The Three Jewels are:
Buddha (Sanskrit, Pali: The Enlightened or Awakened One; Chn: 佛陀, Fótuó, Jpn: 仏, Butsu, Tib: sangs-rgyas, Mong: burqan , depending on one's interpretation, can mean the historical Buddha or the Buddha nature—the ideal or highest spiritual potential that exists within all beings;)
Gotama Siddhattha was born a Sakyan prince to Suddhodana as his father and Mahamaya as the mother. He led a luxurious life as a child. Not enjoy with material comfort, he renounced the world at the age of twenty-nine in quest of an answer to the human suffering. He practised severe austerities for six years. But realising their futility and adopting instead the Middle Way, he finally attained Buddhahood at the age of thirty-five. Since then, he continued propagating his doctrines for the next forty-five years until his death at the age of eighty.During this period as Buddha, he not only exemplified his teachings. but also endeavoured to show people the way leading to the emancipation from the cycle of births and to the attainment of the supreme bliss of Nibbana. The life of the Buddha is therefore the exemplar of the Dhamma he preached. The Buddha once said: "One who sees the Dhamma sees me. One who sees me sees the Dhamma." (Yo dhammam passati so mam passati. Yo mam passati so dhammam passati). Buddha rediscovered the path of Dhamma leading to the eradication of universal suffering. Practicing Vipassana, he penetrated the veils of ignorance, delusion, and illusion. He discovered the Law of Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppad), the chain of cause and effect conditioning the universe. Whatever arises, arises due to a cause; when the cause is eradicated there can be no resulting effect. Therefore, by totally eliminating the cause of suffering, one can attain real happiness, real liberation from all misery. With this realization, he penetrated the illusion of solidity in mind and matter, dissolved the tendency of his mind to cling and crave, and realized the unconditioned truth. The subtlest defilement of his mind were washed away. All the shackles were broken. No craving remained for the future; his mind became free from all attachments. Siddhattha Gotama attained Supreme Enlightenment, experiencing the ultimate truth in all its purity, and became a Sammasambuddha.With great compassion he spent forty-five years showing the path of Dhamma and thus helped millions of people to come out of their misery.
Dhamma (Sanskrit: The Teaching; Pali: Dhamma, Chn: 法, Fǎ, Jpn: Hō, Tib: chos, Mong: nom the teaching of the Buddha).
“All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one word: "Dhamma". This law of righteousness exists not only in a man's heart but it exists in the universe also. All the universes are an embodiment or revelation of Dhamma. The laws of nature which modern science has discovered are revelations of Dhamma.If the Moon rises and sets, it is because of Dhamma, for Dhamma is that law residing in the universe that makes matter act in the ways studied in physics, chemistry, zoology, botany and astronomy. Dhamma exists in the universe just as Dhamma exists in the heart of man. If man will live by Dhamma, he will escape misery and attain Nibbana.”
“All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one word: "Dhamma". This law of righteousness exists not only in a man's heart but it exists in the universe also. All the universes are an embodiment or revelation of Dhamma. The laws of nature which modern science has discovered are revelations of Dhamma.If the Moon rises and sets, it is because of Dhamma, for Dhamma is that law residing in the universe that makes matter act in the ways studied in physics, chemistry, zoology, botany and astronomy. Dhamma exists in the universe just as Dhamma exists in the heart of man. If man will live by Dhamma, he will escape misery and attain Nibbana.”
Sangha (Sanskrit, Pali: The Community; Chn: 僧, Sēng, Jpn: Sō, Tib: dge-'dun, Mong: quvaraɣ The community of those who have attained enlightenment, who may help a practicing Buddhist to do the same. Also used more broadly to refer to the community of practicing Buddhists)
Ariya-Sangha "The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have practiced well... who have practiced straight-forwardly... who have practiced methodically... who have practiced masterfully — in other words, the four types [of noble disciples] when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types — they are the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world."
Mahanama Sutta AN XI.12
The word Sangha in Pali means the Order or Community of Bhikkhus (monks) and Bhikkhunis (nuns). Though the Buddha did not leave any written teachings when he entered into Mahaparinibbana, his disciples (the venerable Sangha) tried to memorise all the Buddha’s teachings by reciting them daily. They recited all the teachings of the Lord Buddha from generation to generation until the Sangha committed all the teachings into writing. Had the venerable Sangha not taken care of the teachings, all the teachings would probably have disappeared by now. So the venerable Sangha established by the Lord Buddha is indeed worthy of being paid homage to for their good deeds: learning the Doctrine (pariyatti), practising the Dhamma (patipatti), and realising its goal (pativedha).
