“Among all the practices to enhance nondistraction or mindfulness, as we commonly call it, remembering the Three Jewels is one of the most important.”
—Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
We are a group of people who have family, friends, and jobs to support ourselves in this world. We’re not perfect or even excellent in everything we do, but we’re united in our aspiration to follow the teachings of the Buddha. Our teacher, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, has given us many wonderful tools and strong support in this aspiration, and we wish to continue practicing as much as possible in our daily lives. We have experienced the magic of the sadhana of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels (Triratna Anusmṛti Sādhanā), and we know that many of you have too, so we invite you to join us in this practice.
Our motivation in initiating this project is to practice together with our known and unknown sangha members who wish to follow the Buddha with all their heart.
We are grateful to our present team members, team members who will join us in the future, and many others who have helped us to organize and present this sadhana to you.
About the Sadhana Practice
We need regular practice to become familiar with our own mind and to be able to experience mental freedom. The dharma taught by the Buddha is vast and profound. One aspect of his teachings is the focus on mind training. Some scientists are attempting to validate the conventional benefits of Buddhist meditation by using neuro-imaging technologies to map the impact of different forms of meditation on the practitioner. Laboratory studies show a significant difference between Buddhist meditators and control groups, with encouraging results in the areas of attention and concentration; generating compassion and a positive frame of mind; and the ability to know and be aware of emotions and thoughts.
Of course, the ultimate test, from a practical point of view, is that the path should be relevant to our lives and work for us. We don’t need a lab to tell us that we are concerned or anxious about a situation. We feel it ourselves, we live with it all the time.
This sadhana, composed by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, incorporates chanting, singing, visualization, mudras, and many other elements to achieve the purpose of remembering the Three Jewels:
Tri Ratna: Three Noble Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha)
Anusmriti: Recollection
Sadhana: Regular Practice
This sadhana contains elements that are traditional techniques for transforming the following states:
Transform depression and fear into clarity and confidence by recalling the qualities of the Buddha, dharma, and sangha and taking refuge in the Buddha.
Transform purposelessness and feeling lost and small into creating a grand vision by taking the bodhicitta vow and operating from the bodhisattva state of mind.
Transform anxiety about money, security, and survival into creating abundance by cultivating the habit of making vast offerings.
Transform the destructive emotions of pride, petty-mindedness, aggression, jealousy, ignorance, and wrong view by cultivating their antidotes through reciting the seven branch prayer.
Transform unfortunate circumstances, nonaccomplishments, and failures into merit and beneficial causes and conditions by enhancing nondistraction and encouraging mindfulness through mantra recitation and shamatha meditation.
Transform dualistic fixations of time, space, self and other, good and bad into the nondual wisdom of seeing the union of appearance and emptiness by visualizing the Buddha and his retinue.
Recollection of Generosity
Simply being mindful of the cause and effect of being kind and giving brings joy in our everyday lives. As a way to open our hearts, in the next few months, we will focus on the recollection of generosity with the new offering mudras, along with the eight branch offerings and mind training in the Triratna Anusmriti Sadhana. If practiced regularly with awareness, these heartfelt offering mudras have been known to support joyful transformation.
For All Who Wish to Practice
Following in the footsteps of the great Muni, the sadhana of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels is for anyone who wants to reduce suffering in their lives and cultivate a fresh, awake, healthy mind. One does not have to be a Buddhist to practice this sadhana; it’s also for those who have attended a few dharma teachings and have awakened some devotion toward the dharma, but are not pursuing any specific practice. The sadhana offers a solid structure for developing a personal practice, and long-term dharma students will also appreciate the benefits of this practice.
We plan to offer the sadhana in more languages in the future.