The Three Treasures

The ideal of the Middle Way is to live a life of harmony and equilibrium, free from self-centeredness and awkward self-consciousness. By practicing the Middle Way, we obtain the insight of the Buddha. Most people find that practicing is easier with some structure and community. These are provided by the Three Treasures in which all Buddhists take refuge: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

The Buddha shows us the possibility that we can awaken to the truth of life. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we take refuge in the possibility of our own awakening. In Nichiren Shu, we do not regard Shakyamuni Buddha as an abstract ideal or long dead teacher. He is the awakening to the living reality of our own lives, which we realize when we take faith in the Odaimoku, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

The Dharma is the Buddha’s teaching that enables us to cut through delusions and bad habits that prevent us from awakening. In Nichiren Shu Buddhism, we uphold the true intention of the Buddha’s Dharma expressed in the Lotus Sutra

The Sangha is the Buddhist community consisting of clergy and lay people who support and encourage us in establishing a life devoted to following the Buddha and the Dharma.
Without the Sangha, we are like a plant lacking firm roots that can easily be swept away by a storm. The Sangha provides us with a community that allows us to reach out to the larger community of all beings.