Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines
Budhism has three jewels or three treasures: 1) Budha, 2) Dharma, and 3) Sangha. In this essay the definitions of the last two are to be explained.
DHARMA
Dharma has different meanings in Budhism: The state law of the nature, the functions of the nature, the teachings of applying the nature laws to solving human problems, or phenomenon. Dharma, etimologically, is derived from “dham” meaning “support”. Dharma is actually the reality that each humanbeing trying to understand. When one understands the reality, he understands himself, thus he can save him from suffering. That belief has very deep roots in eastern religions. Understanding self means a long proces, because you face different people, different parts of nature and each time you explore other things and that helps you explore yourself. After a long experiment in life, you get close to understanding yourself, you find the peace, because you know how your body and your soul work togeteher, how the natural laws around you work. There is no limit in exploring things around you and yourself. Thus when a person gets older he finds more peace and spreads it to other people.
SANGHA
After exploring yourself and the environment around you, you find peace in your life. Finding peace gives you a responsibility: spreading your peace and happiness to other people. Some wise people, upon learning the natural laws and themselves, they feel responsible and they start teaching other people how to explore the natural laws and themselves. They immigrate to other countries to show that everyone all together can live in peace by learning how to share and how to be friendly to people and to the nature. When all people become peaceful and friendly, then we do not need wars or any kind of fightings between people or between people and the nature. When everyone is friendly, then the nature become friendly to people and all humankind and the nature can live peacefully. We have all we need in our hands and in our hearts, we do not need to rush to get things, we just need to be patient. When time comes everything happens, and we get what we need easily in peace.
Reference
Lancaster, Lewis R. (2000). Three Treasures and "Humanistic" Buddhism of the 20th Century. Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism, Vol.1.
