DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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Sangha is one of the Three Jewels. Talking about the Three Jewels, you must first know them. There are three types or levels:

- Being of the same nature as the Three Jewels,

- Beyond the world, the Three Jewels,

- The worldly abbot of the Three Jewels.

1- The same nature of the Three Jewels

a. Being of the same nature as the Buddha Treasure:

That is to say, all sentient beings and Buddhas are of the same clear nature.

b. The same nature of the Dharma Jewel:

That is to say, all sentient beings and Buddhas share the same dharma nature of compassion and equality.

c. Being of the same nature as the Sangha:

That is to say, all sentient beings and Buddhas have the same pure nature, action, or practice, and principles are in harmony.

2- Out of the world, the Three Jewels

a. Out of the world Buddha Treasure:

It refers to Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Buddhas in the ten directions and three lifetimes, who have liberated themselves from the bondage of the world.

b. Out of this world Dharma Jewels:

It refers to the Dharma of Buddha, which has the power to help sentient beings escape the bondage of the world, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Causes and Conditions, the Six Paramitas, etc.

c. Out of the world, Sangha Treasure:

It refers to the Saint-Monks who have escaped the bondage of the world such as Avalokiteshvara, Mahasthamaprapta, Manjushri, Kasyapa, Ananda, etc.

3- The worldly abbot of the Three Jewels

a. Worldly abbot Buddha Treasure:

Refers to Buddha's relics, Buddha statues are cast in metal, carved in wood, made of clay, made of cement, embroidered with fabric, or painted on paper.

b. The worldly abbot Dharma Treasure:

Refers to the three canonical collections: Sutras, Laws, Treatises written or printed on paper, cloth, leaves, etc.

c. Worldly abbot Sangha Treasure:

Refers to Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis who practice righteously, have pure morality, and dignified precepts in the present.

So when talking about ceremonies, bowing, and making offerings to the Sangha, you mean the worship and offerings to the worldly abbot Sangha. When talking about ceremonies, worshiping, and making offerings to the Sangha Treasure, you must always think and nurture the idea of ​​paying respect to the Sangha, not necessarily bowing to an individual Bhikkhu Monk or Nun.

After taking refuge in the Three Jewels, you become a Buddhist, then pay respects and make offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha every day, every moment is one of the basic practices of a lay Buddhist. Paying homage to the Buddha is natural because he is an enlightened being with perfect wisdom and blessings. It is natural to pay homage to the Dharma because it is the golden teachings of the Buddha. Paying homage to the Sangha are Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis who practice righteously, have pure morality, and dignified precepts in the present.

You need to distinguish between the Sangha and an individual Bhikkhu. Sangha is a group of at least four Bhikkhus or more, living together in harmony and purity. One or two or three Bhikkhus, no matter how virtuous they are, are not Sangha. However, if many monks are not harmonious and not pure, they are not Sangha. Therefore, the Sangha is always pure and good. Therefore, when bowing to the Sangha, you must always contemplate that you are bowing to the Sangha, and the Sangha is always pure and dignified, so you achieve immeasurable merit. In the Agama Sutra, volume III, chapter Rites to the Three Jewels, the Buddha taught that when you worship the monks, you must always think about eleven dharmas:

01- Tathagata's holy assembly achieves Dharma;

02- Tathagata's saints assembly above and below are in harmony;

03- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves all dharmas;

04- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves precepts;

05- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves the right concentration;

06- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves wisdom;

07- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves the wisdom of liberation;

08- The Tathagata's holy assembly achieves liberation and knowledge;

09- The Tathagata's holy assembly protects the Three Jewels;

10- The Tathagata's holy assembly often surrenders to pagans and heretics;

11- Tathagata's saints assembly are good friends, a field of blessings for all sentient beings.

An ordinary Buddhist who has good feelings for the monks and nuns. Buddha taught that you want to pay respect to the monks, so thinking about these eleven dharmas is normal. But in the case of a small number of Buddhists, you do not have, or do not have, good feelings towards the monks and nuns, I think you should think about these eleven dharmas more deeply and persistently. The Buddha also did not defend his monastic disciples and did not force his lay disciples to pay this homage. Because worshiping and making offerings is one of the dharma practices, or one of the practices, as in the ten practices of Samantabhadra:

- One is to pay homage to the Buddhas

- The second is to praise Tathagata

- Third is widespread offerings

- Fourth is repenting of karma

- Fifth is Rejoicing in the merits of others

- The sixth is to invite Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma

- Seven is to invite Buddha to stay in the world

- Eight is to always study the Buddha Dharma according to your needs

- Ninth is to always follow sentient beings

- Ten, no matter how big or small your merits are, dedicate them everywhere

So if you pay homage to the monks and nuns who are harmonious and pure, then paying homage to the Sangha will bring immeasurable merit and virtue. Therefore, when you need to bow, worship, and make offerings, you should always think and nurture the concept of paying homage to the Sangha, not necessarily bowing to an individual or a monk or nun. Thanks to such contemplation, you always pay homage to the monks and nuns enthusiastically without the slightest discrimination or judgment in your heart. And even though, on the path of studying Buddhism, you have heard or met a few monks or nuns who are not worthy of your respect, you still retain your trust and respect for the Sangha.

Thanks to thinking about these eleven dharmas, lay Buddhists, as well as monks and nuns, always believe in the Sangha group and wholeheartedly turn to the Sangha Jewel to rely on for the rest of their lives. Thanks to that, your merit and blessings increase day by day. That is right thinking. Even though some monks or nuns are not worthy of the real thing, even if people are pretending to be monks or nuns to infiltrate the Sangha with their intentions, your pure faith in the Sangha remains unchanged. Still as solid as diamond, like copper walls, iron walls never change.

After you have clearly understood what it means to respect the Sangha, of course, you must practice with that understanding. Practicing that understanding with appearance means that reverence is expressed for everyone to see. Doing so is called Appearance Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels.

1- Appearance Taking refuge in Buddha:

Every day you must always remember the Buddha, recite the Buddha's name, admire his statue, and vow to follow his footsteps for the rest of your life, that is the Appearance of Taking Refuge in the Buddha.

2- Appearance Refuge Dharma:

Every day you recite Sutras, Laws, and Treatises. Early in the morning and late in the evening, practice diligently and learn the profound meaning of the Dharma. When reading and reciting the Sutras, your mind should not think nonsense, should not remember bad things, and should not plot plans to benefit yourself at the expense of others. You must get rid of desires so that your mind is clear, peaceful, and pure.

3. Appearance Refuge Sangha,

Among Buddhists, it is often said:

- Respect Buddha, respect Sangha.

Therefore, if you sincerely worship Buddha, you must sincerely respect the Sangha. When you practice appearing and taking refuge in the Sangha, whenever you see a person with a round head and a square shirt, truly practicing and keeping the precepts, you immediately respect and esteem him, seeing him as a representative of the Buddha. Doing so is considered appearing to take refuge in the Sangha.

Thus, worshiping Buddha, chanting Sutras, keeping the Precepts, studying Buddha Dharma, and respecting the true Sangha, is the appearance of taking refuge in the three jewels.

Speaking of appearance in homage to the Sangha, I would like to briefly talk about the meaning of Self-nature in homage to the Sangha.

Self-nature respecting the Sangha means talking about the inside, your inner self. Self-nature takes refuge in the Three Jewels, which means taking refuge in the Three Jewels in your mind. If you only practice appearance refuge, only chasing after the Three Jewels on the outside, but forget Self-nature refuge, that is, forgetting the Three Jewels inside your mind, then you have not practiced the Three Refuges in the true sense. Indeed, Inside your mind, there are also enough Three Jewels. Do you need to practice Self-nature refuge, or do you have to return to yourself for refuge

1. Self-Nature Taking Refuge in Buddha:

You are also known as Self Refuge in Buddha. Self means yourself to your mind. Self-nature taking refuge in Buddha means you return to the bright Buddha nature of your mind. Because everyone has a Buddha nature, and everyone can become a Buddha. That is what Shakyamuni Buddha taught. But that Buddha nature is deluded and obscured by false thoughts. False thoughts are like misty clouds, Buddha nature is like the moon and stars. Dark clouds can only obscure, but cannot destroy, the moon and bright stars. Therefore, it remains no matter how deeply your Buddha nature is obscured by delusion and ignorance. Yet you forget your Buddha nature but only run after praying to Buddha outside. Acting like that, according to the Lotus Sutra, says:

- Like a poor boy who has a precious pearl that his parents have hidden in his shirt but he doesn't know how to use it, but instead, he goes begging everywhere!

Now that you realize this, you return to your wise nature, Self-Nature Buddha Treasure.

2. Self-Nature Refuge:

Also known as Self Refuge Dharma. Self Refuge in Dharma means following your Dharma nature. In your mind there are all the Dharmas: Kindness, compassion, Wisdom, Equality, Patience, and Diligence... you need to develop those virtues and act according to them and obey them. Such is the Self-Nature Refuge Dharma.

3. Self-Nature Refuge Sangha:

Also known as Self Refuge. Self-nature Taking Refuge in the Sangha means following the teacher in your mind. The teacher in your mind is your harmonious and pure nature. The Sangha is the embodiment of external pure harmony. For a long time, because you were confused and could not recognize the Teacher in your mind, now thanks to the Buddha's teachings, you can recognize that pure Teacher, then you must take refuge in your Teacher first!

Thus, Self-nature Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels means you must rely on, must return to the Buddha in your mind, the wise nature. With the Dharma in your mind are the virtues of kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity, etc., and with the Sangha in your mind is the harmony and purity of your original mind.

When you know how to pay respect to the Sangha like this, it means you have a spiritual refuge. At that time you will:

1- Don't go astray, don't fall into darkness.

As you know, you are drowning in the sea of ​​suffering of birth and death, you are helpless and lost in the vast darkness. In such a tragic situation, if you don't see the means to get there, and don't have teachers to guide you, you will spin forever in the sea of ​​birth, death, and reincarnation. That bright destination is the Buddha, those means are the Dharma, and those guiding teachers are the Sangha. When you know there are such precious things and don't grasp them, it's like a drowning man seeing a wooden raft floating by but foolishly pushing it away.

Taking refuge in the Sangha is a way of clinging to the raft of the Three Jewels that Buddha created to save those who are about to drown in the sea of ​​life, which is all of you.

Once you have made a vow to return, it is easy for you to keep your promise, because there is proof from the Buddhas and Sangha.

However, some people say:

- I worship the Buddha because I know that he is a completely wise being. I respect the Dharma because I know that Buddha's Dharma has the power to bring people to liberation. I respect the Sangha because I know that they represent the Buddha. Knowing that is enough, there is no need to make a vow to take refuge in the Three Jewels.

Or some people say:

- I respect Buddha because I know that he is a completely wise being who can show me the bright path to follow.

- I respect the Dharma because I know that Buddha's Dharma has the power to bring me to the shore of liberation.

But I don't respect the Sangha because there are monks who have nothing better than me!

If you say that, you do not understand the value of appearance and Self-nature Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels.

All you need to know about the psychological aspect of promises. When you promise someone something and then break your promise, your soul will feel restless, regretful, and uneasy. Having made a promise, you must fulfill your promise. If you break your promise, of course, you will despise yourself. Especially when that promise and vow are performed in a solemn setting in front of the Buddha's Palace, above is the witness of the Buddhas, below is the witness of the monks and nuns, and around is the protection of friends, and relatives. Making a vow in that context, of course, you cannot break your vow or break your promise.

So when you know how to worship Buddha and respect monks, your life has a place to arrive, and the benefits cannot be measured.

- Benefits of paying homage to Buddha and respecting Sangha.

As you know, worshiping, bowing to, and offering to Buddha is due to your deep gratitude to the Master who sacrificed all of His happiness, serving all sentient beings all his life. The second reason for worshiping, bowing, and worshiping is so that you always have before your eyes, above your head, an example of complete truth, goodness, and beauty to follow. Respect Sangha is the teacher who imparts good truths and good things for you to learn. Therefore, worshiping, bowing to, and offering to Buddha and Sanghas, if practiced sincerely, with good intentions, and with the right meaning, will bring you many benefits in the present and the future:

a. At present:

Each of you and your family, always live in the bright atmosphere, in the good influence, the dignity of the Buddhas. You always live in seriousness, in ritual, in harmony, because every thought, every gesture, and every word of yours is looked down upon by the Buddha's wise eyes. You do not dare to live indiscriminately, do bad things, or think wrongly when the Buddha is reigning in your family and each of your hearts. Only empty souls, without trust, without worshiping any noble divinity, can easily fall and become depraved. Therefore, in a family, if you want to be happy in the present, want to live a meaningful life, and want your children not to be indulgent and depraved, then the homeowner should set up a Buddha table to worship every day, and train your children to live a virtuous life.

b. At death:

The good karma you have accumulated every day will inspire the infinite love and compassion of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Due to the law of corresponding voices and similar energies, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will radiate light to guide your enlightened spirit/spirit to the Pure Land of happiness and freedom.

2- Paying homage with the right mind:

To get good results like the above, you must develop righteous faith. If you worship, bow, and make offerings to the Three Jewels in the wrong way, not only will it not benefit you, but it will also bring more sins, and you will drift forever in the sea of ​​birth and death. So you must strongly believe that:

a. The Buddha is completely enlightened, has transcended birth, escaped death, has the power to save sentient beings from the path of reincarnation, and is worthy to be the teacher of sentient beings in the three realms. That's why you worship Him.

b. Buddha Dharma is a miraculous medicine that can eliminate all causes of suffering of sentient beings. That's why you worship Buddha's Dharma.

c. Sanghas, they are virtuous and pure, are bright teachers and good friends. Therefore, you worship and get close to them to learn the way of practice.

d. All sentient beings have enlightened Buddha nature. If you diligently practice according to the Buddha Dharma, you will become a Buddha.

In short, your worship, bowing, and offerings to the monks are immeasurable blessings. The principle of cause and effect is not wrong. If you create good causes, you will enjoy good results. Among the good causes, there is no more superior-good cause than the cause of Worshiping Buddha, bowing to Buddha, and making offerings to the Three Jewels, which includes worshiping, bowing, and making offerings to the Sangha with all the facts and reasons. You still know that worshiping, bowing to, and offering to the monks both physically and mentally is difficult. But around you, in this world, there are immeasurable, boundless vajra Bodhisattvas, and Dharma Protectors, Divine Kings, making vows together. They will help and protect all of you to develop righteous faith in worshiping, bowing, and offering the Three Jewels. So you don't need to worry about your merits not being fulfilled or your results not being fulfilled.

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