The Three Refuges are considered to be the foundation of Buddhist spiritual practice.
The Three Refuges are:
I take refuge in the Buddha.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
I take refuge in the Sangha.
The Three Refuges are open-ended in the degree to which they can be understood. This means that there is no end to the wisdom that can be acquired by practicing the Refuges diligently.
Our title, The Three Refuges (Reloaded) is a takeoff on one of the Matrix movies: The Matrix Reloaded. In the Matrix movies, the Matrix is a virtual reality created by an artificial intelligence that wants to use human beings as a power source for the system.
The matrix to which I am referring is not a sinister plot to control anyone, it is the matrix of time and space in which we all live. The truth of the Three Refuges is beyond time and space – it is absolute.
In this blog we will learn how to bring this absolute reality into the relative reality of time and space, the matrix in which we all live. Knowing this, we then can make the Three Refuges very immediate and practical. The practice can be engaged anytime and all of the time in our daily life.
A refuge is what we consider to be our home. When we affirm: I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha, we are declaring that these Three Refuges become the foundation of who we take ourselves to be, how we live our life, and how we relate to other human beings.
The true Buddha is what you truly are. The Buddha is pure Being, existing beyond time and space. The Buddha is the true nature of yourself and of all sentient beings. Taking refuge in the Buddha means that we hold the intention to continuously return our awareness to this reality. Whenever we become lost in the stories created by our human mind, as soon as we wake up, we return to the awareness that, “I am the Buddha.” In our sitting practice we sit as the Buddha. In our daily life we live as the Buddha.
When we notice something within us or outside of us that appears to be unlike the Buddha, we simply meet it with Buddha nature. To meet it with Buddha nature is to see it as it is, rather than as our human mind tells us that it is. We strive to meet all things with clear awareness, without judgment and with compassion.
It’s very important to remember that we are not practicing to “become the Buddha.” With this practice we assume that we already are the Buddha. This does not mean holding a mental image of what we believe the historic Buddha would say or do. This is not a “What Would the Buddha Do?” practice. Siddhartha Gautama was a human being who live 2500 years ago. Siddhartha realized his Buddha nature, but the true Buddha is not a human being.
This practice is that of holding an intention, rather than trying to “do it perfectly”; we simply return to the intention--without judgment--every time we get lost.
Time is the matrix of our human experience. To take refuge in the Dharma is to bring the Buddha nature into the matrix of time. We create an intention to experience each moment living the Dharma.
Traditionally, the Dharma refers to the teachings and the practices taught by the historic Buddha. In this context, practicing the Dharma means understanding and applying the Buddha’s teachings.
In the context of this practice, to practice the Dharma is to use each moment as an experience to learn to awaken to the Buddha nature. When we meet each experience as the Buddha then every moment reveals the Dharma. When I meet each experience with clear awareness and openhearted equanimity then every experience is my teacher.
Once again, the practice is one of holding an intention, rather than trying to “do it perfectly”. Every time we get lost, then without judgment, we simply return to the intention.
To practice taking refuge in the Sangha is to express the Buddha nature as it enters the matrix of space. Space is the matrix of relationship. It is in space that we perceive others – other people and other objects. Taking refuge in the Sangha means that we meet all beings in our life as the Buddha.
The way that we relate to others is deeply impacted by our conditioning. Virtually everyone wants to love and be loved, but what this means to us as individuals is significantly affected by our conditioning. We may have been taught that people will hurt us, or that people are untrustworthy, or that people will take advantage of us. Our relationships are mirrors of our psyche. To the extent that we are entrenched in craving and aversion, relationships will be satisfying or problematic.
The practice of taking refuge in the Sangha means to meet every being with the Buddha nature – with unconditional love and acceptance. It means to meet each being with a clear mind and an open heart. To do this requires us to practice the Dharma to dissolve craving and aversion.
To meet everyone with unconditional love does not mean naïvely allowing ourself to be used or taken advantage of by others. Unconditional love includes appropriate discernment. We can love all beings without taking them home with us!
A closing statement – one that you may want to repeat every day:
I Take Refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha
I practice as the Buddha
I meet each experience as the Buddha
Taking refuge in the Buddha is the path to awakening
As I meet every moment as the Buddha
Then each experience reveals the Dharma
Taking refuge in the Dharma is the path to wisdom
As I meet every being as the Buddha
Then all beings are my Sangha
Taking refuge in the Sangha is the path to love
Taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha,
I reload the matrix of time & space
Taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha
I manifest the Buddha Nature in my world