21 The Three Refuges

REALISATION

The Three Refuges

179 Some people read about the Buddha's teaching and develop a deep respect for it, feeling that in many ways it corresponds to their own ideas, but they are content to admire the teaching from a distance.

Appreciation of the Buddha and his teaching alone does not make one a Buddhist. In traditional Buddhist countries, many people go to temples, participate in religious rituals and practice the Dhamma to the extent that it forms a part of their culture. But one is not a Buddhist simply because one is born in a Buddhist country. Some people go beyond this, studying the Dhamma and trying their best to practise, but only so long as it doesn't mean making sacrifices.

Once again, practicing the Dhamma only where it is easy or when it is convenient does not make one a Buddhist. So what is a Buddhist ? A Buddhist is someone who has taken Refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.

          "How, Lord, does one become a lay disciple ?"

          "When one has taken refuge in the Buddha, the 
          Dhamma and the Sangha, then one is a lay disciple."

180 A refuge (sarana) is a place someone goes to escape from danger - a place of security, a safe haven. The Buddhist sees samsara, the round of birth and death, as being fraught with danger and suffering, and he or she sees the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha as offering security and happiness. But the motivation to walk the Path must be more than just the desire to escape from samsara. It should also include, perhaps even more strongly, the desire to attain Nirvana.

The majesty and perfection of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, when we understand their significance, will draw us irresistibly towards them. So the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are called the Three Refuges in that they offer us shelter from samsara, but they are also rightly called the Three Jewels (tiratana) because, like precious gems, they awaken our appreciation and awe.

The Buddha is a refuge in the sense that he represents the very real human potential for perfection. His speech and actions, his compassion for the afflicted, his unruffled patience in the face of abuse, his unblemished virtue and his gentleness remain the perfect model for us all to base our lives upon.

When we fervently aspire to become like the Buddha in every aspect of our lives, we are ready to take refuge in the Buddha, and when we do, we give our lives new direction and meaning.

The Dhamma is a refuge because it provides us with clear and detailed information about every step on the Path and about the goal that we aspire to realize but cannot as yet see.

The word Sangha means spiritual congregation or spiritual fellowship, and in its technical sense refers to all those who have reached the point of no return on the Path.

Being more spiritually advanced than we are, they can help us enormously by pointing out things we may not have seen or by explaining things we may have failed to understand. Also, their presence fills us with energy and determination because their attaintments prove to us that the practice does work, that the Path does lead to perfection.

However, in a more general sense, Sangha can also mean all those who are practising the Dhamma with sincerity and commitment, whether they be monks or nuns, laymen or laywomen. Many of the problems we face don't always need an enlightened person's help to solve. Often a fellow Buddhist who is little more sensible or insightful than we are can be just what we need.

Our fellow Buddhists can offer us friendship, inspiration and guidance, and at the same time give us the opportunity to develop ourselves by sharing with and helping them. When we are prepared to participate in the positive spiritual fellowship that the Sangha in either of its two sense offers, then we are ready to take refuge in the Sangha. And the taking of the Three Refuges imparts to us a strength, a confidence and sense of certainty that no other refuge can give.

The Buddha says :

To sacred hills, woods and groves, to sacred trees and shrines
Do people go, gripped by fear.

But they are not safe refuges,
Not the best refuge.
Not by going there
Is one freed from all suffering.

But whoever takes refuge
In the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha
Will understand with wisdom
The Four Noble Truths:

Suffering, its cause, its overcoming,
And the Noble Eightfold Path
Leading to its overcoming.

And this is a safe refuge,
The best refuge.
Having taken refuge here,
One is freed from all suffering.

182 According to the great commentator, Buddhaghosa, taking Refuge has four expressions. The first is prostration (panipata). Some people, when they meet with someone more accomplished than themselves, react with jealousy or by trying to depreciate the other person. The thought that someone might be better than them is threatening to their false self-image.

The mature person responds with admiration and respect, and in Buddhism, respect for another person's virtue or spiritual attaintments is considered a wholesome mental attitude. Sometimes feelings of respect are so strong that they find expression through the body. Standing up when the national anthem is played, or when an older person enters the room, would be examples of this.

When we take the Three Refuges, we prostrate or bow to a representation of the Buddha, such a gesture being an outward expression of our inward.

From today onward, I will give respectful greetings, devoted attendance, salutation with joined palms and homage only to these three: The Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Thus may you know me.

183 Acceptance of discipleship (sissabhavupagamana) is the next expression of taking the Three Refuges. In Buddhism, as in most other Eastern religions, great stress is laid on the importance of the relationship between student and teacher (see 116). The Buddha gives the reasons for this:

A teacher should look upon his pupil as a son. A pupil should look upon his teacher as a father.

Thus, these two, united by mutual reverence and deference and living in communion together, will achieve increased growth and progress in this Dhamma and discipline.

Although we might have a living teacher when we take the Three Refuges, we primarily become a disciple of the Buddha. The unshakable faith that motivates us to take the Three Refuges also creates a unique spiritual relationship between ourselves and the Buddha which operates despite the fact that the Buddha has attained Nirvana.

Concerning this, the Buddha says :

One whose faith in the Tathagata is settled, fixed, established, firm, unshakable by an recluse or Brahmin, any god, Mara, Brahma, or anyone in the world can truly say: "I am a true child of the Lord, born of his mouth, born of Dhamma, created by Dhamma, an heir of Dhamma."

We can see the Buddha and have a relationship with him to the degree that our thoughts, speech and actions are in harmony with the Dhamma he taught. Again, he tells us:

Even if one should seize the hem of my robe and walk step by step behind me, of he is covetous in his desires, fierce in his longings, malevolent of heart, with corrupt mind, careless and unrestrained, noisy and distracted and with senses uncontrolled, he is far from me. And why? He does not see the Dhamma, and not seeing the Dhamma, he does not see me.

Even if one lives a hundred miles away, if he is not covetous in his desires, not fierce in his longings, with a kind heart and pure mind, mindful, composed, calmed, one-pointed and with senses restrained, then indeed he is near to me and I am near to him. And why ? He sees the Dhamma, and seeing the Dhamma, sees me.

Though physically close behind,
If one is acquisitive and restless,
How far is that turbulent one from one at peace,
That burning one from one cooked,
That hankering one from one content .

But throughly understanding Dhamma,
And freed from longing through insights,
The wise one, rid of all desire,
Is calm as a pool unstirred by the wind.
How close is that peaceful one to one at peace,

That cool one to one cooled,
That content one to one content .

184 But the relationship can even go beyond this. Through constant recollection of the Buddha's deeds, continual inner praise of his greatness and uninterrupted remembrance of his words, we can fill our whole being with the Buddha's influence, so that we feel as we would if the Buddha were actually present. And when we feel that we are in the Buddha's presence, we act as if we were in his presence, and we have all the confidence that his presence would impart.

Only the very receptive and devoted are privileged to have this experience with this intensity, and for them the Buddha is not a remote historical figure but a vital living force with the power to energize and transform.

The experience of the Buddha's presence is well described by Pingiya, who had gone on a long journey to see the Buddha and hear his teachings. When he returned, he praised the Buddha to his teacher, who asked him how he could stay away from such a teacher as the Buddha, and Pingiya replied:

I cannot stay away, Brahmin, even for a moment
From Gotama of great wisdom,
From Gotama of great understanding.

From he who taught me the Dhamma
Which is immediately apparent, timeless,
For the destruction of craving,
And the like of which does not exist anywhere.

Being heedful both day and night, Brahmin,
I see him with mind as if by eye,
And thus I do not stay away from him.

My faith, joy, mind and mindfulness
Never leave the good Gotama's teachings.
Wherever he of great wisdom goes,
There do I bow down.

I am now old and my strength is gone,
And thus my body does not go anywhere,
But constantly I go on a journey in my mind
And thus, Brahmin, I am in his presence.

The next aspect of taking Refuge is the acceptance of the guiding ideal (tapparayanata), which we have already dealt with previously (See 181).

185 The last expression of taking the Three Refuges is the surrender of self (atta sanniyyatana). To take refuge is to acknowledge that we are imperfect and ignorant and that we are willing to submit to the guidance and admonishment of those who know more than we do.

For a disciples who has faith in the Teacher's instruction and who lives in harmony with it, his idea is: " The Teacher is the Lord; I am the disciple. The Lord knows; I do not." For a disciple who has faith in the Teacher's instruction and who lives in harmony with it, the Teacher's instruction is furthering in growth, strength-giving.

Surrender of self also means that we are prepared to give up our self-will, our petty desires, our worldly ambitions - everything, if necessary - in the quest for Nirvana. We express this attitude like this:

To the Lord I am giving myself, to the Dhamma I am giving myself, to the Sangha I am giving myself, I am giving my life. Given is myself, given is my life. Until my life ends, I am taking refuge in the Buddha. The Buddha is my refuge, my shelter and my protection.

Obviously the self-surrendering aspect of taking refuge lets the Three Jewels enter our heart and transform it without being interfered with by pride or stubborness.

186 We can see from what has been said that taking the Three Refuges is the most important step in one's life. Being as it were the first step on the Path, it should only be taken when faith and understanding are strong and when we are fully aware of the significance of what we are about to do.

Being so important, the person or persons who lead us to take the Three Refuges do in estimate good and are worthy of our life-long gratitude. The Buddha says:

These three people are very helpful to others. What three? One through whom one goes for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha; one through whom one understands the Four Noble Truths; and one through whom one comes to destroy the defilements and comes to know in this very life the mind's complete freedom. These are the three persons. There are none more helpful than these three.

187 The Refuge Ceremony (Tisarana Puja) is the most ancient of all Buddhist ceremonies and has changed very little down the centuries. The first people to hear the Buddha's Dhamma and accept it were the merchants, Tapussa and Bhallika who expressed their acceptance by taking refuge in the Lord (bhagava) and in the Dhamma. This was called the Twofold Formula (dvevacika), because at that time, no Sangha as yet existed.

Later the word "Buddha" replaced the word "Lord", the third refuge, the Sangha, was added and this became known as the Threefold Formula (tevacika). Whether one became a lay disciple or a monk or a nun, the commitment was expressed in the same way. Having heard the Dhamma, people would usually bow before the Buddha himself, and exclaim:

Excellent good Gotama, truly excellent. It is as if one might set upright something that had been overturned, or disclose that which had become obscured, or show the road to one who had gone astray, or bring a lamp into the darkness so that those with eyes could see things - even so, in many ways has the Dhamma been made clear by the reverend Gotama. Thus I am going, I am taking the reverend Gotama, the Dhamma and the Sangha as my refuge. May the reverend Gotama accept me as a lay disciple taking refuge from today forth as long as life lasts.

Initially, the Buddha himself ordained all monks, but as more and more people wished to be ordained, he gave authority to others and laid down the procedure to be followed.

I give you permission to let others go forth, to ordain in any quarter or district. And this is how you should let one go forth, or ordain.

First,

having made him cut off his hair and beard, having made him put on a yellow robe,
having made him arrange the upper robe over one shoulder,
having made him worship the monk's feet,
having made him crouch on his haunches and
having made him salute with joined palms, he should be told:

"Repeat this:

I go to the Buddha for refuge,
I go to the Dhamma for refuge,
I go to the Sangha for refuge.

For the second time, I go to the Buddha for refuge,
for the second time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge,
for the second time, I go to the Sangha for refuge.

For the third time, I go to the Buddha for refuge,
for the third time, I go to the Dhamma for refuge,
for the third time, I go to the dangha for refuge."

I give permission for going forth, for ordination, by taking these Three Refuges.

In time, circumstances required that the ordination of monks and nuns be changed, but taking the Three Refuges has continued since the time of the Buddha and remains today the act which marks one's entry into the Buddhist community.

188 When familiarity with the life of the Buddha, his teachings and perhaps the example of some Buddhists we might have met gives rise to strong faith in and appreciation of the Three Jewels, we may feel we are ready to go for refuge. Being bulldozed, nagged or fast-talked into conversion, as is sometimes practised in some religions, is quite at odds with mature acceptance as it is understood in Buddhism.

Genuine faith and understanding are delicate flowers which take time to blossom, and only after their roots have been carefully nourished by investigation and quiet, thoughtful consideration.

When we are ready, we should approach a monk or nun or perhaps a respected layman or laywoman and ask them to administer to us the Three Refuges. When we have done this, and for as long as we sincerely strive to walk the Path, despite many lapses that might still mar our behaviour, we can consider ourselves true disciples of the Buddha. We can say in our hearts the words spoken by Santideva long ago:

          Today my life is complete,
          To good purpose have I been born human.
          I have been born into the Buddha's family,
         And now I am a son of the Buddha.

         Thus whatever actions I do from now on
         Must be in it with my family tradition.
         Never shall I stain or disgrace
         This noble and spotless line.