The Three Treasures（SGI-USAの三宝）
The Three Treasures
The Soka Gakkai is the organization that in modern times has
inherited the true spirit and lineage o f Buddhism passed on from
Shakyamuni.
It is a basic premise for all Buddhists to respect and treasure the
Buddha, the Law (the Buddha's teachings), and the practitioners
of the Law. Therefore, these three are regarded respectively as the
treasure of the Buddha, the treasure o f the Law, and the treasure
of the Buddhist Order (community o f believers). Together, they
are known as the three treasures. The treasure of the Buddha i s the
Buddha who expounds the teaching, while the treasure of the Law
is the teaching the Buddha expounds, and the treasure o f the Bud-
dhist Order is the gathering o f people who believe i n and practice
that teaching.
I n Sanskrit, the three treasures (triratna) are called Buddha,
Dharma, and Samgha. The word samgha originally meant a collec-
tive body o r an assembly. Referring t o the Buddhist Order, i t was
rendered phonetically into Chinese and then into Japanese with
two characters, pronounced in Japanese as sogya. This was subse-
quendy contracted t o only the first character, so, which also came
t o be used to refer t o Buddhist priests. Later, the term samgha was
also rendered into Chinese and Japanese using two or three char-
acters literally meaning a harmonious gachering, pronounced i n
Japanese a s wago or wago-so.
Over the long history o f Buddhism, various teachings emerged to
guide people according to their needs and capacities, the times, and
changes that took place in society.
The specific description o f the three treasures differs somewhat
within each teaching. In East Asia, the treasure o f the Buddhist
Order, o r Samgha, came to refer exclusively to male Buddhist priests,
not the community of believers as a whole.
I n Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of sowing (that is, sowing the
seeds o f enlightenment, namely, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo), we revere
the three treasures from the perspective of time without beginning,
the fundamental dimension o f existence. "Time without beginning"
here is used to describe that which has always been present since
the remotest past and will remain present into the eternal future.
I n terms o f Buddhist practice, it refers t o the original moment of
attaining Buddhahood, when ordinary people reveal and manifest
the eternal Mystic Law that has always been present within. Mem-
bers of the Soka Gakkai eternally revere these three treasures in order
to attain Buddhahood.
The treasure of the Buddha from the perspective of time without
beginning is Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of beginningless time,
or eternal Buddha, who revealed i n his own life as an ordinary person
the fundamental Law for attaining Buddhahood.
The treasure of the Law from the perspective o f time without
beginning i s the Gohonzon, or object of devotion, of Nam-myoho-
renge-kyo, which the Daishonin revealed as the Law for universal
enlightenment.
The treasure o f the Buddhist Order from the perspective of time
withour beginning is Nikko Shonin (the Daishonin's closest disciple
and immediate successor), who protected and correctly transmitted
the treasure of the Buddha and the treasure o f the Law.
These are the three treasures to be revered i n Nichiren Daishonin's
Buddhism of sowing.'
When we revere (nam) these three treasures, we receive the benefit
of sowing the seeds o f enlightenment [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] and
are thereby able to attain Buddhahood.
The word nam derives from the Sanskrit word namas (meaning
bow or reverence) and was translated into Chinese as "to devote one's
life," meaning t o base oneself on something and follow i t i n body
and mind and to believe i n i t and make it ones foundation.
Moreover, the treasure of the Buddhist Order i n a broad sense
refers to the gathering o f people who correctly protect, transmit, and
spread the three treasures as objects o f respect and reverence. Today,
the Soka Gakkai is the treasure of the Buddhist Order, for it i s the
organization that is carrying o n the spirit and conduct o f Nichiren
Daishonin and advancing worldwide kosen-rufu.
1. In Nichiren's Buddhism, che Buddhism of sowing indicates the reachings of Nichiren,
i n contrast with those o f Shakyamuni, which are called the Buddhism of the
harvest. The Buddhism of the harvest consists of reachings that can lead to
enlightenment only those who received che seeds o f Buddhahood by practicing
Shakyamuni's teaching in previous lifetimes.
I n contrast, the Buddhism of sowing implants the seeds o f Buddhahood, o r
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, in the lives of those who had no connection with the Buddha's
teaching in their past existences, i.e., the people o f the Latter Day o f the Law.
