BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Number 3 in Religion

In Buddhism:

3 Roots of Evil
Greed
Hatred
Delusion

There are the 3 bodies the all Buddha manifest themselves

Truth
Bliss
Emanation

3 Characteristics of Existence

suffering
impermanence
nonpermanent self

3 Realms

Desire
Form
Formless

And of course one can not forget the refuge vows

Buddha
Dharma
Sangha

I've been a buddhist my entire life, and I've never seen these categories of 3 before. Well, except for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

This is all very interesting for me because I go to a Jodo Shu church which is based in Japan. We learned the 8-Fold Path, Golden Chain, and the 4 Noble Truths growing up. I suppose we never got really deep into some other teachings because I didn't recognize a lot of words in the alphabet game. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Or maybe it's just a language thing.

Anyhoo, can you explain 3 Realms to me please. Thanks!

Hi,

I just found this Dharma talk and I think Rev. Jnana does a great job (better then I could have) of explaining numbers. He also has more references to the number 3 then I thought of.

You might try this on-line dictionary of Buddhist terms I've found it really helpful.