Lesson 5

The Triple Gem Part 2 (Dhamma & Sangha)

Whats the Triple Gem?

Buddha
(covered in Lesson 4)

Dhamma = Buddhas 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.

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 Buddhas 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:

Einsteins 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 (Dukkha) No self (Anatta) Characteristics of Life

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