Taking Refuge

by Kalu Rinpoche

At this time we are exceedingly fortunate in that not only have we all obtained a precious human body, a precious human birth, but based upon this, we have actually entered the door of the dharma, have given rise to faith in the teachings, and have actually practised them.  

The entrance into the door of the teachings of Buddha-dharma is the taking of refuge in the three jewels [Buddha, dharma, sangha]. If one does not go for refuge with faith to the three jewels, but rather goes for refuge to worldly deities [i.e., unenlightened deities], and is unaware of the qualities of the three jewels, then one is not practitioner of Buddha-dharma.

Therefore, it is said that the root of the Buddha’s teaching is faith in the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. Because without faith in these, one will have no conviction about the validity of the teachings, and, lacking this conviction, as well as lacking conviction about the qualities of the sangha, one will be unwilling or unable to study the teachings. Even if one does study them to some extent, it will be like the games of children.

The word in Tibetan for the three jewels, konchok, literally means “rare and supreme”. The first syllable, kon, means “rare”. It points to the fact that the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are like the rarest of diamonds in that only someone with the [necessary] karmic connection and the necessary merit will even hear their names, let alone be able to develop faith in them and receive teachings from them. The second syllable, chok, means “supreme” or “best”, and again, like the diamond in the example, the three jewels are supreme in that only by relying upon them, can all of one’s needs and wishes as well as ultimate freedom be accomplished.

The essence of the mind is emptiness; the nature of the mind is actually the invisible union of emptiness, clarity, and awareness. The name that is given to the actual true nature of mind is yeshe or wisdom [sometimes rendered as primordial awareness], something that all beings possess. However, sentient beings do not recognise the actual nature of their mind to be what it is. This lack of recognition is like throwing mud or sand into pure water; it becomes sullied or defiled. When the lack of recognition is present, one no longer speaks of yeshe or wisdom, one speaks of namshe or consciousness. But the distinction between these two states of mind is nothing other than the presence of lack of recognition by the mind of the mind’s own nature.

The failure of the mind to recognise its own true nature is what is meant by the term marikpa, or ignorance, the first level of obscuration or defilement in the mind. As a result of this ignorance, there arises in the mind the imputation of an “I” and an “other”, [the other being something that is conceived as] something that is other than the mind. This dualistic clinging, something that we have had throughout beginningless time and that never stops [until enlightenment], is the second level of obscuration, the obscuration of habits [habitual tendency].

Based upon this dualistic clinging arise the three root mental afflictions: mental darkness [variously rendered by translators as ignorance, bewilderment, confusion, etc.], desire and aggression. Based upon these three afflictions, there arise some 84,000 various mental afflictions enumerated by the Buddha, all of which together comprise the third level of obscuration, called the obscuration of mental afflictions [variously rendered as klesha, emotional affliction, conflicting emotions, etc.]. Under the influence of these, we perform actions that are obscured in their nature, which result in the fourth level of obscuration, called the obscuration of actions or karma.

These four levels or types of obscurations are the cause for all sentient beings to wander in samsara. If these are removed or purified, then the inherent qualities of the mind’s true nature, which we refer to as wisdom or yeshe, will naturally manifest and spread like the rays of the sun. The word in Tibetan for the removal of these obscurations, sang, means “cleansing”, and the word for the spreading of the inherent qualities of the mind that occurs as a result of that cleansing is gye, or “increasing”. Sangye, these two words together, is the Tibetan word for a Buddha. Therefore, what is meant by Buddhahood is the recognition and realisation of the complete purity of the mind.

When the nature of the mind becomes fully manifest, it possess what are usually enumerated as twenty-seven extraordinary qualities, such as complete unchanging emptiness and great bliss.

In order to benefit those to be trained, the mind of a Buddha exhibits what are usually enumerated as thirty-two qualities, which are outlined as the ten powers, the four kinds of fearlessness, and the eighteen qualities of unmistakenness. A Buddha, for instance, knows the nature and situation of all of samsara and all of nirvana. He or she knows the past, present and future of every sentient being.

Arising from these qualities of the mind of a Buddha are the qualities of speech, traditionally sixty qualities, possessed only by a Buddha and not by any ordinary human or god. One such quality is that if a Buddha gives one teaching at one time to 1,000 people, each of whom speaks a different language and is from a different place, each single person will understand what the Buddha is saying. Beyond that, a Buddha has the capacity to teach in such a way that each single person receives the particular kind of teaching, at the same time, that the individual needs to receive. So, with one teaching of dharma, a Buddha can give the remedy to each person for his or her particular strongest mental affliction.

The qualities of the body of a Buddha are experienced at various levels. Particularly the samboghakaya, or body of complete enjoyment of a Buddha, is experiences only by bodhisattvas residing upon the eighth, ninth and tenth levels of realisation. It is a bodhisattva residing upon one of those levels who sees the forms of the sambhogakaya, Varjradhara, Vajrasattva, Avalokiteshvara, and so forth. The sambhogakaya is the actually experienced as possessing the appearance with which we are familiar, the glorious silk garments, jewel ornaments, the pure form, and so forth. The actual appearance of the sambhogakaya is an expression of the complete possession by a Buddha of all qualities of the world and beyond the world.

In order to train ordinary beings, the Buddha manifest as nirmanakaya, as in the case of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Such a nirmanakaya possesses what are called the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of full Buddhahood. These include the ushnisa on the top of the head, the thousand-spoked dharma wheels on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and so forth. These qualities only arise on the body of a Buddha and not upon the body of any human or worldly god. They arise in such a way that anyone who sees the form of a Buddha immediately delights in it and finds it beautiful to see. In this way, the qualities of the body, speech, and mind of a Buddha are superior to anything and anyone else.

The actual excellence or superiority of a Buddha consists in the fact that a Buddha has the wisdom, compassion, and ability to give beings exactly what each needs in order to become free from the sufferings of samsara. So, in order to benefit beings, the Buddha teaches the dharma, the second of the three rare and supreme ones, the three jewels. And as sentient beings possess 84,000 different mental afflictions (kleshas), the Buddha taught 84,000 teachings of the dharma.

There are two aspects to the jewel of the dharma. The first of these is the actual words by which the dharma is transmitted, the words of the Buddha, and the words and texts which record them. The transmission of these is called the dharma of transmission. But the meaning of these words, the realisation of this meaning-whether it be the meaning of emptiness, the meaning of compassion or, from the tantric point of view, the meaning of the development and fulfilment stages is called the dharma of realisation. So the dharma of transmission and the dharma of realisation are the two aspects of the jewel of the dharma.

Those who listen to the teaching of the dharma, study them, and put them into practice to an extent to which they can guide others are the sangha. Among the sangha, those who through the practice of dharma have reached the first level of bodhisattva realisation and reside the first up to the tenth level of realisation are called the “exalted ones.” Those who, having listened to the teachings, studied them, and put them into practice, and reside on the two paths that are preliminary to the ten levels of bodhisattva realisation and application are called the “sangha of ordinary individuals.”

Therefore, one must begin by becoming aware of and understanding exactly what the qualities of the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are. By doing so, one will give rise to faith in them. One will be able to feel one’s faith and go for refuge to them. It is necessary that this occur as a basis for practice. Beyond that, the going for refuge must be something that is continually practised and renewed in one’s daily practice; this is extremely important.

The reason why the taking of refuge is so important is that at present we are immersed in samsara, which is an experience of suffering, an experience of impermanence, and an experience of constant change. If we wish to free ourselves from this, we cannot do so simply by ourselves. However, we can travel the path to liberation by relying upon the compassion of the three jewels. That is why it is necessary to go for refuge to them.

As ordinary beings, we do not know or understand the methods that we must engage in to obtain Buddhahood. For that reason we need a guide or a companion on the path to Buddhahood. That is something that can be explained by an example that is easily understood by Westerners. If on wanted to get from here to New York City and one tried to walk, one would either not get there at all or it would take a very long time. However, if one were to stand by the side of the road and put one’s thumb, then eventually some good minded individual would stop their car; one could get in, and one would reach the city. It’s the same way if we want to reach the city of enlightenment. We have to hitchhike or take refuge in the three jewels.

The Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are beings or things that are separate from us, distinct from us. We are individuals and we are quite a distance from them. One might ask how it is possible to establish a connection with them. First of all, all phenomena arise through interdependence, through the actions of causes and conditions. In the case of the path, what must occur is the coming together of the conditions of one’s own faith, and the compassion and blessing of the three jewels. If these two come together, then the connection is established and one can travel the path.

The presence of the faith on one’s own part and the compassion and qualities on the part of the three jewels is sufficient to create the connection. It does not depend on distance, like a television station that is sending out a television program. If one has the box and the set, one can see the program. If the television station isn’t sending it out, then even if one has the TV set, one can’t see it. If the television station is sending out but one does not have the TV set, then one also can’t see it. But in either case, if these two things are present, then regardless of the distance that separates the two, although there is no direct physical connection that one can see, the television program still arrives somehow. In the same way, the actual blessing and compassion of the three jewels can be received, and can enter one through one’s faith.

Another example is that the compassion, blessing, and power of the three jewels are like a hook, and one’s faith is like a ring. If these two are present and connect one with another, then the hook will lead the ring, and oneself, held by the ring, from happiness to happiness and finally to liberation.

This is the reason why all the lamas of the Golden Rosary of Kagyu have always given and continue to give refuge as the basis for the transmission of teachings, why at any time when one receives teachings of Buddha-dharma, one begins by reciting the refuge, and also why, when one practices the preliminaries, ngondro, the first of these is the 100,000 recitations of the refuge accompanied by prostrations.

The root or basic form of going for refuge is going for refuge to the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha-the three jewels. This could be called external refuge. Beyond this, from the point of view of the vajrayana, one goes for refuge to the guru as the root of all blessing, the yidam as the root of all attainment, and the dakinis and dharma protectors as the root of all activity. This is the internal form of going for refuge.

Beyond that, to go for refuge to one’s root guru alone-recognising that he or she is the embodiment of the Buddha, dharma, sangha, and the gurus, yidams, and dakinis and dharma protectors, the embodiment of all these in one form, possessing all of their qualities-is the secret form of going for refuge.

The form of going for refuge that we use in the Kagyu lineage is called the six fold refuge because it has six lines to it, three of which are devoted to the three jewels, and three of which are devoted to the three roots. The first two and the last of the six lines are devoted to the three roots and read：

Line 1：I go for refuge to the glorious sacred guru.

Line 2：I go for refuge to the assembly of deities in the mandalas of the yidams.

Line 6：I go for refuge to the dakas, dakinis, and dharma protectors who possess the eye of wisdom.

There is also an abbreviated form of refuge

I go for refuge to the guru

I go for refuge to the Buddha

I go for refuge to the dharma

I go for refuge to the sangha

The first line, “I go for refuge to the guru,” expresses one’s conviction that the guru or lama is the embodiment of the three roots because his or her actual form, his/her body, is the guru;his/her speech is the activity of the dakinis and dharma protectors;and his or her mind is the nature of the yidams. Following that, one goes for refuge externally to the Buddha, the dharma, and sangha. Therefore this shorter form of taking refuge also contains both the three jewels and the three roots.

Then there is the special form of taking refuge of the mahasiddha Tang Tong Gyalpo：

“I and all sentient beings, my mothers, who are equal in number to the extent and limits of space, go for refuge to the guru, who is the precious Buddha.”

This is the secret form of taking refuge. One takes refuge in the guru as the embodiment of the three jewels and the three roots.

Then following this, in Tang Tong Gyalpo’s refuge vow, one says:

“I go for refuge to the Buddha, the dharma, and sangha”which is the outer form of taking refuge.

Following that, one says: 

“I go for refuge to the gurus, yidams, and dakinis and dharma protectors” the inner form of taking refuge.

Following that, one says:

“I go for refuge to mind itself which is clarity and emptiness, the dharmakaya.”

This is actually a fourth level of, or fourth approach of taking refuge, which is called the refuge of suchness of the very secret form of going for refuge.

The refuge of suchness, or the very secret refuge of suchness, is based upon the realisation and recognition of one’s own mind as mahamudra, and, therefore, it is the real or ultimate meaning of taking refuge. However, not having this realisation, it is difficult for us to actually take refuge in this way. So the external and internal forms of taking refuge are emphasised. But one should still understand that it is possible to attain full Buddhahood simply through the genuine taking of refuge.

It should be understood that the taking of refuge is not a process whereby the Buddha takes those who appear to have devotion to him and leads them to his side. Through taking refuge, one begins a process oneself which, going through various stages, will lead to one’s own realisation of the same state, the same experience as the Buddha.

In the sadhana of the Hundred Families of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones, it says, in the taking of refuge section,

“I go for refuge to essence, nature, and compassion” which is to say, the essential emptiness, the natural clarity, and the unimpeded compassionate awareness of the mind;

“I go for refuge to bliss, clarity and nonconceptuality” which are three qualities of meditation experience; and finally

“I go for refuge to the fruit; I go for refuge to the dharmakaya, the sambhogakaya, and the nirmanakaya.

Therefore, if someone practices and completes the 100,000 recitations of the refuge vow and the accompanying 100,000 prostrations, this is exceedingly wonderful, and extraordinarily, incalculably beneficial. But even failing that, to recite the refuge prayer every day, at least seven times, is also extraordinarily beneficial. The result of this seemingly quite simple practice is to cause oneself to gradually actually attain complete Buddhahood, to bring oneself gradually to freedom from the sufferings of samsara, and, beyond that, to be protected in all of one’s lifetimes from fear, danger, and suffering.

If the practice and meaning of going for refuge actually becomes joined to or instilled in one’s stream of experience, then faith in the three jewels and the three roots will arise naturally or automatically, and, as a result of that faith, practices which lead to the accumulation of merit will be very easy, will come naturally. For example, not only anything with which one would make offerings-such as flowers, incense, lights, and so forth, but anything that one experiences with the senses that is pleasing, one will immediately see as an offering to the three jewels and the three roots. Anything that is beautiful to the sight, that smells good, that sounds beautiful, and so forth, one will use as offering. And by means of this process and this attitude one will gather a vast accumulation of merit.

If one develops this kind of attitude, then the accumulation of merit becomes extremely easy. Almost any situation can be used in this way. For example, if one is walking along a road and one sees beautiful flowers of fine houses, anything that is pleasing along one’s path, then one will immediately think of them as an offering, and mentally offer them to the three jewels and the three roots.

Therefore, all the Kagyupas of the past began their practice with the taking of refuge. By relying upon this as a foundation and basis of all practice, they came to realise the ultimate refuge, which is the taking of refuge in one’s own ultimate attainment of the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, and by means of this, they attained siddhi 「realisation of Buddhahood].

In our present situation as humans, we feel that we are extremely intelligent, that we are free, and that we have control over or power over our own situation, that we can do whatever we wish. But if we examine the situation, we will see that we neither have freedom of body nor freedom of mind, because the actual power in our situation is in the hands of our karma, our mental afflictions, and our habits [principally, our habitual cognition of and clinging to the split between self and other].

If we were free, then we would always have been and would always be happy. We would never become depressed, and nothing unpleasant would ever arise in our minds. If we were free, then we would always remain the same. We would have always been young, be young, and would always remain that way. But we don’t. We have absolutely no control over it; every second of our lives we are growing older and eventually we are going to die.

If we have intense faith, and are able to entrust ourselves to our lamas, to our gurus, and to the three jewels, and supplicate them with complete sincerity, then it is possible eliminate, or at least lessen, these obstructions, because of the power and compassion of the three jewels.

That is the meaning of taking refuge, and the engendering of bodhicitta, the attitude of awakening, must go along with that. The attitude which one engenders when one speaks of bodhicitta is an attitude that is with reference to all sentient beings. And the actual essence of one’s consideration of all beings is compassion. This has to be developed in a certain sequence. One must begin by understanding the actual situation of all beings. Then by meditating on this, one will develop the attitude of compassion and will become accustomed to it or trained in it.

The situation that must be understood is that wherever there is space, this is filled with sentient beings. There are so many sentient beings that one could say that they are numberless. And each sentient being has been one of one’s parents so many times that it would be uncountable. The number of times that any given sentient being has been one of one’s parents is a number beyond reckoning. And this was said by the Buddha. As well, there is not any single being that has not been one’s parent. And at the time when being were one’s parents, they were of the same kindness towards one and one’s parents in this life, which means that, for example, if one was a human being in a lifetime, one’s mother in that life carried one in her womb, continually worrying about one’s state, whether one would be born alive, whether one would be healthy, and undergoing incredible suffering and sacrifice in order to keep one alive. And after one was born, one’s parents looked after one and sacrificed everything for one’s own benefit and welfare. And every single sentient being has done this for one countless times.

An example of the way that these rebirths can occur comes from the time of the Buddha, when a disciple of the Buddha, who was an arhat named Kateyana, went begging one day. He came across a woman sitting by the side of the road with a small child in her lap whom she was caressing very fondly. The woman was eating some fish, some of which she was feeding to the child, and there was a big dog trying to get the bones of the fish form the woman. She was scolding the dog, kicking it away, and trying to avoid giving it any. With his extra ordinary cognition, Kateyana examined the lifetime previous to the present lives of these beings. He saw that the fish had been the woman’s father in her previous lifetime. The dog that she was beating had been her mother, and the child that she was cuddling in her lap had been her worst enemy, someone who had continually reviled her, caused scandal about her, someone she had on her own part fought viciously as well.

All sentient beings, who, having been one’s parents countless times, have countless times been as kind to one as one’s parents in this life, are going through an unending and intolerable experience of suffering through wandering around and around in the three realms of samsara [desire realm, form realm, and formless realm]. This is actually an ocean of suffering, because what being experience in any form of birth is only suffering. In the hells there is the agony of heat and cold; as hungry ghosts, the agonies of hunger and thirst; as animals, the suffering of killing and being killed for food and for survival; as humans, the four great sufferings of birth, ageing, sickness, and death, but, beyond, the eight or sixteen lesser sufferings as well; as asuras, the sufferings of jealousy and constant fighting; and as god, the suffering of death and fall to a lower birth.

If one actually understands the fact that these being who have been so kind to one are undergoing an endless experience of intolerable suffering, then one will give rise to the attitude, “What can I do, what must be done to establish all these beings in happiness and freedom from suffering？” This is the beginning of loving kindness and compassion. And that is why we recite, “May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.” The causes of happiness is the practice of virtuous action. The cause of suffering is the practice of un-virtuous action. So the attitude, understanding this, that is automatically necessarily given rise to at this point is the aspiration that all sentient beings right now experience happiness and be free from suffering, and also that they accumulate the causes of their future happiness and be free from the accumulation of causes of future suffering. This is the development of loving kindness and compassion.

Further, the mind of every sentient being is empty, unborn. But not recognising this, sentient beings grasp their minds as an “I,” as an ego. And, beyond that, they do not recognise that the nature of the confused appearances of samsara which arise in and to the mind is impermanence and change. And not recognising this, they undergo endless and continual suffering. If one understands this as well, then it is impossible that one not give rise to compassion automatically.

The mind of any one of us, or of every one of us, has no form. The mind has no colour and no shape. Therefore, it is empty. But the mind is not simply empty, in that mind experiences, can experience the various objects which arise-sights, sounds, and so forth. So the mind has quality of clarity. That which actually experiences these is the awareness, which is as well a quality of the mind. So the mind is actually the inseparability of emptiness, clarity, and awareness. However, as the clarity and awareness do not themselves possess form, colour, size, shape, and so forth, they do not pass beyond the essential emptiness of mind.

Since the essence of the mind is emptiness, there is nothing in the mind which can die or be destroyed, which means that we have always had this mind, and until we attain Buddhahood we will continue to experience this mind and continue to take rebirth and undergo the sufferings of samsara. This can be shown by an example. The mind is empty in the sense that space is empty. And it is impossible to kill or destroy space.

This can further be illustrated by examining the situation of the mind at various stages of life. When we are conceived, the parents do not see a mind come floating into the womb. There is no material form to the mind of the being which enters the womb. There is nothing to be seen. When someone dies, one does not see a mind go floating out of the body to somewhere else. There is no materiality or form or physical existence to the mind as such that can be perceived. And even during our lifetime we can’t find, pinpoint, or describe the mind with reference to any kind of physical, material, or real characteristics. Therefore, it can be established that the mind is emptiness.

And in both the hinayana and mahayana, it is accepted that the direct realisation of the emptiness of the mind is the realisation of the egolessness of the individual.

Although the mind of every sentient being is empty in this way, every sentient being conceives of this empty mind as an “I,” as an ego, and, going beyond that, thinks, “I am, and I have a mind, and I am my mind.” At the same time, the confused appearances which we experience arise as the radiance of projection of this empty mind and in this empty aspect of the mind. For example, as human beings, we experience the confused appearances of hallucinations that are characteristic of a human life. The nature of these is like a magical illusion, like a dream, like the reflection of the moon in water, like a rainbow, or so forth. We could say that it is very much like film or television. In the case of television, there is this small box, and the images that we see don’t particularly exist as such anywhere, and they certainly aren’t what they appear to be. And it’s hard to say where they are coming from, but they certainly do arise in this small box. And that is very much like the nature of the hallucinations or confused appearances of samsaric existence.

The illusory nature of what we experience can be seen most clearly by examining the dream state. One can see very clearly by examining the process of dreams that everything that we experience is actually nothing other than the mind. What happens when we go to sleep is that our mind becomes dull and stupid, and as a result we undergo a variety of hallucinations. And at the time these appear to be of the same nature of quality as what we experience when we are awake, except that when we wake up we can’t find them anymore. They’ve disappeared. For example, when we are dreaming, we might see places, people, and events, objects. But when we wake up they are not in the room we were sleeping in. They are not around us. They are not even inside our body. These things are nowhere. They were simply the projections of the mind. And everything we experience is like that.

The nature of these experiences is something that arises or appears while being nonexistent. The actual manner in which we experience things is through what is called the three bodies. The physical body, in which we experience the waking state, is the body of complete maturating, complete ripening. The body that we seem to experience in the dream state is called the habitual body or the body of habit. And the body that we seem to experience in the interval after death and before the following rebirth is called the mental body.

In this way, all sentient beings who have been our parents, take that which is impermanent to be permanent, that which is untrue to be true, that which is unreal to be real, and because of this, wander through the three realms of samsara undergoing suffering. Understanding this will cause one to think very strongly that one must bring all of these being to Buddhahood and freedom from this. However at the same time one will understand that the only way that one can bring other being to Buddhahood is by attaining it oneself first. So at this point the intense motivation must develop to attain Buddhahood and to engage in the methods that will lead to it.

Therefore, when one arises in the morning, one should first of all take refuge, and then give rise to the enlightened attitude, the attitude of awakening, bodhicitta. Giving rise to the attitude at that point that everything that I do today for the rest of the day will be done for the benefit of sentient beings in order to bring all beings to Buddhahood will cause all of one’s virtuous actions during the day to increase in power dramatically. And beyond that, even ordinary actions done during the day within that frame of reference, that attitude, will become causes of Buddhahood, will become virtuous. Therefore, it is said that the engendering of bodhicitta and the carrying of it through one’s activities is like a magical elixir that turns whatever it is painted on, whatever metal it is painted on, into gold.

It is said that if the attitude is good, then the progression through the paths and stages on the way to enlightenment will be good. And if the attitude is poor, then the progression through the paths and stages will be poor. For that reason, it is said that there is no one instruction more profound or necessary for the attainment of Buddhahood than this one instruction upon the arising and maintaining of the attitude of awakening.

All the previous holders of the Kagyu lineage by relying upon refuge and by practising the outer, inner, and secret refuges attained Buddhahood. In doing so they performed vast activities for the benefit of sentient beings vast as space both while on the path and after they had attained fruition. Not only have they performed this service in the past but they will continue to do so until samsara is empty of sentient beings.

Therefore, as it is said that the distinction between a practitioner of Buddha-dharma and someone who is not is the taking of refuge, the distinction between a practitioner of the hinayana and practitioner of the mahayana is the arising and development of the attitude of awakening. Therefore, let us dedicate the virtue of the teaching and listening to the dharma this morning to the Buddhahood of all sentient beings.