The Sacred Synergy

The Sacred Synergy: the Buddha Enlightens, the Dharma In- structs, the Sangha Supports The Great Traditions have given us a compelling answer to this question. After his enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree 2500 years ago, the Buddha rose up from his deep meditation, journeyed to Sarnath and delivered his iconic first sermon to the five ascetics. In this historic inaugural teaching, he laid down the foundations of the Three Jewels of Enlightenment: the Buddha (the enlightened teacher), the Dharma (the teachings or sacred wisdom), and the Sangha (the community of practitioners) - establishing what is now known as the Triple Gem. Ever since that defining moment in our spiritual history the Triple Gem has been considered the most optimum support-struc- ture for spiritual practice; the most conducive setting to awaken to the ultimate gift of Enlightened Awareness, remain in touch with it, and allow it to most fully come alive and shine forth into this world. So why is it that the formula of the Triple Gem is such a well- spring of transformational power? The reason is simple, but also somewhat mysterious. Together, these Three Jewels create a potent sacred synergy that quickens awakening: the Buddha enlightens, the Dharma instructs, and the Sangha supports. When the Three Jewels are sparkling together, working side by side, alchemical- ly joined in an ongoing dynamic interplay, their transformational power is unleashed most fully – creating the most favorable condi- tions for enlightenment to be transmitted, realized, sustained, and embodied within a community of practitioners. And thus, through the echoes of history, it has been understood that engaging spiritual practice within a Triple Gem framework is the most reliable way to stay intimately connected to the divine aliveness of our own awak- ened awareness - our best chance of stabilizing our experiences of self-transcendence and glimpses of spiritual awakening. With our spiritual community, Manifest Nirvana, we have cre- ated a vibrant environment where the sacred synergy of the Three Jewels of Enlightenment is alive. We have set up a space dedicated to radical transformation and deep inner awakening, where the enlightened exemplar offers guidance on the path, the wisdom of the teaching helps us navigate our spiritual practice, and the com- munity of practitioners supports and nurtures - together creating the ideal conditions for intensifying and quickening our awakening process. But what makes our offering unique is that, while we fully em- brace the precious gift of Traditional Enlightenment – awakening to the timeless, formless Ground of All-Being - we have also inte- grated several key understandings revealed by modern-day science. Among them, insights of which none of the Great Traditions were aware, most notably the theory of evolution, which was discovered around one hundred fifty years ago. This has led us to develop our groundbreaking new teaching, called Evolutionary Enlightenment. Since the birth of the universe, the mysterious force of evo- lution has produced a continuous outpouring of creative novelty across every single domain of the cosmos - from matter, to life, to consciousness – organizing them into ever more advanced levels of complexity, wholeness, inclusion, and embrace. The field of spiri- tuality is no exception; and integrating the reality of evolution into it is nothing short of a gamechanger. Here’s why: The principle of evolution holds far-reaching implications for the way we conduct our spiritual lives, and even changes our understanding of the na- ture of enlightenment itself – points we will return to shortly. Yet despite its groundbreaking character, the full impact of evolution is still all too often poorly understood by most practi- tioners who are treading the time-honored path of classical en- lightenment. This is somewhat unfortunate, as engaging directly with the mysterious force of evolution in our spiritual practice has actually enriched and revolutionized each of the Three Jewels of Enlightenment. It has opened up surprising new pathways to make our spiritual practice more potent and its results more whole. So let’s explore this more closely… How exactly did the force of evolution advance and enrich the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha?