Even the highest

mountain will one day be worn away.
Characteristics of Life
What is Anicca (Change or Impermanence)?

Our likes and dislikes change.

Happiness is replaced by sadness.
Sadness is replaced by happiness.
Characteristics of Life

Anicca applies to everything in the

Universe.
Characteristics of Life
What is Dukkha (Sorrow)?
Happiness is never permanent. Joy slips
through our fingers and fades away even
as we experience it.

Man can endure the passing of his

happiness only because he expects to
gain it once more.
If that expectation does not materialise,
he sinks into despair.

On the whole, the suffering (Dukkha)

outweighs the happiness.
Characteristics of Life
Is this concept of Dukkha pessimistic?

Buddhism states the actual facts

about life and there is a lot of
suffering in life.

However, the Buddha showed a

way to end the suffering by
following the Eightfold Path.

It is hence not pessimistic as it

provides a solution to end the
suffering.
Characteristics of Life
What is Anatta (no self)?

Anatta is a difficult
doctrine to understand.
One can only understand
it completely after
achieving the first stage of
sainthood (Sotapanna).
Roles of the Sangha
The Sangha members devote their
lives not only to their own spiritual and
intellectual, but also to the service of
others.
This is how in the course of history, the
Buddhist monastery became not only a
spiritual centre, but also a centre of
learning and cultural aspect of life.

Buddhist monks have always had it as one

of their functions to teach the Dhamma to
lay people.
The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts
the taste of Dhamma excels all taste,
the delight in dhamma excels all delights,
The Craving-Freed vanquishes all suffering.
- Dhammapada verse 354

End of Lesson 5