The Three Jewels Of Buddhism

Everyone knows Buddhism and how it was founded by the Buddha, a.k.a. Siddhartha Gautama, to become a major world religion. But how does Buddhism, using Ninian Smart’s 7 Dimensions of Religion, answer the human’s search for meaning in life? It is believed through 3 of those dimensions in particular, Ritual, Experiential and Doctrinal, Buddhism explains that to end suffering and reach Nirvana (escaping rebirth and anatta) is the ultimate answer, but it takes the 3 Jewels of Buddhism (the teacher, the teachings and the community) to reach that. All religions respond to human’s search for meaning in life, usually through a god or deity. Christianity, Judaism and Islam all pray to God, Yahweh or Allah (the same being), but Buddhists don’t believe in any deities, more so focusing on personal and relational development to end the suffering of others and themselves. Examples of this can be seen by
The first is Buddha, the teacher and his experiences, him being the first enlightened being (experiential). The next is the Dharma, his teachings and doctrines for followers (doctrinal). The last is Sangha, or the community. This includes rituals and practices and connecting with other Buddhists to help each other on their way to enlightenment. Every Buddhist has the goal of reaching Nirvana, so helping each other reach that is very important. Buddhists believe in rebirth due to suffering in the world (a.k.a. karma), so even if they don’t reach enlightenment in this life, helping others can set them up for the next, even though the main focus is to sacrifice your own enlightenment for the sake of others. Another important ideal is ‘Anatta’ or the idea that you have no permanent identity/soul, and it moves from one life to the next. This supports the idea that Nirvana is a peaceful, detached state of mind where the person escapes the cycle of rebirth and ceases to