Dharma, Buddha, Sangha: A Guide to Buddhist Belief

Just like in Christianity, there are many forms of different types of Buddhism around the world. Buddhism started out small as a reaction to Hinduism and slowly grew larger and larger as it spread throughout all of the different countries around the world. Even to this day, Buddhism is the dominant religion of Asia and there are many ways that it's practiced. There are even different styles of the Buddha that are around the world, but though Buddhism varies in practices; all of them have one thing in common and that's the Three Jewels of Buddhism. The three jewels serve as a base to the Buddhism belief and I'm going to discuss these jewels throughout this essay.

The first jewel is the Buddha which is often associated with the first Buddha named Siddhartha. Siddhartha is historically known among the people of Buddhist faith to be a prince that reached enlightenment and instead of staying in his place of Nirvana, he decided to follow his compassion for people by exposing what he has discovered. The term Buddha means "enlightened" or "awakened" one.

To reach the state of a Buddha isn't done through faith or praying to a single Buddha like the stereo-type oh the Buddhist faith might think, but this is done through eliminating complete desire and through meditation. Very few have reached this enlightenment, but those that have reach what is known as Nirvana and just as Siddhartha did--they act as missionaries almost to help other people reach enlightenment as well.

The second jewel of Buddhism is Sangha. Sangha are like disciples or monks that act as teachers for those who are interested in reaching enlightenment. They're a community of people that work together to help outsiders understand buddhism and reaching enlightenment. They're the Buddhist equivalent to that nuns of the Catholic religion. They're not there to preach to you though, the Buddhist religion is very big on waiting until you're ready to practice the faith. They think that because we constantly reincarnate that if one isn't ready in this life; they will be in the next. With that said, Monks aren't there to preach to you and tell you what's right and what's wrong, but they're simply there to guide you to enlightenment.

The third and final jewel of Buddhism is reality and is what's supposed to be practiced on how to live. There are many distractions in reality that misguide people away from reaching enlightenment and what Dharma is is really a guide for people to become a Buddha themselves. For example, people who want to reach Nirvana, or ultimate realization, are not supposed to give into what is known as the five illusions which are the body, feelings, perceptions, states of mind, or awareness. They're not supposed to have evil attitudes, thoughts, or desires. They believe there are five hindrances which are desires, hate, sloth, restlessness, and doubt. All of those are believed to cloud your mind and distract you from meditation and enlightenment.

The five pre-steps to becoming a monk are to not destroy life, not to steal, no impurity, no lying or getting high. Once one has gotten these down they can start becoming a Monk or a member of the Sangha where they're given more regulations. Monks aren't allowed to eat at forbidden times, have parties, they have to be natural, not have a high or broad bed, and they're not allowed to have money either. Buddhism isn't just a religion it truly is a way of life.

In conclusion, all of the Jewels of Buddhism tie in together to create the main foundation of Buddhism and that's enlightenment. Think about it, the Buddha is thee enlightened one, the Dharma is what you need to do to reach enlightenment and the Sangha are there to help you get there. It would only make sense that there were the three jewels of the religion and it makes perfect sense how this religion is very popular among a lot of people all around the world.

Source: Paths of Faith by John A Hutchison