華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 2.55

2.55

As for the meaning of the Three Jewels: 'three' is a number; 'jewel' has the meaning of being precious. Being able to elevate practitioners to distance themselves from saṃsāra and attain superior bodhi, being precious, they are called jewels. That is, the meaning of the Three Jewels—the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—briefly has three kinds: first, the Three Jewels of identical characteristics; second, the Three Jewels of distinct characteristics; third, the Three Jewels that maintain the lineage. The Three Jewels of identical characteristics means that the single dharmatā-tathatā has three different meanings, namely the meaning of awakening, the meaning of standard/model, and the meaning of harmony; hence they are called the Three Jewels. Second, distinct characteristics means that, in conditions, the meaning of being supreme is the Buddha—namely, the body shared with the world, the two bodies, the single body, two bodies, three bodies, four bodies, ten bodies, and so forth, as distinguished in the questions and answers; the Dharma refers to principle, teaching, practice, fruit, inexhaustible doctrinal meanings, and so forth; the Saṅgha refers to the defiled and undefiled, those who maintain the lineage through karmavācanā, śrāvakas, bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and so forth. Third, the Three Jewels that maintain the lineage has two kinds: first, the maintenance of forms—namely, Buddhas made of plain silk, paintings, carved sandalwood, and so forth; second, the Dharma of paper, silk, spoken sounds, and so forth; third, the Saṅgha of defiled and undefiled shaved heads, kāṣāyas, and so forth. Second, the maintenance of principle refers to the dharmatā-tathatā acting as the reliance for both ordinary beings and nobles: first, the reliance for arising; second, the reliance as the cognitive object; nourishing, supporting, and establishing are called the maintenance of principle. The Three Jewels span the five teachings: first, in the world; second, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; third, that studied by bodhisattvas of the gradual teaching; fourth, that studied by bodhisattvas of the sudden teaching; fifth, that studied through the understanding, practice, seeing, and hearing of Samantabhadra in the Ekayāna; its meaning can be known by analogy. The characteristics of the Three Jewels of the Ekayāna are, as the sūtra says below, briefly of ten gates: first, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva teaches and transforms sentient beings to generate the bodhicitta, and therefore can cause the Buddha jewel not to be severed; second, revealing the extremely profound, wondrous dharma-treasuries, and therefore can cause the Dharma jewel not to be severed; third, fully receiving and upholding the teachings of deportment, and therefore can cause the Saṅgha jewel not to be severed; fourth, furthermore, being able to praise all great vows, and therefore can cause the Buddha jewel not to be severed; fifth, analyzing and explaining the twelve links of pratītyasamutpāda, and therefore can cause the Dharma jewel not to be severed; sixth, practicing the six points of reverent harmony, and therefore can cause the Saṅgha jewel not to be severed; seventh, furthermore, planting the Buddha-seed in the field of sentient beings to sprout the shoot of right awakening, and therefore can cause the Buddha jewel not to be severed; eighth, sparing neither body nor life to protect and uphold the Three Jewels, and therefore can cause the Dharma jewel not to be severed; ninth, skillfully guiding the great assembly so their minds are without anxiety or affliction, and therefore can cause the Saṅgha jewel not to be severed; tenth, not contravening the teachings of the correct Dharma spoken by the Buddhas of past, future, and present, and therefore can cause the Three Jewels not to be severed. These ten Three Jewels are subsumed under the Ekayāna teaching. Why is this? Because the characteristics of these ten Three Jewels reside in the practitioner's mental realization, and there is nowhere in the scope of teaching and wisdom where they do not manifest; this is precisely the maintenance [of the lineage], accomplishing its great benefit. The reason ten are spoken of is to reveal boundlessness. This extends to Indra['s net] and the subtle realm; the two vehicles and the Hīnayāna do not have these characteristics. The remaining meanings are as in the separate chapter.