dkon mchog gsum

Three Jewels. The Precious Buddha, the Precious Dharma and the Precious Sangha. In The Light of Wisdom (Shambhala Publ.), Jamgön Kongtrül explains: "The Buddha is the nature of the four kayas and five wisdoms endowed with the twofold purity and the perfection of the twofold welfare. The Dharma is what is expressed, the unconditioned truth of total purification comprised of cessation and path, and that which expresses, the two aspects of statement and realization appearing as the names, words and letters of the teachings. The Sangha consists of the actual Sangha, the sons of the victorious ones abiding on the noble bhumis who are endowed with the qualities of wisdom and liberation, and the resembling Sangha who are on the paths of accumulation and joining as well as the noble shravakas and pratyekabuddhas." [RY]

the three jewels [IW]

Triratna, three jewels (rare supreme three), 3 precious ones (sangs rgyas, dam chos, dge 'dun), triple gem [JV]

Triratna, the Three Jewels, Three Precious Ones, Three Precious Jewels, the Triple Gem, the three rare and sublime ones. {sangs rgyas} Buddha, {chos} Dharma, {dge 'dun} sangha. Syn {dkon mchog rin chen gsum} [RY]

Three Jewels (Tib. dkon mchog gsum, Skt. triratna): the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. [MR]

Discussion

Three Jewels. The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. They are called "jewels" because they are like jewels in six different ways: (1) they are difficult to find, (2) there are no stains in their essence, (3) they have the power to produce what one wishes, (4) they beautify and ornament, (5) they are superior to anything artificial, and (6) they are not affected by either praise or derision.

The Sanskrit and Pali word "ratna" translates directly as jewel, but the Tibetan translators used the word "dkon mchog," which literally means "rare-supreme." DKC