Good morning!
We can now enjoy a lot of flowers – daffodils, magnolias (木蓮: tree lotus), forsythia, cherries, quince, etc. April 8 is celebrated as the Flower Festival, the Buddha’s birthday. Without the Buddha (Awakened), we can’t have his Dharma (norm/form, law/phenomena) and Sangha (Community), the Triple Treasure.
Because of his Dharma, we know the Dharma (norm/law) of all dharmas (forms/phenomena), Interdependent Co-origination, i.e., that all phenomena are co-originated on causes and conditions. Anyone can apply it in all problems and solve all sufferings in principle and practice, living the awakened way in nirvana.
Without Sangha, no one could transmit his Dharma, much less treasure it and take refuge in it, far less actually appreciate it. Because of the Sangha, we can know that all living beings are karma-machines, etc., and can transcend karma by cultivating and attaining awakening in nirvana by the Fourfold Applications.
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are also called the Triple Refuge. All beings can take refuges in them to solve individual, social, and environmental problems and sufferings in truth/ethic. Anyone can realize limitless light, liberation, love, and life in holiness, wholesome whole, in time and space. They are the true treasures.
4/6/19
