The Sage’s Intent by Sakya Pandita

An oral commentary by His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin

TAKING REFUGE

Actually, true refuge should come from our own mind. Just our physical body doing prostrations or paying respect is not the actual refuge. Although it is a respectful act, just by doing a respectful act, we cannot say that we are taking refuge in the object of the respectful act. Refuge comes from our mind. Generally speaking, there are two different kinds of refuge, genuine refuge and non-genuine or mundane refuge.

First, we need to know what refuge means. Generally speaking, if we have a problem that we can’t solve by ourselves, we ask someone for help who is more skilful than us, has more knowledge, more power, who has better techniques than us to solve our problem. When we ask someone to help, we ask someone who is better than ourselves, who can do something that we cannot do by ourselves. So in such a situation, we are kind of taking refuge. This just refers to a general refuge, which is not quite like the Buddhist refuge, but it does convey the general meaning of refuge.

First, it is important to know why we have to take refuge. If we are Buddhists, then we must take refuge. Rather, if we want to become a Buddhist, then we must take refuge. If we do not take refuge, then from the conduct point of view, we cannot become a Buddhist. And just having faith, just believing in the Buddha, will not make us a Buddhist. Just being born in a Buddhist family will not make us a Buddhist. Just studying the Buddha’s teachings or meditating on them will not make us a Buddhist. Just believing in the law of karma or in rebirth will not make us a Buddhist. Just developing loving kindness and compassion for all beings will not make us a Buddhist. To become a Buddhist, we must take the refuge vow, we must take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha through proper rituals and with proper motivation. If we take proper refuge, then at that time we become a genuine Buddhist from the conduct point of view.

So we need to know why this refuge is important. Actually, we can also develop the wish to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings but by just having this wish or thought, one cannot become a real Buddhist or Mahayana Buddhist. Developing such a wish before receiving the Bodhicitta vow, is what we call in Tibetan momba tsam, which means making a mere wish. Likewise, just doing prostrations to the Buddha, just making offerings such as flowers to the Buddha will not make us a real Buddhist. Just by doing this is not the real way to become a Buddhist. 

We must take the refuge vow. Those who wish to become Buddhists must take the refuge vow. I think the literal meaning for the Tibetan term gyap dro means ‘go for refuge’. Gyap means ‘refuge’ and dro means ‘go toward’. We speak of refuge because if we see this object as a refuge, we are confident that it will rescue us from suffering, from harm and from other problems. And by recognising this object as a refuge, we go toward it and adopt it as a refuge.

Who goes for refuge? Not only our body or our words go for refuge. Our mind also needs to go for refuge. For example, if we are outside walking and suddenly it begins to rain and we say the words ‘umbrella, umbrella, umbrella’, just these words won’t keep us from getting wet. So without mind, mere words won’t save us from getting wet. We have to do something, we have to get an umbrella or take shelter in a house or a cave, somewhere where we are protected from the rain. Just saying the words of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is not that effective. Mind should be going for refuge. We should go for refuge not only with our words, but our mind itself should go for refuge. When we say that the mind should go for refuge, it means we are not only saying the words, but that we are really visualising, we are really reflecting, really meditating on this. We are really taking refuge wholeheartedly, from the bottom of our heart. 

Generally speaking, there are many kinds of refuge, Buddhist refuge, non-Buddhist refuge. Non-Buddhist refuge has two aspects - non-Buddhist objects of refuge and non-Buddhist mind of refuge. If we take refuge in the fire gods or the earth gods, then this is a non-Buddhist refuge. Then the next one, even if we go for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which is the Buddhist refuge but at the same time we are taking refuge for the sake of ourselves or our loved ones, then although we have the correct Buddhist object of refuge, we don’t have the Buddhist mind or motivation. So even if we take refuge in the proper objects of refuge, if our motivation is mundane, then our refuge is not the real Buddhist refuge. 

Also within the Buddhist refuge, there is the Sravakaya refuge, the Pratiekabuddha refuge and the Mahayana refuge, and within the Mahayana, there is the cause Paramitayana refuge and the Vajrayana refuge. These four all take the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as object of refuge, but their adherence to the three gems is different.

Sravakas take refuge in the Triple Gem, but mainly in the Sangha. Pratiekabuddhas take refuge in the Dharma, and Paramitayana take refuge in the Triple Gem but mainly in the Buddha. Although both Paramitayana and Vajrayana both take refuge in the Buddha, still their adherence is different. In the Paramitayana, the 11th Bhumi is the Buddha state, but according to Vajrayana it is not the Buddha state – it is still a state of learning, a state of Bodhisattvahood. In the Vajrayana, Buddhahood is only attained in the 13th Bhumi. So although both Paramitayana and Vajrayana take refuge in the Buddha, there is a difference in their understanding of Buddhahood.

Here, the main topic is the refuge of Paramitayana because this text is based on Paramitayana teachings. Normally we say the Paramitayana or general Mahayana refuge has four special qualities. Firstly, the quality of cause. The Sravakas and Pratiekabuddhas have two causes for refuge, which are fear and faith. They don’t have great compassion as a cause of refuge. In Mahayana, they have a third cause, which is great compassion, which is the uncommon Mahayana cause of refuge. The first two causes, fear and faith, are common with Sravakas and Pratiekabuddhas as causes of refuge, but great compassion is the uncommon Mahayana cause of refuge. This is the special quality of the cause.

 

The second special quality is the quality of object. Generally, the main object of the Mahayana refuge is the Buddha, which is not the same for the Sravakas and Pratiekabuddhas.

The third special quality is the duration. In the Mahayana, we take refuge from the time of taking the refuge vows until the time when we attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.

The fourth special quality is the purpose. Mahayana takes refuge in the Triple Gem for the sake of all sentient beings. The purpose of taking refuge is for the sake of all beings. This is the special quality of the purpose of the Mahayana refuge.

Because of these four qualities, this refuge is different from other refuges. In the Paramitayana or Mahayana, we take refuge in the Triple Gem, but how we visualise them is special. In front of us, we visualise a jewelled throne, on top of that a moon disk, on top of that a lotus, and on top of that the real Shakyamuni in the nature of light, and behind this, we can visualise piles of Dharma books, ornately decorated, and then we can visualise the Noble Sangha like Arya Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and others, who are also surrounding the Buddha and the Dharma books. This kind of visualisation is the refuge field according to the general Mahayana or the Cause Paramitayana tradition.

So when we take refuge in the Buddha, we focus on Buddha Shakyamuni and we think that he is the one who will show us the path to Buddhahood. When we take refuge in the Dharma, we focus on the Dharma books and think that they are the actual path. While focusing on the Dharma books, we can also think that this is the realisation of Buddha Shakyamuni in the form of Dharma texts. When we take refuge in the Noble Assembly that is surrounding the Buddha and the Dharma texts, we think that these are our spiritual companions.

Also now we will talk about precepts. There are general precepts and specific precepts. Within the general precepts, there are two kinds - adopting precepts and abandoning precepts.

Examples of general adopting precepts are sitting next to qualified master of general Mahayana teachings and also receiving precious Dharma from this authentic master or qualified master. Then practising according to the teachings of our master. 

General abandoning precepts means that we should not abandon the Triple Gem for the sake of material gains. In other words, we should not abandon the Triple Gem at any cost. Pleasant reward or fearful punishment, whatever fate we may face, we should never give up, we should never veer away from taking refuge toward mundane goals.

As for the particular precepts, once we have taken refuge in the Buddha we should never take refuge in mundane gods. After taking refuge in the Dharma, we should never harm other beings. And after taking refuge in the Sangha, we shouldn’t make non-Buddhists our spiritual companions.

This doesn't mean that we should not talk with non-Buddhists or make any contacts or friendship with non-Buddhists. We can make relationships with anybody, socialise with them, but not make them our spiritual companions.

Another topic is the benefits of taking refuge, of which there are two kinds: one is the benefits that we receive before becoming Buddhas, and the other is the benefits that we receive once we attain Buddhahood.

First, the benefits that we receive before becoming a Buddha, or the temporal benefits. This means that by taking proper refuge, we can purify the faults of our negative actions and also we can be protected from the harmful actions of our fellow humans and of non-humans. And also we can reduce our physical pain and mental suffering in this very life. Other temporal benefits are that we will change our name from non-Buddhist to Buddhist, we become Buddhist followers. In this way, we should have the confidence not to be separated from the Buddha in life after life, in all our lifetimes.

Then there are the benefits of taking refuge after attaining Buddhahood, which means that we can turn the wheel of Dharma unceasingly for infinite human beings, and also we can have infinite followers whom we can help. Also, we can guide infinite beings on the path of the Buddha and enable them to also attain the qualities of the Triple Gem in the future.