His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, has said that there are many other religions which share the practices of morality, asceticism, meditation and even yoga tantra. These practices are very similar to that practised by Buddhists. So what makes a practice a Buddhist practice? His Holiness has said that a practice is only considered a Buddhist practice only if it starts with taking the Three Refuges.
Geshe Rapten in his book, The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism, has said that taking refuge is the most important preparatory practice for a Dharma practitioner as it makes the mind serviceable for the practice of Dharma. The analogy given is that a bowl in which food is to be served should be clean as a dirty bowl will spoil the food. Hence, taking refuge in the Three Jewels is a necessary precondition for the successful practice of the Buddha Dharma.
Taking refuge is the holy gateway to enter the Buddha Dharma. For one to take refuge in the Three Jewels properly, one must know five key points: (i) the reasons or the causes for taking refuge; (ii) the objects of refuge; (iii) the criterion for taking refuge sufficiently; (iv) the benefits of taking refuge and (v) advice after one has taken refuge.
The Reasons for Taking Refuge
Whether our practice of taking refuge is proper or not depends on whether we have the proper reasons or causes in our mind-stream or not when taking refuge. There are two proper reasons or causes for taking refuge: (i) personal fear of samsara and lower realms and (ii) the absolute faith and belief that once we have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, they will protect us from these fears. Without these two causes, we will not take refuge purely.
It is explained that if we do not fear suffering, we will not think of seeking a refuge. If we do not have faith in the objects of refuge, then we will not remember to rely upon them – we may recall, or engage in the act or verbally take refuge, but these are superficial and empty as in our heart we have not entrusted ourselves to these objects of refuge.
The Objects of Refuge
The objects of refuge for Buddhist are (i) the Buddha who is the teacher; (ii) the Dharma, his teachings and (iii) Sangha, those who abide in the Buddha’s teachings. Buddhists seek refuge in the Three Jewels while non-Buddhist seek refuge in worldly beings such as spirit kings, gods such as Brahma and Indra, nagas, spirits and so forth. As Buddhist we do not seek refuge in worldly beings since they themselves are still bound in samsara, hence, not fitting refuges.
If we do not identify the Three Jewels as the correct refuge, we will not take refuge purely. Pabongka Rinpoche said if we do not understand this correctly, when things go wrong, such as sickness or when we have some important work to do, we will turn to seek refuge in worldly Dharma protectors, in spirit kings, local gods etc; we will rush off to shrine of any deity, perform non-Buddhist rites etc. All these external activity reflects our inner state, which Pabongka Rinpoche has said that we may have gained admittance to a monastery, but we do not even qualify to be Buddhists, let alone Mahayana knowledge-bearers.
This is a very important admonition which one as a Buddhist must constantly reflect upon especially in these degenerate times. If your so-called ‘Dharma teacher’ and ‘Dharma centre’ teaches you to seek advice and refuge in worldly beings, then you should realize that your teacher and centre are actually non-Buddhists in disguise.
We take refuge in the Buddha as he has fully developed the qualities of compassion, wisdom and power. Buddha is the ultimate refuge as he has developed the two benefits (for self and others) to their highest state. The Buddha has eliminated all faults and possesses all good qualities.
The ultimate jewel of Dharma is anything that comes under the Truth of Cessation and Truth of the Path (i.e. the Third and Fourth Noble Truths respectively) – which are known as the two purifying truths in the mind-stream of the Aryas i.e. those who have turned their minds towards liberation. The Truth of Cessation loosely means freedom from obscurations, this freedom being a function of a particular unhindered path. The Truth of the Path is the means for Aryas to achieve these cessations and realizations in their mind. The Path also means the three higher trainings of morality, concentration and wisdom. The twelve divisions of scriptures are the generally accepted idea of the Dharma Jewel.
The ultimate jewel of Sangha are Aryas who have any of the eight good qualities of a liberated mind. Generally, a group of four ordinary beings holding the monk’s full ordination vows is the accepted idea of the jewel of Sangha. All Three Jewels are needed to protect one completely from samsara and lower realms. The Buddha Jewel is likened to the physician; the Dharma Jewel, the medicine and the Sangha Jewel, the nurses. All three are needed to cure patients from severe illness – which is the sufferings of samsara and lower realms and dangers of nirvana of arhatship.
The Criterion for Taking Refuge Sufficiently
The measures of having taken refuge sufficiently are fourfold:
(i) taking refuge by knowing the good qualities of one’s refuge;
Briefly, we need to know the good qualities of the Three Jewels. The Buddha has four types of good qualities relating to his body, speech, mind and activities. We can reflect on the good qualities of Dharma by thinking of the inconceivable qualities of Buddha which arise in dependence on transmitted and realized Dharma. We can reflect on the good qualities of the Sangha by reflecting on the qualities of shravakas, prateyakabuddhas and bodhisattvas.
(ii) taking refuge by knowing the differences between the Three Jewels,
There are six type of differences one need to know in relation to the Three Jewels. Differences in characteristics, differences in their good works, differences in ways in regarding the Three Jewels when one takes refuge, the different practices for putting the earlier three into practice, the differences in recalling the Three Jewels (their qualities) and differences in how the Three Jewels increases one’s merit.
(iii) taking refuge owing to one’s beliefs.
This refers to one’s belief that the Buddha is teacher of refuge, the Dharma is the actual refuge and Sangha assist practitioners who take refuge.
(iv) taking refuge and not asserting another religion.
Here it simply means that one must not waver in one’s object of refuge which is the Three Jewels. It also means that one must not adopt other non-Buddhist practices once one has taken refuge in the Three Jewels. In short, one must have the true causes for taking refuge and entrust oneself wholeheartedly to the Three Jewels so as to develop refuge properly in one’s mind-stream. Without these, mere recitations or claims that one is a Bodhisattva or knowledge-bearer will result in nothing. There is a Kadampa saying ‘The Elder facing you in the temple may not yet have joined the ranks of Buddhists.’
The Benefits of Taking Refuge
There are eight benefits: (i) one becomes a Buddhist; (ii) one becomes a candidate for all vows; (iii) one will exhaust obscurations acquired from previously acquired karma; (iv) one will easily accumulate a huge amount of merit; (v) one will not be bothered by the harmful actions of humans or creatures; (vi) one will not fall to the lower realms; (vii) one will effortlessly achieve all your temporary and long-term aims and (viii) one will soon be enlightened.
Advice after one has taken refuge
There are two categories of advice. They are advice concerning:
(i) each of the respective Three Jewels
Under this, there is advice on what not to do and what to do. When one has taken refuge in the Buddha, one cannot seek refuge in worldly gods. When one has taken refuge in the Dharma, one cannot harm sentient beings in any way which includes putting them in harms way or burdening them. When one has taken refuge in the Sangha, one should not associate with those holding wrong views such as those who do not believe in the Three Jewels and laws of cause and effect etc. This is so especially when we have not achieved any mental stability and our association with these people may cause us to change our minds.
One must respect all Buddha images, including those poorly crafted. One must respect even a single letter of the alphabet as if it were the real Dharma Jewel. One must respect pieces from Sangha members’ clothes, or even maroon coloured rags fallen on the ground as you would the people who wore them.
(ii) advice common to all three.
One should take refuge in the Three Jewels repeatedly and recall their qualities; one should recall the kindness of the Three Jewels; lead others to take refuge; recall the benefits of taking refuge and take it three times in the day and three times in the night; whatever one does, one must have full faith and trust in the Three Jewels. The last advice is that no matter how small or large a wish that we have, we must have full trust that the Buddha will help achieve them.
