Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

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Pårl
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Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Pårl »

Hello everyone,

I am going to go for refuge in July. I have already made that decision, and I will not falter.

I am very interested in other people's reasons for taking refuge in the three jewels, if anyone would like to share?

Many thanks,

Paul
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Without it Samsara (Self Grasping) would never end and that is Dukkha
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Ayu »

Yes, pondering about samsara was my reason. I was searching for a shelter in this very crazy world.
It was a good decision. I'm very glad that it's possible to take refuge.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by dawn of peace »

Pårl wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:55 pm Hello everyone,

I am going to go for refuge in July. I have already made that decision, and I will not falter.

I am very interested in other people's reasons for taking refuge in the three jewels, if anyone would like to share?

Many thanks,

Paul
there are three levels of refuge. For first level practitioners, the intention is to avoid suffer in this life time and getting better rebirth next life time. For second level practitioners, the intention is to achieve liberation from samsara. For third level practitioners, the intention is to attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings.
Last edited by dawn of peace on Thu Jan 19, 2023 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

I learned about Buddhism at a very young age and it just seemed to resonate with me. When I became an adult, and the opportunity to take refuge arose, I went for it. It felt like where I should be. My teacher said that people who are attracted to Buddhism in this life probably had a connection with it in a previous life. That works for me.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Pårl »

Thanks all! Variations on a theme. Different stories and motivations, but thematically the same. This reinforces my resolve to go ahead with my plan to take refuge this year.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by jet.urgyen »

Pårl wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:55 pm Hello everyone,

I am going to go for refuge in July. I have already made that decision, and I will not falter.

I am very interested in other people's reasons for taking refuge in the three jewels, if anyone would like to share?

Many thanks,

Paul
feels like a home.
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by 明安 Myoan »

I started to take refuge privately in my heart because I recognized that my own thinking, speaking, and acting were harming those I loved, and making me miserable.
The Buddha was the only source of teachings I could find who meaningfully and deeply discussed virtue and reality together, showing how they relate and support not only own long-term wellbeing, but that of others as well.

I took refuge formally because I needed the expertise and guidance of someone smarter, and more impartial, than my own sense of what the Dharma was and what I needed.
It became apparent after years that I had something like spiritual anxiety/restlessness. It drove me to change practices again and again, digging 100 wells instead of one. I kept losing track of bodhicitta and the long-term goal of freedom from suffering for everyone.

I ended up taking refuge in three different temples before finding where I am now.
I learned a lot from each sangha and teacher. I developed a deep appreciation for the vastness of the knowledge of Shakyamuni from these experiences.

I'm happy to hear you're taking refuge this year :thumbsup:
Namu Amida Butsu
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Pårl »

Many thanks 明安 Myoan. Your experience resonates with me, and I think I have similar feelings. It sits right with me. It's almost like I have arrived at a place where my own conviction and morality intersects with something much older and vast. Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my thread.

I have spoken with some of the other members of the sangha at the temple I attend. Some, but not all, of them say the process was meandering and took time. So again your experiences seem to apply to other people on the path too. :smile:
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Miorita »

A need to connect.
Refuge is what it means: a place to feel safe from what lurks out there more or less ill-intentioned.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Könchok Thrinley »

Khenpo Khunpal says in his Bodhisattvacharyavatara commentary that raking refuge means making a decision/vow to follow the three jewels.

Lord Jigten Sumgon says that the refuge is what separates buddhists from nom-buddhists.

You can find many quotes like this. Refuge itself is a very deep topic and an entire path is basically a matter of refuge. So that to me sounds like good a reason.
“Observing samaya involves to remain inseparable from the union of wisdom and compassion at all times, to sustain mindfulness, and to put into practice the guru’s instructions”. Garchen Rinpoche

For those who do virtuous actions,
goodness is what comes to pass.
For those who do non-virtuous actions,
that becomes suffering indeed.

- Arya Sanghata Sutra
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Kelwin »

Because there is no other choice. There just isn't. People's paths will differ, but when we understand the three jewels in a profound and open way (not in a limited religious or sectarian way), there is no other option in reality. Nothing. At all.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by KC: »

... painful.

"because I needed the expertise and guidance of someone smarter, and more impartial"

And yet Buddha's last instruction was: take what I have taught and test it by your own experience.

Even in Vajrayana sections what I see is directives to obedience ... which, to this audle dawg, means obedience and group-think.

Meditate.
Stability.
Understanding.
Insight.
Wisdom.

Why overload things with "teacher as god-like" and even just "3 jewels"?
Why not take refuge in decency and honesty and legitimacy and ... and sanity!

--KC:

p.s. some of us have been watching this growing calamity for decades. hard to not slip into cynical pessimism. but then huh huh ... there's always "the cushion".

Mangalam
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

KC: wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:09 pm ... painful.

"because I needed the expertise and guidance of someone smarter, and more impartial"

And yet Buddha's last instruction was: take what I have taught and test it by your own experience.

Even in Vajrayana sections what I see is directives to obedience ... which, to this audle dawg, means obedience and group-think.

Meditate.
Stability.
Understanding.
Insight.
Wisdom.

Why overload things with "teacher as god-like" and even just "3 jewels"?
Why not take refuge in decency and honesty and legitimacy and ... and sanity!

--KC:

p.s. some of us have been watching this growing calamity for decades. hard to not slip into cynical pessimism. but then huh huh ... there's always "the cushion".
That’s one of the most ignorant and distorted things I have ever read here.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 12:30 am
KC: wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:09 pm ... painful.

"because I needed the expertise and guidance of someone smarter, and more impartial"

And yet Buddha's last instruction was: take what I have taught and test it by your own experience.

Even in Vajrayana sections what I see is directives to obedience ... which, to this audle dawg, means obedience and group-think.

Meditate.
Stability.
Understanding.
Insight.
Wisdom.

Why overload things with "teacher as god-like" and even just "3 jewels"?
Why not take refuge in decency and honesty and legitimacy and ... and sanity!

--KC:

p.s. some of us have been watching this growing calamity for decades. hard to not slip into cynical pessimism. but then huh huh ... there's always "the cushion".
That’s one of the most ignorant and distorted things I have ever read here.
Kind of juvenile too, given that it's supposedly the fruit of decades of experience.

Might have a point in a very broad, conventional sense, but it hardly answers the questions in the OP, it rather sidesteps them.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by PSM »

Pårl wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:55 pm I am very interested in other people's reasons for taking refuge in the three jewels, if anyone would like to share?
Nothing else is dependable, so there are no other options.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by ThreeVows »

While this would/might be considered Hindu, I think even so the underlying thought is essentially the same.

When it comes to Bhakti Yoga, it's said there are four types of reasons that one might engage with it:
Hinduism, in its scriptures such as chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita, recognizes four kinds of devotees who practice Bhakti yoga. Some practice it because they are hard pressed or stressed by anxiety or their life's circumstances and see Bhakti yoga as a form of relief. The second type practice Bhakti yoga to learn about god out of curiosity and intellectual intrigue. The third type seek rewards in this or in afterlife through their Bhakti yoga. The fourth are those who love god driven by pure love, knowing and seeking nothing beyond that experience of love union.
I would imagine with refuge it's similar - some people are afraid of existence/samsara and see the refuge as a protection. Some might have an intellectual interest in the dharma and want to learn it better. Some might want to have a higher rebirth or even liberation, and they rely on the refuge to attain these aims. And some may have just a call within their heart, a swelling or upsurge in their bodymind, when they consider the objects of refuge, and there isn't necessarily any intellectual need for some major consideration of an 'attainment' but it is just a natural occurrence within one's heart, sort of the most sublime, natural orientation for one's 'self'.

As in the Hindu model, I think all 4 are valid:
According to these Hindu texts, the highest spiritual level is the fourth, those who are devoted because of their knowledge of love. The Bhagavad Gita states that all four types of Bhakti yogi are noble because their pursuit of Bhakti yoga sooner or later starts the journey on the path of spirituality, it keeps one away from negativity and evil karma, it causes spiritual transformation towards the goal of Bhakti yoga
Anyway, came to mind. FWIW. :anjali:
“Whoever wants to find the wisdom beyond intellect without praying to his guru is like someone waiting for the sun to shine in a cave facing the north. He will never realize appearances and his mind to be one.”
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Konchog1 »

There are four reasons why the Buddha is worthy to be a refuge. First, he has mastered himself and attained the sublime state of fearlessness. If he had not attained this, he would not be able to protect others from all fears, just as a person who has already fallen down cannot help up someone else who has fallen down. Second, he is in all ways skilled in the means of training disciples. If he were not so, he would not be able to fulfill your needs, even if you went to him for refuge. Third, he has great compassion. If he did not have it, he would not protect you even if you went to him for refuge. Fourth, he is pleased, not by material offerings, but by offerings of practice. If he were not, he would not act as a refuge for everyone, but would help only those who had previously helped him.

In brief, only one who is free of all fears, who is skilled in the means of freeing others from fear, who has great, impartial compassion for everyone, and who acts for everyone's welfare regardless of whether or not they have benefited him, is worthy of being a refuge. Since only the Buddha has these qualities, and the divine creator and so on do not, he alone is the refuge. Therefore, his teaching and the community of his disciples are also worthy of being a refuge.

Thus, after you have ascertained these things, which are taught in the Compendium of Determinations, entrust yourself to the three jewels with a single-pointed focus. Develop this certainty from the depths of your heart, for, once you are able to do this, they cannot fail to protect you. This is so because there are two causes of your being protected: an external and an internal. The Teacher has already fully realized the external factor or cause, but you suffer because you have not yet developed the internal factor, entrusting yourself to the refuge.

Therefore, know that the Buddha, moved by his great compassion, assists you even if you do not request his help; that he is not lazy at this; and that he, the unrivaled and auspicious refuge, abides as your personal protector. Recognizing this, go to him for refuge.
-The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment eng v1 pg. 179-180 tib pg. 133-134
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Malcolm »

Pårl wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:55 pm Hello everyone,

I am going to go for refuge in July. I have already made that decision, and I will not falter.

I am very interested in other people's reasons for taking refuge in the three jewels, if anyone would like to share?

Many thanks,

Paul
Fear, faith, and compassion.
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Re: Reasons to take refuge in the three jewels

Post by Pårl »

Once again, I am immensely humbled and grateful for your insight and wisdom to help me stay the course. Thank you for investing your time to help a fellow member of the global sangha.
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