The Three Refuges

[icy]

What are the methods for causing one's own mind to become the practices? Initially, one should take refuge and think about actions and their effects. The refuge is the Three Jewels: Buddha, his Doctrine and the Spiritual Community.
[Buddha] When a sentient being purifies the taints of his own mind as well as their latent predispositions, he is free of all defects that act as obstructions. Thus, he simultaneously and directly knows all phenomena. Such a being is called a Buddha, and he is a teacher of refuge, like a physician.
[Dharma] The Doctrine jewel is the superior paths--the chief right paths which remove the taints as well as their latent predispositions--and the absences which are states of having removed what is to be removed. The Doctrine is the actual refuge, like medicine.
[Sangha] The Spiritual Community jewel is all persons, whether lay or ordained, who have generated a superior path in their continuum. They are friends helping one to achieve refuge, like nurses.

[buddhalovely]

A refuge is a place where people go when they are distressed or when they need safety and security. There are many types of refuges. When people are unhappy, they take refuge with their friends, when they are worried and frightened, they may take refuge in false hopes and beliefs. As they approach death, they might take refuge in the belief in an eternal heaven. But, as the Buddha says, none of these are true refuges because they do not give comfort and security based on reality.

Truly these are not safe refuges,
not the refuge supreme.
Not the refuge whereby one is
freed from all sorrow.

But to take refuge in the
Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha
and to see with real understanding
the Four Noble Truths.

Suffering, the cause of suffering,
the transcending of suffering and
the Noble Eightfold Path that leads
to the transcending of suffering.

This indeed is a safe refuge,
it is the refuge supreme.
It is the refuge whereby one is
freed from all suffering.

Taking Refuge in the Buddha is a confident acceptance of the fact that one can become fully enlightened of the fact that one can become fully enlightened and perfected just as the Buddha was. Taking Refuge in the Dhamma means understanding the Four Noble Truths and basing one's life on the Noble Eightfold Path. Taking Refuge in the Sangha means looking for support, inspiration and guidance from all who walk the Noble Eightfold Path. Doing this one becomes a Buddhist and thus takes the first step on the path towards Nirvana.

[RedLantern]

The  Buddhist life is a natural part in countries where Buddhism is the majority  religion.Buddhism has it's own practices,diet, the job trade,or profession chosen,daily meditations,and giving offerings at shrines ,temples or monasteries.
The first of the deeply rooted practice in Buddhist history is veneration of the Buddha.Most Buddhist recognises the existences of many Buddhas,depending on which Buddhist sect they belong to.
Many have shrines in their homes.
In carrying out the devotion,the person stands before a holy image-After saying the devotion ,bow three times before the holy image in respect to the three refuges known as three refuges.
The second basic practice is the exchange that takes place between monks and the laity.Buddhist always stressed the involvement of the community and the lay segments of the community.
An assembly of monks and nuns in a monastery is called by a generic name.Sangha which dates to the origin of Buddha.

[biggyboy]

Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are the genuine Jewels one should not dismissed just as it is for they generate inexhaustible amount of merit and wisdom.  Treasures like gold, silver, and precious gems are rare and valuable but the merit and wisdom of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha can bring us much more invaluable benefits in the world and beyond what ordinary  “treasures” could bring us....they bring peace to the world and help us thoroughly transcend our negative emotions, sufferings, and achieve awakening. The Three Jewels are the best of all jewels.

Each and every one of us has the Buddha nature in us.  We are intrinsically connected with the Three Jewels.  Because of conditions, circumstances and habituation, our original nature is masked with delusions and we wander the cycle of birth and death without finding our way “home”.  Taking refuge is to start the journey homeward.

Once we have taken refuge, we must embark on the path of spiritual cultivation, which involves finding a teacher and developing a regular practice. Doing so will decisively set us on the Buddhist path of awakening to wisdom and compassion.

There are numerous benefits from taking refuge in the Three Jewels which can be reaped in present and future lives and can ultimately lead to the happiness of full liberation. These benefits can be....

1. Becoming a follower of the Buddhas
2. Establishing a firm basis for receiving precepts
3. Diminishing karmic obstacles
4. Potential to accumulate a vast amount of merit
5. Avoiding rebirth in lower forms of existence
6. The quality of not being disturbed by humans and non-humans
7. The ability to accomplish all virtuous deeds
8. Ability to become a Buddha

[ratanasutra]

The Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

The English word refuge refers to a place of shelter and protection from danger. What danger? We seek shelter from the passions that jerk us around, from feeling distressed and broken, from pain and suffering, from the fear of death. We seek shelter from the wheel of samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.

"Taking refuge in the Buddha, we learn to transform anger into compassion;
taking refuge in the Dharma, we learn to transform delusion into wisdom;
taking refuge in the Sangha, we learn to transform desire into generosity."
(Red Pine, The Heart Sutra: The Womb of Buddhas, p. 132)


The late Chogyam Trungpa said of taking refuge in the Sangha,
"The sangha is the community of people who have the perfect right to cut through your trips and feed you with their wisdom, as well as the perfect right to demonstrate their own neurosis and be seen through by you. The companionship within the sangha is a kind of clean friendship-—without expectation, without demand, but at the same time, fulfilling."

[pgdharma]

The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha are also referred to as the Three Jewels. When being formally initiated into Buddhism, people pledge to take refuge in the Three Jewels to help and sustain their practice.

'Taking refuge' may be understood as 'accepting guidance.' If we look to the Three Jewels for guidance--with the Buddha and Sangha as examples to follow and Dhamma as a Path to follow; which literally mean “THE WAY OF LIFE” then our lives will be lived in ways that create less suffering for ourselves and those around us. There in is our protection: in the conforming of our lives to the Three Jewels. To quote the Blessed One: "Protecting oneself, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself."

[hope rainbow]

Taking refuge first means that one has recognized the reality of what it is we take refuge from.
This is most important, for if it is missing, then our refuge may have all sorts of other bias reasons that may also act as causes for us to loose our refuge.
Even if we took refuge for the wrong reasons, it does not make it any less dramatic to loose our refuge, for it means that we would be helpless, totally helpless.

[DS Star]

The Three Jewels is the highest of all refuges one can take... because taking refuge in them i.e. the Buddha, Dharma ans Sangha, will lead us to our final destination of ending Suffering.

Taking refuge is personal affair for some people but for others it is a ceremony. What is the right attitude of taking refuge in the Three Jewels?

Here are the guidelines and advice:

 1. Primary guidelines

 a. To actualise refuge in:
- Buddha: commit yourself to one master, the Buddha
- Dharma: listen, study and practice Dharma to overcome your own delusions
- Sangha: respect Sangha and train in accordance with their example

 b. Try to:
- subdue the body, speech and mind, instead of letting our senses rule us, do not speak harsh, sceptical and avoid being judgmental.
- practice ethics and vows.
- be kind and considerate to any living being.
- make special offerings on two special days of the year: the 15th of 4th lunar month (around May), to celebrate birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha, and on the 4th of 6th lunar month (around July) to celebrate the first turning of  the wheel - or the first teachings of the Buddha on the 4 Noble Truths in Sarnath.

2. Secondary guidelines

Referring to the refuge in the:
- Buddha: do not follow other, lower beings as ultimate spiritual guides.
- Dharma: do not harm or upset humans or animals.
- Sangha: do not be negatively influenced by any extremists or others opposing our beliefs

To show respect to the:
- Buddha: respect all images of the Buddha, treat these as if they are Buddhas.
- Dharma: respect texts, treat them with utmost care.
- Sangha: respect even piece of robes and all who wear robes (despite behaviour)

3. Six points of training:

1. Take refuge in the Three Jewels, do not seek the source of your happiness and problems outside yourself.

2. Offer the first part of food or drink to the triple gem, by blessing it before eating or drinking by reciting "Om Ah Hum".

3. Encourage others to become inner beings (Buddhists) and to take refuge; but only when one is asked for advice.

4. Recite the refuge prayer 3x in the day and 3x in the night.

5. Follow the example of the Three Jewels, rely on them as the only trustworthy refuge objects.

6. Never lose faith in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha

[icy]

Practice must be carried out in terms of one's own thought. If one knows how to bring the teachings into one's own thought, all physical and verbal deeds can be made to accord with practice. If one does not know how to bring them into one's own thought, even though one might meditate, recite scriptures, or spend one's life in a temple, it will not help; thought is therefore important for practice. Thus, taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, his Doctrine and the Spiritual Community), taking into account the relationship between actions and their effects, and generating an attitude of helping others, are most important.

[Jessie Fong]

The Three Jewels are also commonly called the Triple Gem - the three things that Buddhists take refuge in and look towards for guidance.

The Three Jewels are:
 Buddha : The Enlightened or Awakened One
 Dharma : The Teaching
 Sangha : The Community : used more broadly to refer to the community of practicing Buddhists.

The three gems are called this because of their treasured value to Buddhists, as well as their indestructible and unchanging nature.
 
The Three Gems when used in the process of taking refuge, become the Three Refuges.
((From Wikipedia))

[vajrastorm]

There are two causes (reasons) for taking Refuge in the Three Jewels.

The first cause has three aspects, depending on whether one has the small or medium or great scope motivation. These three are:

(1) fear of going to the Lower Realms(the Hell Realm, the Hungry Ghost Realm and the Animals Realm) - small scope motivation,

(2) fear of samsara - medium scope motivation;

(3)such great love and compassion that we cannot bear to see others suffering in samsara - great scope motivation.

The second cause is that we know that the Three Jewels are able to protect us.

The Three Jewels are fitting objects of Refuge because of the good qualities of the Buddha(here the Buddha means the Fully Awakened/Enlightened One, not just Buddha Shakyamuni). There are four such qualities. Firstly, the Buddha is free from all fears because he is free from all danger and harm. Secondly, he is skilled in the means of liberating living beings, skilled in pacifying and subduing unruly minds, such as in the case of Angulimala. Thirdly, the Buddha is equal in his love and compassion for all beings. ( as seen in the famous story of how Buddha Shakyamuni healed his sworn enemy, Devadatta, by saying that if he loved him as much as his own son, Rahula, may Devadatta be healed. And  Devadatta was instantly healed!). The fourth quality of the Buddha is that he works to benefit all beings whether they have helped or harm him.

[Tenzin K]

The Benefits to Taking Refuge

There are numerous benefits from taking refuge in the Three Jewels which can be reaped in present and future lives and can ultimately lead to the happiness of full liberation. These benefits can be divided into eight categories:

1. Becoming a follower of the Buddhas
2. Establishing a firm basis for receiving precepts
3. Diminishing karmic obstacles
4. Potential to accumulate a vast amount of merit
5. Avoiding rebirth in lower forms of existence
6. The quality of not being disturbed by humans and non-humans
7. The ability to accomplish all virtuous deeds
8. Ability to become a buddha

There are also many stories and parables in Buddhist scriptures that detail these benefits. For example, it is said that if you take refuge in the Three Jewels, you will acquire an inexhaustible amount of merit in the future. It is like a great repository of wealth. Even if everyone in a nation were to make withdrawals for seven consecutive years, there would still be considerable wealth left. The merit derived from taking refuge in the Three Jewels is thousands and millions of times greater than all the wealth in such a repository. (From the Scripture of Lay Bodhisattva Precepts )


There was once a celestial being in the Indra heaven whose lifespan was approaching its end. His celestial body began to deteriorate and he had only seven days to live. He had a vision that he would be reborn as a boar and he became distressed. Then he asked Indra, the celestial king, to help him, but even Indra could not do anything. Indra asked him to seek out the Buddha for help. The Buddha bestowed the refuges upon him. He was reborn as a human and later met and received teachings from Shariputra (one of Buddha’s principle disciples, renowned for his wisdom), and, consequently, reached full enlightenment.

Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is something precious. The Buddhas have stated that once you take refuge in the Three Jewels, you will be protected by the four guardian gods who protect the four quarters of the universe. the east Dhrtarashtra; in the south, Virudhaka; in the west, Virupaksha, and in the north Vaishravana. These four guardian gods send thirty-six guardian angels to protect the recipient from harm. Each prevents different kinds of harm. Some prevent sickness, hunger, delusion, aversion, greed, thievery, fear, and so on.

Lastly, I must stress that taking refuge in the Three Jewels is only the first step in becoming a Buddhist. Once we have taken refuge, we must embark on the path of spiritual cultivation, which involves finding a teacher and developing a regular practice. Doing so will decisively set you on the Buddhist path of awakening to wisdom and compassion.

[Rihanna]

Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the door to Buddhist Dharma. Actually when we take refuge, we are not taking refuge in Buddha Shakyamuni, but to our own eventual attainment of Buddhahood.

Buddha is the one who shows you the path. He cannot instantly Enlighten you. Buddha cannot wash away all your sins, but by giving you the true path, you can help yourself.

Dharma is the actual true path, represented by the texts. Sangha are those who help you along the path. Absolute Sangha must have realised emptiness  but a group or one or more monks/nuns can represent Sangha.

We take refuge in the Three Jewels because we are suffering and the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are the only methods that can help. One must follow the advice of taking refuge.It is not enough to go to a doctor, be diagnosed, and have nedicines prescribed - one MUST take the medicine too.

[icy]

Once we take ourselves and the quality of our life seriously, and acknowledge the difficulties we may be experiencing, the next step is to have confidence that (1) it is possible to overcome them, (2) there is a way to accomplish this, and (3) we are capable of achieving it [Buddha-nature]. This bring us to the topics of refuge and Buddha-nature.

Taking refuge is not a passive act of placing ourselves in the hands of a higher power that will do everything for us, as the English word "refuge" might imply. It is an active process of putting a safe, reliable and positive direction in our life. That direction is indicated by the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha--the Three Precious Gems. They are precious in the sense that they are both rare and valuable....

In short, the definitive level of the Three Precious Gems of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha presents the goal we would like to achieve. Their interpretable level indicates what we rely on, externally, to bring ourselves there. But we also have internal factors that we need to rely on as well. These refer to our Buddha-nature.

We are capable of eliminating our problems and achieving the definitive Three Precious Gems because everyone has Buddha-nature, namely the various factors or working materials that make it possible. Of all our natural resources, the most important is mind. We all have a mind which, in its nature, is unhampered by anything from experiencing whatever exists. No matter what happens--no matter how confused, stressed or unhappy we may be--we experience it. Even death is something that we experience when it occurs. Therefore, because we have a mind that allows us to experience whatever exists, we have the basic resource that allows us to experience a total absence of confusion and a utilization of all possible good qualities for helping others--provided that such a total absence and utilization actually exist. In other words, if we can establish that it is possible for these two things to exist--and that they are not just objects of nice but totally unrealistic wishes--we can be confident that we are capable of attaining them, simply because we have a mind.

[Midakpa]

Among the refuge commitments, it is stated that after taking refuge in the Three Jewels, one must not take refuge in teachers who contradict Buddha's teachings, or in Samsaric gods. In the Dhajagga Sutta, it is mentioned that by taking refuge in Sakra (Indra), the king of the devas, or other samsaric gods, the followers would not be free from their worldly problems and fears. This is because such gods are themselves not free from lust, hatred, illusion and fear, but the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha are free from them. Only those who are free from unsatisfactoriness can show the way to lasting happiness.