The Seba library treats Three Treasures in 5 passages, across 4 authors (including Kohn, Livia, Dōgen, Eihei, Coleman, Graham).
the doctrine of the three treasures (sanbao), namely jing (essence), qi (vital energy/pneuma), and shen (spirit), which are the basic ingredients of the neidan process.
This passage establishes the Daoist neidan definition of the Three Treasures as the triadic ontological substrate—essence, vital energy, and spirit—each bearing primordial and conditioned aspects that the alchemical process seeks to restore.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000thesis
Dōgen is vowing this to the Three Treasures. The first three lines of this waka are almost the same as waka number nineteen: In my grass hut sleeping or waking I always recite ‘I take refuge in Shakyamuni Buddha.’
Dōgen deploys the Three Treasures as the living addressees of the bodhisattva vow, embedding the term within a practice of ethical intention and devotional refuge rather than cosmological speculation.
, Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, 1234supporting
The Three Precious Jewels comprise the Buddha; the sacred teachings (Skt. saddharma); and the monastic community of monks and nuns (Skt. sangha). Together these three form the outer objects of refuge.
Coleman’s glossary distinguishes the Three Precious Jewels as the outer refuge objects of Tibetan Buddhism, contrasting them with the inner Three Roots, clarifying the hierarchical refuge structure within tantric soteriology.
, The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Penguin Classics), 2005supporting
The first is employed to transport vital energy (qi) and corresponds to the microcosmic orbit; the second transports essence (jing) and corresponds to the circulation of the jade liquid; the third transports both essence and vital energy.
This passage traces how the neidan ‘three vehicles’ recapitulate the Three Treasures’ structure—qi, jing, and their synthesis—across successive alchemical firing stages, showing the triadic logic operative within inner cultivation systems.
, Daoism Handbook, 2000supporting
Namely, the Buddha, the Dharma (or Scriptures), and the Sa[ngha] (or Brotherhood of the Priests of the Buddhist Order).
Evans-Wentz briefly identifies the Three Jewels in a footnote glossing Padmasambhava’s ordination context, confirming the formula’s standard presence in Tibetan Buddhist ritual framing without extended analysis.
, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, 1954aside