Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels.

When Buddha taught dharma, many members of the community throughout India decided to devote their lives to reach enlightenment by breaking the chains of karma and rebirth to see the ultimate reality free from the delusion of self. This community became known as the Sangha, consisting of monks and nuns who gave up materialistic longing in search for enlightenment. In Buddhism, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha became known as the three jewels. To Buddhists, the words "to take refuge in these three jewels", means to take refuge in buddha's teaching by trying to understand the dharma, thus becoming a member of the Sangha.

I take refuge untill I am enlightened In The  Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
Through the positive potential I create
By practicing generosity and the other far-reaching attitutes,
May I attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.         

Four Noble Truths

When Siddharta saw the suffering of man in poverty, illness, old age and death, he vowed to find the end of suffering. When he woke as an Enlightened one, one of the first discourses he taught was the four noble truths. These were that

1) All human life is suffering.
2) That suffering is caused by human desire, esspecially the desire for impermant things to be permanant.
3) Human suffering can thus be ended by ending human desire.
4) Desire can be ended by following the "Eightfold Noble Path" which are 

1) right understanding,

2) right thought,

3) right speech,

4) right action,

5) right livelihood,

6) right effort,

7) right mindfullness

8) right concentration

Karma

Buddha taught that all human life is suffering. Humans suffer from sickness, poverty, old age and death because we are governed by the laws of karma. Karma is the universal law that states our present experience were caused by a past action. Karma can be described as all of the bellow:

1) A vocal, mental or physical action.
2) The consequence of those actions. 
3) The sum of all consequences of those actions of an individual in this lifetime or in previous lives.
4) The chain of cause and effect in the world of morality

Buddha teaches that by doing good, perpetuating loving kindness and compassion, at all times, we will perpetuate good karma. At the same time by not killing, lying, cheating and doing harm to any sentient being we do not collect negative karma that could cause an effect in future.