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The practical manner for producing faith in the Buddhist teachings or Dharma is to take refuge. When refuge is taken, one promises to hold as one's guide the shrine or the object which one trust and accept to be extraordinary and excellent.
The subject matter of the refuge is divided into four categories:
(1) The nature of refuge
(2) The differentiation of refuge
(3) The rules of taking refuge
(4) The benefits of taking refuge
(1) THE NATURE OF REFUGE
When we describe the nature of the refuge, that is actually the idea of accepting the shrine or object of refuge to be the most perfect, so that the essence of the refuge Is the acceptance of the Triple Gem to be the most excellent.
(2) THE DIFFERENTIATION OF REFUGE
This is divided into 3 main categories:
.The worldly refuge which is taken by ordinary sentient beings.
.The refuge of the Hinayana.
.The refuge of the Mahayana.
Each of these categories is also divided into two parts. The worldly refuge is divided into the object and the mind which takes the refuge; the Hinayana refuge into the refuge of the Arhats and the refuge of the Pratyeka Buddhas; and the Mahayana refuge into the Mahayana refuge itself and the Vajrayana refuge. When we look at these three main categories of refuge those of the worldlings, the Hinayana and the Mahayana, there is a cause for each of them. The cause of refuge for the worldlings is fear of the suffering of this world of existence, and also faith in the Triple Gem or the shrine. For the Hinayana, the causes are the same as for the worldlings, except that the emphasis is placed on faith. For the Mahayana, in addition to fear and faith, there to the aspect of compassion. All Mahayana practices are always preceded by the thought of compassion, with the thought of relieving the suffering of sentient beings. The emphasis of taking refuge in the Mahayana is on compassion as being the motivating force.
When we consider these three aspects of taking refuge, we should also consider them from the point of view of the object in whom the refuge is taken. In the case of the worldlings, the refuge is taken in relation to the object and in relation to the mind. Those worldlings who take refuge in relation to object, means that they take refuge in great worldly deities such as Brahma or Indra or even lower worldly beings such as earth spirits or local spirits. Those who take refuge in' this' form cannot be categorised as Buddhists.
Those worldlings who take refuge in relation to the mind actually means taking refuge in the Triple Gem. However, their purpose of taking refuge is solely to relieve their fear in this life and also to gain certain types of benefits in this life alone. So although they take refuge in the Triple Gem, their type of refuge can never lead to any form of liberation since their aim is for the sake of this life alone.
Although the Hinayana and the Mahayana have the same object of refuge, which is the Triple Gem, there are slight differentiations. The Hinayana followers only accept the Buddha as having two bodies Dharmakaya and Rupakaya, whereas the followers of the Mahayana accept the Buddha as having three bodies Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.
Again, in the Hinayana tradition, refuge in the Buddha means to take the Buddha as the teacher who shows the path to liberation. The refuge in the dharma refers to the path leading to the cessation of suffering. The third refuge of the sangha means those ordinary people of this world who renounce the world and take ordination and also those who show the path of the four noble truths.
In the Mahayana tradition, the Buddha is considered to be the one who has the three bodies of enlightenment: Dharmakaya, Sambhogkaya and Nirmanakaya. The dharma means the sutras or teachings of the Mahayana tradition. And the sangha does not mean the ordinary ordained members of the sangha but specially those who have gained the stages of enlightenment such as the bodhisattvas. When we consider the time to take refuge, we look at the three categories of those who take refuge again. The worldly person takes refuge from this time until he Is able to accomplish the purpose that he has set out. This may be a certain desire or object or some kind of benefit for himself. This is not considered the proper refuge. In the Hinayana tradition, one takes refuge from this time until one dies. So the refuge Is taken for this life time alone. In the Mahayana tradition, one takes refuge from this time until the stage of full and perfect enlightenment is obtained.
For the worldly person, the purpose of taking refuge to overcome the various fear and to accomplish the various desire. For the Hinayana practitioner, one takes refuge in order to gain one's own personal liberation. For the Mahayana practitioner, the purpose of taking refuge is to gain enlightenment and to bring all living beings to enlightenment.
(3) THE RULES OF TAKING REFUGE
There are two categories of rules of taking refuge the general rules and the particular rules. The general rules for taking refuge are in relation to the Triple Gem In general. The particular rules of taking refuge means the rules for taking refuge specifically in the Buddha, in the dharma and in the sangha.
(1) THE GENERAL RULES OF TAKING REFUGE
(a) The first general rule is to always accompany those who are holy. This means that you should stay near to a teacher who has gained some stage of accomplishment or entrance into the dharma itself. Secondly, you should stay with those who are also practicing the dharma. If you are unable to stay with those who are move concerned with the practice of virtue, you should associate with those who are able to help you to seek refuge and to maintain virtue.
(b) The second general rule is to listen to and study the dharma. Here, it means we should not just listen to any kind of teaching haphazardly. We should study it very carefully. We should study the proper dharma, which is the teaching of the Buddha whether It be the Hinayana, Mahayana or Vajrayana. What we should study properly is anything that is In the Tripitaka Vinaya, Sutra and Abhidharma. If one has received initiation or consecration of the Vajrayana, then the Tantric scriptures are also to be studied.
The teachings of the Buddha however is very difficult to study in the sutra form because they are not systematised. So In order to gain a better understanding of the teaching of the sutra, it is good to study the teaching of the later teachers such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Maitreya and Dharmakirti who have written very good commentaries on the teachings of the Buddha. For one who studies the Tantric teaching which is also very complicated and difficult to understand, it to good to study the various explanatory teachings of great masters such as Birwapa, Indraputi and Gantabha who wrote very clear explanation of the Tantric teachings.
The dharma that we study should be very proper dharma. According to Sakya Pandita, he said that it the dharma that we hear have six qualities, then we can trust that it Is the real teachings of the Buddha. The six qualities are:
- That it ought to be taught by the Buddha himself.
- That it falls within those teachings that were systematised by the various Buddhist councils.
- That they were commented on by great scholars and practitioners.
- That they were meditated upon by the great saints or great Mahasidhas of India.
- That they were translated by great translators from the Indian language to other languages like the Tibetan language.
- That the teachings which were translated and had become famous had been accepted by all the great scholars.
If the teaching has these six qualities, we can accept it to be the real teachings of the Buddha. Though there may be other teachings of other schools, which are good, they do not lead to proper result. Therefore we should not study or meditate upon them.
(c) The third rule of taking refuge In that we should practise the Buddhist teaching according to what the Buddha had taught. In order to have proper conduct, we rely upon the Vinaya teaching or the moral conduct teaching of the Buddha. This means actually to train our voice and our body in the proper way. In order to train our mind, we should rely upon the sutra teaching of the Buddha. And in order to explain the Buddha's teachings and also to have a proper understanding of the teaching from a wisdom point of view, we rely upon the Abhidharma teaching. This is applicable to the person who practises either the Hinayana or the Mahayana tradition. Those who practise the Vajrayana tradition should rely upon the various teachings of the Tantras In order to understand and practise the teaching properly.
We should always remember that before we engage in any activity in our daily life, we should always direct our mind towards the Triple Gem to get the blessings. If we are going out, we should think that in the direction that we are going reside the Buddha of the various races. And by praying to that Buddha and seeking his blessings, we will be able to accomplish whatever we set out to accomplish and be free from any obstacles or hindrances on the way.
Fox example, if we are going to a certain place, which is within our own district, we can seek the blessings or make prayer to the Buddha Vairochana. If we are going in the eastern direction, we can think that there resides the Buddha Ashokbya. If we are going to the southern direction we can think that the Buddha Ratnasambhava residing in that direction. It we are going in the Western direction, we can think that the Buddha Amithabha resides in that direction. And if we are going in the northern direction, that the Buddha Amogashidhi resides there.
Also, before we eat or drink anything, it is very important that we should offer the first part of the food to the Triple Gem. There are many different methods of doing this. For example, we can recite many different verses from the sutras. We can also offer actual food to different spirits such as described in the Vinaya teaching. There is a story of a demoness or witch who has eaten many children. In order to satisfy her, the Buddha promised her offering of a part of the food from followers of the Buddhist traditions.
Actually when we eat the food, we can perceive the food in different perspectives. For example, within the Hinayana tradition, we can think that we are taking the food to keep our body healthy so that we can maintain our body as a vessel to gain the dharma path. In this way, it is necessary to eat the food. According to certain Mahayana tradition, it is said that within our body there are many different creatures. We are taking the food not for ourselves alone but in order to nourish them. Thus, in offering the food to them, we are doing a virtuous deed by eating the food.
If we are practising the Vajrayana tradition, there are many teachings such as the eating yoga practice that we can engage in at the time of eating our food. Again, when we go to sleep, we can use our sleep for the purpose of bringing it into the dharma path. For example, we can lie down in the lion position that the Buddha Sakyamuni adopted when he entered into MahaParinirvana. Also at the time of sleeping, we should think that we are entering into the state of Dharmakaya or the Buddha's mind, and we make a prayer that "May all sentient beings also gain the state of the Dharmakaya". When we wake up in the morning, we should make an immediate prayer that "May all sentient beings gain the Rupakaya, or the form body of the Buddha". In this way, we can transform our sleeping and waking up activities into a virtuous path.
No matter what happens to us, whether we have happiness or suffering in this life, we must always not abandon our refuge in the Triple Gem. For example, when we are sick, we should recite various sutras, dharanis or mantras, or take the prescribed medicine in order to overcome the sickness. There are some people who say that we should not recite sutras or prayers or take medicine when we are sick because this would harm our refuge in the Triple Gem, that it is as if we do not have faith in the Triple Gem. However, this is a wrong idea because the Buddha himself said that when we are sick it is very necessary to take medicine or to recite the sutras.
(2) THE PARTICULAR RULE OF REFUGE
When we have taken refuge in the Buddha, we should not see others such as gods or higher beings or even other people who teach various teachings to be our guides. Instead, we should only rely on the Buddha as the true teacher of the path to liberation. Having taken refuge in the dharma, we abandon harming other sentient beings, and we do not rely on the teaching of other religions to lead us on the path to liberation. We rely on the Buddha's teaching as the only path to the ultimate result of enlightenment. When we take refuge in the sangha, we do not rely upon teachers of other religions to be our teachers, and we do not keep as spiritual friends those who belong to other faiths. We also we do not make offerings to thoseu2011of other faiths.
We can make offerings to others even to other shrines, but we should not take refuge in other religious traditions because by taking refuge in them, we are destroying our own vows of refuge. Similarly, we can associate with other religious practitioners as our ordinary worldly friends, but not as spiritual friends as this will harm our refuge and cause complication on the Path. Similarly, we can make offerings or even prostrate to other worldly beings, to great powerful worldly beings such as Brahma or Indra or even very powerful local spirits, but we should never take refuge in them, because this will weaken and destroy our refuge in the Buddha.
Some people say that by not respecting the scriptures of the Buddha in a great fault and this will destroy our refuge In the dharma. For example, if we walk over a dharma book, or if we sell dharma books. This is not correct as, though this a fault, it is not a method for destroying our refuge In the dharma. Again, some people say that there is no need to study and understand the teaching of the Buddha. This is in fact the way that we destroy our refuge in the dharma because if we do not study the dharma there is no way we can understand it, and without understanding the dharma, then the dharma will really degenerate. So the greatest fault to our refuge in the dharma is not to study the dharma. This is greater than showing disrespect for the dharma books.
With regard to the taking of refuge in the sangha, it is said in the scriptures that if we do not respect the cloth of the sangha that the ordained people wear, even if it is just a small piece of cloth, we are destroying our refuge in the sangha because the cloth isu2011the symbol of the sangha. This is again not correct. it is a fault no doubt, but the greatest fault which really destroys our refuge in the sangha is not to show respect to the fully ordained persons, or those who teach or spread the dharma. This is the way we destroy our refuge in the sangha, not merely through walking over or showing disrespect to a piece of cloth.
(4) THE BENEFITS OF REFUGE
The first part of this is the benefits of destroying the various obscurations, which block us from having proper faith or proper understanding of what the Triple Gem in. They are able to lessen or overcome the disease or suffering of our body or discomfort of our mind. We are also able to destroy any harm that we receive from other people, or even from nonu2011humans or spirits. All our various suffering will also be lessened through taking refuge in the Triple Gem. Ultimately, we will be able to overcome all our faults and sufferings.
There is a story to show this idea of how other people or spirits cannot harm one who has taken refuge. At one time, there was a very old man who became a monk when he was advanced in age. He did not know any dharma. One day, a woman went to him to offer a very beautiful piece of cloth and asked him to give her dharma teaching. The old monk became very frightened because he did not know any dharma to teach her. However, being given the piece of cloth It was necessary to say something. So thinking out aloud, he said "It in because of my ignorance that I am suffering". The woman thought to herself that what he was saying was that due to the cause of Ignorance that all suffering arise In the world. She thought about it very carefully and concluded that what he said was very good. So she meditated upon that and she was able to understand the first truth of suffering and gained a very great result. So this piece of cloth that the old monk got from the woman became known to many people. At one point, a thief heard about it and wanted to get it from the monk. So he went to the monk's house and stood at the door asking for the cloth. The old monk was afraid to go out, so he said to the thief that it he wanted the piece of cloth he should go to the aide of the window. The thief went to the side of the window and stuck his hands in the window and said "Now give me that cloth". The old monk replied 'When this piece of cloth was given to me, it was given with two hands. So If you want to take It, you should stick both hands out and I will give it to you". When the thief stuck out both his hands in the window, the monk bound the two hands with a rope and tied them to a pillar in the house. Then he went out, took a stick and started beating the thief very strongly. With every stroke that he delivered, he would recite one of the refuge formula: I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dharma, I take refuge in the sangha. He kept hitting hard and then reciting like this until the thief's legs were nearly broken. He was in great pain and finally the old monk let him go.
The thief ran hobbling off to get away from the old monk. Some one saw him running and asked him why he was wobbling. The thief said that he was trying to steal a piece of cloth from an old monk who caught him and beat him up, and while beating him the old monk was reciting the refuge formula. He said that the Buddha was very great because he combined the entire refuge prayer in three lines. Had he not done that, he would be dead by then.
The thief had the habit of living under a bridge. During the night, many nonu2011human spirits would cross over that bridge. One night when they went up to the bridge, they were not able to get across. They felt a strong force holding them back and preventing them from crossing. They were curious and began searching around. They found the thief under the bridge mumbling something. When they asked him what he was mumbling, he said that he was reciting the prayer of taking refuge in the Triple Gem. The non human spirits, the invisible beings/energies thought that the Triple Gem was indeed so powerful that it could stop them from going over the bridge. They therefore decided to take refuge in the Triple Gem. It is said that they were able to regain rebirth in the higher realms. The thief himself gained great faith In the Triple Gem and took full ordination as a monk in the later part of his life.
Through taking refuge, not only are we able to overcome harm, we are also able to gain various qualities. For example, when we become a Buddhist or Internalist we gain the qualities of being a Buddhist. It mates our life holy and purposeful. By taking the proper refuge and becoming a holy person, we become a suitable object for receiving offerings from the gods and human beings who appreciate the dharma. We will receive protection wherever we are. When we pass through this life we have the Triple Gem with us. It will make us happy and confident wherever we may be. Not only in this lifetime but also in the future lifetimes we will never be separated from the Triple Gem. This is the temporary result of taking refuge.
The ultimate result of taking refuge is that by taking refuge in the Buddha we will be able to gain Buddhahood ourselves. By taking refuge in the dharma we will be able to teach the dharma to others properly. And by taking refuge in the sangha, many would gather to receive the teachings from us at the time of gaining Buddhahood. These are the benefits that we receive. Those who come to us to receive the teachings and those whom we seek out in order to bestow these teachings will benefit by receiving help to gain the stage of complete and perfect enlightenment.
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