रत्नत्रय

The three jewels

Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct — held together rather than in sequence, because any one of them alone is incomplete.

The path is stated as three things at once. Samyak darshana is seeing reality as it is — not belief in the sense of assent to propositions, but a settled orientation towards what is the case. Samyak jnana is knowing it correctly. Samyak charitra is living accordingly.

The insistence is that they are simultaneous rather than sequential. Knowledge without the orientation is information; the orientation without conduct is sentiment; conduct without either is habit. The Tattvartha Sutra opens by naming all three together as the path to liberation, in a single line that both traditions accept, and the ordering in that line is not a timetable.

Right faith is the one that takes explaining. It is closer to clear sight than to belief: the tradition describes the moment it arises as a settling, after which the basic account of soul, karma and liberation is no longer in question, and it is possible to have it without yet knowing much or behaving well. The stages of spiritual progress are built around when it arises and whether it holds.