Against The Stream ~ TAKING REFUGEE
SOME OF THE BUDDHA’S
last advice, before He passed away, was: "Be
an island unto yourselves; be lamps unto yourselves;
be a refuge unto yourselves. With the Dharma as your
Refuge, go to no external refuge".
A Refuge means a place or state of safety,
and the Buddhist state of safety lies nowhere except
in the depths of our own hearts, in the Study, Application
and Realization of the Dharma.
A Buddhist learns about Natural Law and
begins to see that all things— from the smallest
to the greatest— come from causes, like plants
come from seeds. He sees that all things come and
go, arise and perish. And when he sees this, he realizes
it is useless to look for lasting peace and happiness
outside himself, and that the only true peace and
happiness can be found in the heart that has grown
wide and deep, calm and clear. He sees how useless
it is to blame other people and things for the situation
he finds himself in, and that he himself is not totally
responsible for it. He may not understand it or want
it, but he sees that it must have arisen because of
causes, most of which are beyond his control. He therefore
assesses it to see what he may learn from it and how
it may be turned around. If it is still not to his
liking, he knows it will not last, but will change
and become something else.
The practice of ‘Taking Refuge’
must have existed in India before Buddhism began.
It was probably common for people to say: "I
Take Refuge in you and your teachings" when they
were satisfied with what they heard a teacher say
and wished to take him as their teacher; it would
come from themselves. We cannot imagine the Buddha
saying: "Repeat after me: ‘Buddham Saranam
Gacchami .… Dharmam Saranam Gacchami ….Sangham
Saranam Gacchami’ "!
The first people to Take Refuge as Buddhists
were two merchants who came upon the Buddha sitting
in the forest shortly after His Enlightenment. According
to the legend, they were the first people to meet
Him after that most momentous event. So impressed
were they by His appearance that they greeted Him
respectfully and offered Him some food. Now, there
is no record of what He said to them in what should
rightly be considered His First Sermon,1 but whatever
it was so convinced them that they spontaneously Took
Refuge in Him and His Teachings by saying: "Buddham
Saranam Gacchami, Dharmam Saranam Gacchami".
Since the Buddha had not yet any disciples, and there
were no monks, they did not say "Sangham Saranam
Gacchami". They Took Refuge only in the Buddha
and the Dharma; there was not yet a Sangha2 so they
could not say: "I Take Refuge in the Sangha".
Nowadays, many people recite the Triple-Refuge
formula without really understanding its meaning,
as something they have learned by heart. Actually,
it is meaningless unless and until we are convinced
that the Buddhist Way, and no other, is the Way we
want to follow; it is a matter of expressing one’s
confidence in the Way. We can do this only when and
if we have investigated other Ways and found them
unsuitable. We must know why we choose Buddhism over
other Ways.
A Buddhist Takes Refuge in the Triple Gem
or Three Jewels: The Buddha, as the Teacher; the Dharma,
as the Teachings, or— more— as the Law;
and the Sangha, as all those who have attained some
fruit of the Way by following the Dharma. From the
Buddha’s last advice, however, we understand
that the Ultimate Refuge— the Dharma—
is not outside of ourselves.
Taking Refuge means deciding to follow the
Buddha’s Way to the best of our ability, for
the purpose of self-development, of becoming better
people, or reaching enlightenment. A Buddhist must
have faith in the Three Jewels, but it is not blind
faith or mere belief; it is faith based upon knowledge
and perception of the truth and validity of the Buddha’s
Teachings, faith sprung from experience. When a person
has such faith, he may Take Refuge, as he is convinced
that it is the right way for him. It is a solemn and
serious undertaking and does not mean just reciting
an ancient formula; as an important step, it should
not be taken lightly. It is different from the baptism
of other religions, whereby babies are baptized into
the religion, because a person becomes a Buddhist
by his own choice, when he is old enough to understand
and choose for himself. A little baby cannot be considered
a Buddhist, as it cannot think for itself and understands
nothing.
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1It is taught, and generally believed, that He gave
His First Sermon to the Five Ascetics in the Deer
Park near Benares, some weeks after His Enlight-enment.
2The word Sangha simply means ‘community’,
but in this context, it means ‘a spiritual community’.
Later on, it came to mean the Order of Monks founded
by the Buddha. If we are referring to this Sangha,
we should be specific, and say Bhikkhu-Sangha. In
another sense, it means the whole Buddhist community,
comprising monks, nuns, laywomen and laymen. The Sangha
that we Take Refuge in when we say “Sangham
Saranam Gacchami”, however, refers to the Ariya
(Noble) Sangha—that is, those who have attained
some degree of supramundane awakening or enlightenment,
and that may mean anyone, not just ordained people
like monks or nuns.
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