If you sincerely wish to
follow the Buddha’s
teaching, it is best to do so by undergoing this ancient
ritual and receiving the three refuges from a
qualified Buddhist teacher. When you are convinced that
you want to commit
yourself to the Buddhist path, you should discuss your
intentions with your teacher and fix a day for the
ceremony.
When
people ask, “What do you have to do to become a
Buddhist?” we say that we take refuge in Buddha-Dhamma-Sangha.
When superstitious people would come to my teacher Ajahn
Chah wanting charmed medallions or little talismans to
protect them from bullets and knives, ghosts and so on,
he would say, “Why do you want things like that? The
only real protection is taking refuge in the Buddha.”
As we begin to realise the profundity of the Buddhist
teachings, it becomes a real joy to take these refuge;
even simply reciting them inspires the mind. When we
say, “I take refuge,” what do we mean by that? How can
this simple phrase become more than a repetition of a
few words but something that truly gives us direction
and increases our dedication to the path of the Buddha?
Buddha is a lovely word; it means “the one who knows”.
When we take refuge in the Buddha, it doesn’t mean we
take refuge in some historical prophet but in that which
is wise in the universe, in our minds, and not separate
from us. Taking refuge in the Buddha, in wisdom, means
we have a place of safety. The future remains unknown
and mysterious, but by taking refuge in the Buddha we
gain presence of mind in this moment, learning from life
as we live it.
The second refuge is in the Dhamma, in ultimate truth or
ultimate reality. We may think that Dhamma is “out
there”, something we have to find else where. Really, it
is immanent, it is here-and-now. One does not have a
personal relationship with Dhamma; one cannot say “I
love the Dhamma!” or “The Dhamma loves me!” We only need
a personal relationship with something separate from us
- like our mother, father, husband or wife. But we don’t
need to take refuge in someone to protect us and say, “I
love you no matter what. Everything is going to be all
right.” The Dhamma is a refuge of maturity in which we
don’t need to be loved or protected anymore; now we can
love and protect others. When we take refuge in the
Dhamma, we let go of our desire to have a personal
relationship with the truth. We have to be that truth,
here and now.
The third refuge is Sangha, which refers to all those
who live virtuously. Taking refuge in the Sangha means
we take refuge in that which is good, virtuous, kind,
compassionate and generous - doing good and refraining
from evil with bodily action and speech. The refuge of
Sangha is very practical for day-to-day living within
the human form, within this body, in relation to the
bodies of other beings and the physical world we live
in. When we take this refuge, we do not act in any way
that causes division, disharmony, cruelty, meanness or
unkindness to any living being, including our own body
and mind.
So reflect on this - consider and really see Buddha-Dhamma-Sangha
as a refuge. It’s not a matter of believing in Buddha-Dhamma-Sangha
as concepts but in using them as symbols for
mindfulness, for awakening the mind here and now.
Adapted by permission from Now Is the Knowing (Amarawati
Publications, 1989).
About the Author: Ajahn Sumedho was born in Seattle in
1934 and has been a monk for over forty years. He
established Wat Pah Nanachat (International Forest
Monastery) in Thailand and Amaravati and Chithurst
Buddhist monasteries in England. He retired as abbot of
Amarawati in 2010.
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
We
can think of the Buddha’s teaching as a building with
its own foundation, storeyes, stairs and roof. Like any
other building the teaching also has a door, and to
enter it we have to enter through this door. The door of
entrance to the Buddha’s teaching is the going for
refuge to the Triple Gem: to the Buddha as the fully
enlightened teacher, to the Dhamma as the truth and path
taught by Him, and to the Sangha as the community of His
noble disciples. From ancient times to the present, the
going for refuge has served as the entrance to the path,
giving admission to the rest of the teaching from its
basement to its pinnacle. All those in the past who
embraced the Buddha’s teaching did so by passing through
the door of taking refuge, and anyone today who wants to
follow the teaching should make the same threefold
affirmation:
Buddham saranam gacchami I go for refuge to the Buddha,
Dhammam saranam gacchami I go for refuge to the Dhamma,
Sangham saranam gacchami I go for refuge to the Sangha.
If you sincerely wish to follow the Buddha’s teaching,
it is best to do so by undergoing this ancient ritual
and receiving the three refuges from a qualified
Buddhist teacher. When you are convinced that you want
to commit yourself to the Buddhist path, you should
discuss your intentions with your teacher and fix a day
for the ceremony. When the auspicious day arrives, you
should come to the monastery or center, bringing such
offerings as incense, fruit and flowers and a small gift
for the teacher. After making the offerings, with joined
palms, you should bow down three times before the image
of the Buddha, thereby paying respects to the Three
Jewels. Then, kneeling in front of the shrine, you
should request the refuges. The teacher will recite each
line of the formula and ask you to repeat each line. The
procedure is repeated three times.
Following the declaration of the refuges, the teacher
will usually administer the Five Precepts, the ethical
code of abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual
misconduct, false speech and intoxicants.
The ritual of going for refuge, if sincerely undertaken,
is not a blind and empty convenation but the outward
expression of an inner, spiritual process by which we
commit ourselves to the Triple Gem as our supreme
resort. By inwardly turning to the Triple Gem, the going
for refuge becomes an act of self-surrender.
Simultaneously, we drop our defences before the objects
of refuge and open ourselves to their capacity to help,
to guide us to release from confusion, turmoil and pain.
The going for refuge should not be an event that occurs
only once and then fades into the background of our
lives. This little ritual is in reality a method of
cultivation, a practice that should be undertaken
regularly. The act is a complex process involving
intelligence, volition and emotion. First, as an act of
intelligence, the going for refuge is guided by a clear
understanding that protects us from the dangers of
dogmatism and blind emotion. The faculty of intelligence
steers the act of refuge toward the realization of its
inner urge for liberation. It distinguishes the goal
from any distractions and prevents us from wandering in
pursuit of futile ends. The faculty of intelligence
involved in taking refuge comprehends the basic
satisfactoriness of life, our vulnerability to
suffering. We further see that the cause of our
suffering lies within ourselves - in our clinging,
craving and delusion - and that to win freedom from
suffering we must follow a course of practice that can
effectively extinguish its causes. The growth of
understanding brings a deeper commitment to the refuges,
and the deepening of the inner refuge facilitates the
growth of understanding.
The going for refuge is secondly an act of volition, a
free act reflecting a personal decision. The ritual, if
done mindfully, radically reorients the will. It brings
about a harmonization of values, which now converge on
the fundamental aspiration for awakening and liberation
as the chief purpose guiding one’s life. Before refuge
is taken, the will tends to move outwardly, pushing to
extend the bounds of self identity. We seek to gain
increasing territory for the self, to widen the range of
ownership, control and domination. With the act of
taking refuge, this pattern is undermined and reversed.
Our will starts to move in the opposite direction,
toward renunciation and detachment. We see that true
liberation lies not in the extension of the ego to the
limits of infinity but in the utter abolition of the
ego-delusion at its base. We thus begin to relinquish
the objects of clinging and the notions of “I” and
“mine” from which attachment originates.
The third aspect of going for refuge is the emotional.
The emotions entering into the refuge ritual are
principally three: confidence, reverence and love.
Confidence (pasada) is a feeling of serene trust in the
protective power of the refuge-objects based on a clear
understanding of their qualities and functions.
Confidence gives rise to reverence (garava) - esteem and
veneration born from a growing awarencess of the lofty
nature of the Triple Gem. As we experience the
transforming effect of the Dhamma in our lives,
reverence awakens love (pema), which adds the element of
warmth and fervour to the spiritual life. Love kindels
the flame of devotion, which is expressed in dedicated
service by which we seek to extend the protection of the
threefold refuge to others and share with them its
potential for wisdom and liberation.
Inquiring Mind
About the author Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi has been a Theravada
Buddhist monk for over thirty-five years. A translator
of the Pali Nikayas, he lives and teaches at Chuang Yen
Monastery in Carmel, New York, and at Bodhi Monastery in
Lafayette, New Jersey. He is the founder and chairman of
Buddhist Global Relief.
පසෙලාස්වක
අව
අටවක
අමාවක
පුර
අටවක