The Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels
Prostrations to the Omniscient One.
Thus the Blessed Buddha is the One Gone to Suchness, the Foe Destroyer, the Perfectly Accomplished One, the One Who Possesses Knowledge and Its “Feet,” the One Who Has Gone to Bliss, Knower of
the World, the Unsurpassable Charioteer Who Tames Sentient Beings, and Teacher of Gods and Humans.
That Blessed Buddha is the One Gone to Suchness. He arose through corresponding causes of merit,
and his root of virtue is inexhaustible. He is adorned with patience and is the foundation of the treasures
of merit. His body is adorned with the noble minor marks and decorated with the flower blossoms of the
noble major marks. Conforming to the stages of the field of enlightened activities, his appearance is not
unpleasant to one’s sight and is delightful to devoted aspirants. His wisdom cannot be overpowered by
others, and his powers are invincible. He is the teacher of all sentient beings and the father of all Bodhisattvas. He is the king of all noble beings and the captain who leads others to the City of Nirvana. He is
the possessor of transcendental wisdom, inconceivable confidence, perfectly pure speech, a melodious voice, and a matchless body that is endlessly insatiable to behold. He is unaffected by desire, unaffected
by form, and unmixed with formless ones. He is completely liberated from all suffering, thoroughly liberated from the aggregates, and unaffected by the elements. Possessing disciplined sensory perceptions,
he has thoroughly cut all knots. He is completely liberated from all profound sufferings and freed from
the world of existence. He has crossed the river. Having realized perfect wisdom, he is the one who abides
in the transcendental wisdom of the past, future, and present Blessed Enlightened Ones. Not abiding in
Nirvana, he dwells in the state of perfection that sees all sentient beings. These are all the great attributes
that explain the qualities of the Blessed Buddha.
The noble Dharma is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end. It
possesses wholesome meaning, wholesome words, and is unmixed. It is utterly complete, utterly pure,
and utterly spotless. This doctrine, well taught by the Blessed One, is perfectly seen, free from sickness,
timeless, praiseworthy, meaningful to behold, and understood by the discriminating wisdom of learned
ones. It is firmly based on the Blessed One’s teachings of moral discipline and renunciation that lead to
the state of perfect Buddhahood. Lacking contradictions, it is complete, reliable, and cuts off going.
The Sangha of the Great Vehicle dwell appropriately, knowledgably, truthfully, and harmoniously.
They are objects worthy of being venerated with joined palms and with prostrations. They are a magnificent merit-field capable of using offerings in a proper way. Being a proper object for receiving gifts, they
should be given great offerings in any place or at any time.
[Translated by Jhampa Losal and Jay Goldberg at the International Buddhist Academy under the auspices of the Khenpo Appey Foundation, 2014. Reproduced by their kind permission].
The Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels
A commentary by Khenchen Appey Rinpoche
This is the teaching known as The Sutra
Recollecting the Three Jewels. In this sutra, what
does “jewel” mean? The Sanskrit word ratna has been
translated into the Tibetan language as dkon.mchog.
The Tibetan translation of the word ratna is not a
literal translation. The translator at that time thought
that if it were translated into Tibetan as “jewel,”
there would be the possibility of it being understood
as a gem, gold, silver, coral, and the like. So the
translator decided to translate the term as dkon.mchog,
which means “excellent rarity” or “rare excellence.”
The translator himself revealed this. In the Uttara Tantra, when he was explaining the meaning of “rare
excellence,” the Victorious Maitreya said, “Generally,
there are six characteristics of something that is very
precious: it is rare, stainless, powerful, attractive,
superior to other things, and unchangeable.”
What does “recollecting” mean? Recollecting
means keeping in mind whatever any person already
knows to be the qualities of the Three Jewels. If
someone were to ask, “What are the benefits of
recollecting the qualities of the Three Jewels?,”
it is said that one of the benefits to arise through
recollecting the qualities of the Three Jewels is the
production of faith. Examples of this faith in the
Buddha are that producing faith in the Buddha who
shows the path to temporary and ultimate bliss will
lead you to taking refuge in the Buddha; it will lead
you to producing the Enlightenment Thought for
the sake of other sentient beings that is a cause for
attaining the state of complete Buddhahood; and it will also motivate you to engage in virtuous actions, such as prostrations and making offerings to the Buddhas. Now, producing faith in the Dharma will inspire you to study the Dharma. After understanding what you have studied, you will then desire to put that
into practice. Producing faith in the Sangha will cause
you yourself to spontaneously aspire to gain the state
of a Bodhisattva, and it will also create a desire within
you to make offerings to other Bodhisattvas.
In brief, faith will create a desire within you to
engage in virtuous actions. It will lead you to take refuge in the Three Jewels. It will also inspire you to
perform such practices as the Seven-Limbed Practice,
which is dedicated to the objects of refuge who are
endowed with infinite qualities. If you do not have
faith in the Three Jewels, no Dharma qualities will be
able to arise within your mind. In a sutra it is said, “A
flower will not arise from a burnt seed.”
There is enormous merit in remembering the
qualities of the Three Jewels. Previously, when the
Buddha Kashyapa was teaching, a girl walked by
that area and heard the Buddha teaching. In her mind
she thought that the Buddha Kashyapa had a very
pleasing voice, and because of this she produced faith
in the qualities of his voice. Due to the merit arising
from this, in her next life she obtained rebirth in one
of the heavens. So it was said by the Buddha. If you
are able to gain such a result from just recollecting a
single quality of a Buddha, then there is no question
of the merit accrued by studying, contemplating, and
meditating on the qualities found in the sutras and
their commentaries.
The Sanskrit word sutra is translated in Tibetan as mdo. The sutras are to be understood as the collection of many different topics spoken by the Buddha. This particular sutra is known as The Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels. When the translator began translating this sutra from Sanskrit into Tibetan,
he added the words “Prostrations to the Omniscient One.” This sutra is divided into three sections:
recollecting the qualities of the Buddha, recollecting
the qualities of the Dharma, and recollecting the
qualities of the Sangha.
[First, to explain the Recollection of
the Buddha:]
There are two sources that explain the first
of these, recollecting the qualities of the Blessed
Buddha. These are the sutras of the Hinayana school
and the sutras of the Mahayana school. According
to the first, the Hinayana sutras, his qualities are
described in the following manner:
Thus the Blessed One is called the One Gone to Suchness, the Foe Destroyer, the Perfectly Accomplished Buddha, the One Who Possesses Knowledge and Its “Feet,” the One Who Has Gone to Bliss, Knower of the World, the Charioteer Who Tames Sentient Beings, and the Unsurpassable Teacher of Gods and Humans.
The part described here at the beginning of
this sutra is the Hinayana version of The Sutra [of
Recollecting the Three Jewels]. Up to this point,
it seems that there are different translations of
the qualities of the Buddha. If we explain this in
accordance with the word order in the Hinayana
sutra, there are some inconsistencies. Since the word
“Buddha,” for example, is omitted [in the Hinayana
sutra], a person trying to explain it as it is written
would have a difficult time. For this reason, the words
“Thus” and “the Blessed One” are placed side by side.
Further, if someone were to continue explaining those words from the sutra, they would need to explain the nine qualities of the Buddha starting with “the Blessed 24 Melody of Dharma • 2014 • NO. 14 One.” In any case, we see that the one who possesses those nine qualities is known as Buddha. This is the meaning of the sutra. Both Asanga and Vasubandhu similarly described it in their two commentaries on the sutra.
Among those nine qualities enumerated in the
quote from the sutra, the first one is [that the Buddha
is] “the Blessed One” (Tibetan bchom.lden.’das;
Sanskrit bhagavan). The meaning of this first quality
is that the Buddha is called “the Blessed One”
because he has destroyed the enemy that obstructs
the attainment of enlightenment. Someone might
ask, “What obstacle did the Buddha have?” Just
when the Buddha was about to attain enlightenment
[under the Bodhi Tree], the Mara of the Son of the
Gods created a lot of obstacles for him. Therefore,
the Buddha’s main obstacle was the Mara of the Son
of the Gods. So the Buddha is known as “the Blessed One” because he attained enlightenment after having
defeated that demon. Furthermore, another meaning
of “the Blessed One” is that the Buddha destroyed
either the three afflicting emotions [i.e., desire, hatred,
and ignorance], as understood from the twelve limbs
of Interdependent Origination, or the two obscurations
[of the afflicting emotions and knowable things].
Therefore, he is called “the Blessed One.”
Normally, in the Sanskrit language, this term, “the
Blessed One,” is known as bhagavan. The first part
of this word, bhaga, means “to destroy,” “fortunate,”
or “excellence.” The second part of that word, van,
means “to possess.” Therefore, it means “the one
who possesses the quality of destroying,” or “the one
who destroys the things that have to be destroyed.”
The second part of the word means “the one who
possesses those qualities that need to be possessed.”
So a person like this is known as bhagavan or bchom.
lden. He is also known as “the Blessed One” because
he possesses all good qualities.
Now, the second part of the word [bchom.
lden.’das, namely,] ’das, was added on by the Tibetan translator. The reason for this is that the word leg.
lden. can be substituted for the word bchom.lden.
The term leg.lden. refers to worldly gods. In order
that the word leg.lden. not be understood to mean
“worldly gods or higher beings,” the translator added
the word ’das to differentiate it [i.e., bchom.lden.’das]
from leg.lden or bchom.lden. The word bchom means
“defeating the four Maras”: the Mara of the Afflicting
Emotions, such as attachment and aversion; the Mara
of the Aggregates, such as the impure aggregates
arising from ignorance and the like; the Mara of
Death, such as the one who dies by the power of his
[or her] individual karma while not having any choice
over the matter; and the Mara of the Son of the Gods,
who is a god within the realm of desire and who
creates obstacles to Dharma practitioners. So bchom.
lden means that the Buddha has already overpowered
all four of these Maras.
There is also another connotation of this, known
as leg.pa.gdrup, which means six excellences or six virtues. What do the “six virtues” mean? First, it
can mean six excellent qualities. The first of these
six virtues is the excellent quality of power. Here,
this denotes that no scholar is able to criticize the
Buddha by saying such things as “the logic and reasoning you use in relation to the teaching of the
Dharma is incorrect.” The second excellent virtue is
the excellent quality of body. The Buddha’s body is
very beautiful—even more beautiful than the body
of the gods. The third excellent virtue is the excellent
quality of glory. The reason for this is that the field of
the Buddha’s activities is extraordinarily vast and the
Buddha has an infinite number of perfectly trained
disciples. The fourth excellent virtue is the excellent
quality of fame. His fame has spread to wherever
his disciples reside. The fifth excellent virtue is
the excellent quality of transcendental wisdom. Through his wisdom, the Buddha has the realization of knowing all knowable things within the relative and ultimate truths. He knows all things unerringly. The sixth excellent virtue is the excellent quality of diligence. The Buddha can effortlessly and untiringly perform different activities for millions of sentient beings in a single moment.
The second epithet [of the Buddha] is “the One Gone to Suchness” (Tibetan de.zhin.shek.pa; Sanskrit Tathagata). The meaning of this appellation is unmistakably knowing the nature of all things as they are. This quality emphasizes that the Buddha is the perfect teacher. For this reason the Buddha has this title “the One Gone to Suchness.” The main reason
for calling him “the One Gone to Suchness” is that no
matter what teaching the Buddha might give, it always
shows the true nature of all phenomena. It is not
otherwise. The Buddha has never taught anything that
is a perverted wrong view. For this reason, the Buddha
is called “the One Gone to Suchness.”
The third epithet is “the Foe Destroyer” (Tibetan
dgra.bchom.pa; Sanskrit arhat). The first syllable
of this word in Tibetan, dgra, refers to delusional
afflicting emotions, such as attachment, hatred, and
the like, that arise within our minds. Those afflicting
emotions are called “enemies” because they cause
obstacles to the practice of virtues. Due to this they
also throw us into suffering, and so they are called
enemies. Since the Buddha has destroyed all the
afflicting emotions, he is called “the Foe Destroyer.”
And so it shows that the Buddha has gained the
perfection of the abandonment of the afflicting
emotions.
The fourth epithet is “the Perfectly Accomplished One” (Tibetan yang.dag.par.dzogs.pa’i.sangs.
rgyas; Sanskrit samyaksambuddha). What does “the
Perfectly Accomplished One” mean? The one who
has accomplished all the qualities of enlightenment
and who has accomplished all knowledge is called
“the Perfectly Accomplished Buddha.” The Buddha
is one who has realized the wisdom that knows all
knowable things in a completely perfect way. This
explanation shows that the Blessed Buddha is the
one who possesses the perfection of realization.
For this reason, it shows that the completely and
perfectly enlightened Buddha is the teacher who
is superior to other teachers. For example, the Foe
Destroyers of the Shravakas possess the quality of a
Foe Destroyer because they have abandoned all the
afflicting emotions that arise within their own minds.
However, they do not have the ability to teach without making some mistakes and they do not know all phenomena as they truly are. Also, the teachers of the heretical schools, such as Hinduism, do not have all these qualities [such as abandonment of the afflicting emotions within their own minds, teaching without fault, and knowing phenomena as they truly are].
The fifth epithet is “the One Who Possesses
Knowledge and Its Feet” (Tibetan rig.pa.dang.zhabs.
su.ldan.pa). These two terms show the path to attain
Buddhahood. If someone were to ask, “practice of
what kind of path will help you attain Buddhahood?,”
then this is explained in the following manner. First,
to explain “knowledge” from the phrase “knowledge
and its feet”: Suppose, for example, you need to walk
to another country. To do this you need both eyes
and feet. In this example, knowledge is analogous
to eyes, and feet are analogous to the basis on which
you stand and by which you move. So when you
walk you look through your eyes and you move with
your feet. Similarly, to attain the state of Buddhahood
you need both knowledge and basic practice. From
among the three higher trainings, knowledge refers to
the training of wisdom. “Feet” refer to the other two
higher trainings—the training of moral conduct and
the training of meditation. These last two play the role of being the basis, or foundation, of wisdom. In brief, this shows that through practicing the three higher trainings the state of Buddhahood is attained. With respect to wisdom, it is the mind that realizes the true nature of phenomena. Moral conduct is to be understood as the mind that is committed to
relinquishing non-virtuous actions. With respect to
meditation, since at this point we don’t have freedom
over our own mind, our mind is not able to rest in one
place [i.e., it is distracted]. One-pointed concentration
is needed to enable the mind to penetrate into the true nature of phenomena. However, during the recitation
of sadhanas [[[Vajrayana]] Deity recitation practices]
or the performance of rituals, there are chances for
the mind to rest in one place or focus on some virtue.
That very state of mind is called meditation.
Here is another way to explain this: “knowledge”
is understood as the Right View from among the
Noble Eightfold Path, while “feet” are understood
as the seven remaining limbs of the Noble Eightfold Path. So all eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path
are needed to reach the City of Liberation. Yet again,
another way to explain this is that “knowledge”
refers to the three supernatural perfections of direct realization, and “feet” refer to other perfections, such
as the perfection of moral conduct.
The sixth epithet [for the Buddha, i.e., “the
One Who Has Gone to Bliss,”] is known in Sanskrit
as sugata (Tibetan bde.war. gsheks.pa). Su means
“bliss” or “happiness.” Gata means “going.” Further,
this is explained as: By relying on a pleasant path,
you arrive at a pleasant destination. So, understand
sugata to mean that you use a pleasing path to reach a
happy destination. In some other traditions, the path
is not pleasing or happy. For example, in the practice
of Hinduism, some practitioners will immerse
themselves for a long period of time in cold water
during the winter, while others will sit or lie upon
a bed of thorns. By these actions, they inflict much
pain upon themselves. However, the followers of
the Buddha do not practice Dharma in that manner.
For them, through a pleasant path and through
pleasant Dharma practices, they are able to attain
Buddhahood. Thus, sugata means “going pleasantly.”
Hindu practitioners claim that if you are too inclined
toward the happiness of body and mind, then desire
will arise. For that reason they believe that one should
practice austere penances. However, these types of
Hindu spiritual practices are regarded as faulty by
Buddhists. Why do we say this? When you are too
happy, you become desirous. Similarly, by inflicting
pain upon your body and mind, torturing yourself,
you will become depressed and that will lead to anger.
Therefore, the performance of virtuous activities is
the method that will free you from the entrapment
of worldly existence. In other words, through these
mind-pleasing methods you will attain liberation from
the bonds of samsaric existence. Whatever practice
you engage in, you should make sure that your action
will lead you to the attainment of freedom from
worldly existence. Otherwise, just engaging in an
action of penance is meaningless and will never lead
you to a higher result.
Further, if we look in detail about the meaning of
the term sugata, then we see that su refers to “good,”
“never falling back,” and “complete” or “without
exception.” Gata is to be understood as the Buddha’s
qualities of relinquishment and realization. If you
were to explain the word good simply in relation
to both the Buddha’s quality of relinquishment and
his quality of realization, then the first syllable su
should be understood as “not relapsing” with respect
to the quality of relinquishment. Once the Buddha
has relinquished the afflicting emotions, they will not
return. So the Buddha’s quality of relinquishment is
a complete abandonment. For example, once you are cured from the disease of smallpox, this disease will never return for the rest of your life. Similarly, once you relinquish the afflicting emotions, such as selfclinging, then no matter what external or internal conditions may appear, self-clinging will never arise within you again. For that reason the Buddha is called “Sugata.” This means that the Buddha has gained perfect and complete relinquishment.
Next, we will explain the term sugata in relation
to the Buddha’s realizations. Since the Buddha
perfectly realizes all knowable things, we address
him as “Sugata.” For example, it is similar to a vase
full of water to which not even one more drop can
be added. Other teachers who impart the Dharma,
such as Arhats, Shravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas,
have relinquished the afflicting emotions of
obscurations so that these afflicting emotions will
not return. However, they do not possess the quality
of realizing all knowable things. Therefore, teachers
of other schools do not have the dual qualities that
are suggested by the term sugata. The meaning of
the qualities of the Buddha, or Sugata, is explained
in great detail in Dharmakirti’s Pramanavartika as
“good,” “not falling back,” and “without exception”
in relation to the Buddha’s qualities of relinquishment
and realization. Also, in the words of the sutra, the
Buddha’s names and the qualities of his enlightened activities, such as Knower of the World, Tamer of
Sentient Beings, Unsurpassable One, Charioteer Who
Tames Sentient Beings, etc., are all explained in great
detail. However, here we are explaining them briefly.
The seventh epithet is understood as “Knower
of the World” (Tibetan ’jig.rten.mkhyen.pa). Since
Buddha knows the races and predispositions of all his
disciples, he is addressed as “Knower of the World.”
The Buddha knows which disciples have faults, which
ones are progressing, which ones are about to go to
lower births, and which ones have already arrived in
the lower realms. The Buddha has the power to see
all this. Further, he has the ability to see which ones
need to be placed on the path to higher rebirth from
the lower realms and which ones have already been
placed on the path to liberation. So, Buddha is an
omniscient one and is recognized as the “Knower of
the World.”
The eighth epithet is known as “ t h e
Unsurpassable Charioteer Who Tames Sentient Beings” (Tibetan skyes.bu.’dul.ba’i.kha.lo.sgyur.
ba.bla.na.med.pa). Why is the Buddha known as
“the Unsurpassable Charioteer Who Tames Sentient Beings”? Having seen the movements from birth
to birth of sentient beings, the Buddha destroys the
afflicting emotions of living beings who are fortunate
enough to be able to attain the path leading to the City
of liberation. For those beings, the Buddha will steer
them along that path.
What does “charioteer” mean here? It is similar to one driving a horse cart or some other vehicle. In accordance with the predispositions and abilities of sentient beings, the Buddha leads them onto the path of liberation. For this reason, the Buddha is addressed as “Charioteer” and “Tamer of Beings.”
“Unsurpassable” should be understood to mean
that there is no one superior to the Buddha who can
lead sentient beings to the state of liberation. In the
sutras there are several reasons cited as to why the
Buddha is matchless. Sentient beings who are difficult
to discipline can be tamed only by the Buddha.
Even those whose mental continuum was filled with
delusion were able to be tamed by the Buddha. For
example, the Buddha’s younger brother, Nanda, had a
difficult time being apart from his wife Pundarika due
to his attachment to her. Through very skillful means,
the Buddha convinced his brother to become a monk.
He then led him in the practice of meditation, and
finally Nanda attained the state of Arhatship. Another case involved Angulimala, a frightful and ferocious killer whose mind was filled with anger and hatred. Just hearing his name brought great terror to the hearts of people. Generally speaking, Angulimala was a very famous person due to his renown as a fearsome mass murderer. However, through the Buddha’s assistance, he became a monk and entered the path. Even then,
he still frightened people. One time he was listening
to the Buddha’s teaching along with an assembly of
others that included King Prasanjit of Sarvasti. During
the teaching Angulimala happened to cough, and even
this caused the king to tremble. In yet another case,
there is the story of a dimwitted Stavira monk. During
his studies his teacher asked him to memorize the
syllables om and bhu. When he tried to memorize the
syllable om, he would forget the syllable bhu. When
he memorized bhu, then he would forget om again.
Even this person was also trained by the Buddha. In
order to purify his obscurations, the Buddha first had
him clean the shrine room of the monastery. Through
this and other skillful means, the Buddha was able
to cause him to purify his afflicting emotions and
obscurations. Later, he became a learned monk. Not
only that, but the Buddha placed him in meditation practice, and later he attained the state of Arhatship. In
a similar way, there was another Stavira monk by the
name of brtan.rgya.’od.srung who was a very proud
and arrogant person. He possessed many qualities,
such as clairvoyance and the ability to display
miraculous feats. Due to this, he was very haughty
and conceited. In order to discipline him, the Buddha
himself displayed many miraculous acts. In his mind,
though, even when the Buddha demonstrated so many
miraculous feats, this monk continued to believe that
he had more special qualities than the Buddha. In
order to tame him, the Buddha continued to display
even more miracles. Finally, this caused the monk to
produce true faith in the Buddha. He then received
teaching from the Buddha and eventually attained the
state of Arhatship.
The ninth epithet is “the One Who is the Teacher of Gods and Humans” (Tibetan lha.dang.mi.rnam. kyi.ston.pa). Generally, the Buddha gives teachings to all sentient beings, without bias and regardless of their race. However, though the Buddha teaches all beings, gods and humans are the only two types of living beings who are capable of practicing the path of liberation. Foe Destroyers (Arhats) are of two kinds: god Foe Destroyers and human Foe Destroyers.
There is no such category as animal Foe Destroyer.
Therefore, the principal disciples of the Buddha are
gods and humans. For this reason, the Buddha is
addressed as “the Teacher of Gods and Humans.”
These nine phrases in the Hinayanists’ rendition
of this sutra refer back to the Buddha being known
as “the Blessed One.” Therefore, this last phrase,
“the Teacher of Gods and Humans,” completes the
enumeration of terms referring to the Buddha who has
the nine qualities that have just been explained.
If someone were to ask, “Who is the Buddha?”
we would have to say that that unique person who
possesses these nine qualities is none other than the
Blessed Buddha. The meaning of the Sanskrit term
bhagavan [usually translated as “the Blessed One,” as
explained above,] can sometimes also be interpreted
as “known as.” Therefore, without using the term
“Blessed One,” it is all right to translate the phrase as
follows: the one who possesses the nine qualities is
“known as the Buddha.”
To be continued…
[ The Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels and its
commentary by Khenchen Appey Rinpoche were translated
by Jhampa Losal and Jay Goldberg at the International Buddhist Academy under the auspices of the Khenpo Appey Foundation, 2014. Reproduced with gratitude by
their kind permission].
