Taking Refuge

Craig

I don't know whether it's necessary or not, but has anyone here taken refuge formally?
if so, where can someone do it, and what does it entail?

thank you for your time!

Palzang

I guess it all depends on how you define "necessary", Craig. In the time of the Buddha, all you had to do to become ordained was take Refuge Vows. Now it's a little more complicated than that, of course (for reasons too numerous and boring to go into right now). Nowadays one takes Refuge Vows when one wants to declare oneself a Buddhist. Is that necessary? Well, the public ceremony may not be, but you really can't start on the Path of the Buddha without taking refuge in the Three Jewels at some profound level. What you're doing is NOT taking refuge in samsara anymore and instead taking refuge in the enlightened mind of the Buddha, the teachings that arose from that enlightened mind (the Dharma), and the community of practitioners who help maintain you on the Path (the Sangha). Without those three supports, you would have an extremely difficult time making any progress at all on the Path and in fact are much more likely to wander off and create your own religion, one based on delusion and ego-clinging, which won't have a good result.

The importance of publicly taking the Refuge Vows is that you are declaring openly that you are now committed to following the Path of Buddha, and you are declaring that in front of all the assembled Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. That is a very powerful event and if taken in the right spirit, one that will continue to give rise to the thirst for enlightenment in every subsequent rebirth. In other words, it will profoundly change your karma. So yeah, I'd say it's "necessary".

Palzang

Palzang

Oh, I forgot to answer the rest of your question.

It varies somewhat by tradition as to how you go about taking Refuge Vows. Technically you can take them from any ordained monk or nun, but in practice, at least in the Tibetan tradition with which I am most familiar, you take them from an authorized teacher. It's a pretty simple ceremony. Basically you just repeat the vows with the teacher, and after the third repetition, poof, you're a Buddhist! Sometimes they might take a little snip of hair, usually you get a Buddhist name, but that's about it. Best thing is to become affiliated with a center (well, you are in Oklahoma!) and take the vows there when they become available.

Palzang

Craig

ah thank you, palzang, that was very informative (which I like) and made me look at it in a whole new way! I'll have to look into this more.

thank you very much

not1not2

You also might want to check out this thread:
http://www.newbuddhist.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1503

Here's a post I made from that thread:

They go to many a refuge,
to mountains, forests,
parks, trees, and shrines:
people threatened with danger.
That's not the secure refuge,
that's not the highest refuge,
that's not the refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering and stress.

But when, having gone for refuge
to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,
you see with right discernment
the four Noble Truths —
stress,
the cause of stress,
the transcending of stress,
and the Noble Eightfold Path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
That's the secure refuge,
that, the highest refuge,
that is the refuge,
having gone to which,
you gain release
from all suffering and stress.
— Dhammapada, 188-192


Here's some links I found:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel282.html

http://buddhism.about.com/library/weekly/aa080102a.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Jewels

http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/refuge.html

From the first link:

Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts
by
Bhikkhu Bodhi

...

Going for Refuge

The Buddha's teaching can be thought of as a kind of building with its own distinct foundation, stories, stairs, and roof. Like any other building the teaching also has a door, and in order to enter it we have to enter through this door. The door of entrance to the teaching of the Buddha is the going for refuge to the Triple Gem — that is, to the Buddha as the fully enlightened teacher, to the Dhamma as the truth taught by him, and to the Sangha as the community of his noble disciples. From ancient times to the present the going for refuge has functioned as the entranceway to the dispensation of the Buddha, giving admission to the rest of the teaching from its lowermost story to its top. All those who embrace the Buddha's teaching do so by passing through the door of taking refuge, while those already committed regularly reaffirm their conviction by making the same threefold profession:

Buddham saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Buddha;

Dhammam saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Dhamma;

Sangham saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Sangha.

As slight and commonplace as this step might seem, especially in comparison with the lofty achievements lying beyond, its importance should never be underestimated, as it is this act which imparts direction and forward momentum to the entire practice of the Buddhist path. Since the going for refuge plays such a crucial role it is vital that the act be properly understood both in its own nature and in its implications for future development along the path. To open up the process of going for refuge to the eye of inner understanding, we here present an examination of the process in terms of its most significant aspects. These will be dealt with under the following eight headings: the reasons for taking refuge; the existence of a refuge; the identification of the refuge objects; the act of going for refuge; the function of going for refuge, methods of going for refuge; the corruption and breach of the going for refuge; and the similes for the refuges.

I. The Reasons for Taking Refuge

When it is said that the practice of the Buddha's teaching starts with taking refuge, this immediately raises an important question. The question is: "What need do we have for a refuge?" A refuge is a person, place, or thing giving protection from harm and danger. So when we begin a practice by going for refuge, this implies that the practice is intended to protect us from harm and danger. Our original question as to the need for a refuge can thus be translated into another question: "What is the harm and danger from which we need to be protected?" If we look at our lives in review we may not see ourselves exposed to any imminent personal danger. Our jobs may be steady, our health good, our families well-provided for, our resources adequate, and all this we may think gives us sufficient reason for considering ourselves secure. In such a case the going for refuge becomes entirely superfluous.

To understand the need for a refuge we must learn to see our position as it really is; that is, to see it accurately and against its total background. From the Buddhist perspective the human situation is similar to an iceberg: a small fraction of its mass appears above the surface, the vast substratum remains below, hidden out of view. Owing to the limits of our mental vision our insight fails to penetrate beneath the surface crust, to see our situation in its underlying depths. But there is no need to speak of what we cannot see; even what is immediately visible to us we rarely perceive with accuracy. The Buddha teaches that cognition is subservient to wish. In subtle ways concealed from ourselves our desires condition our perceptions, twisting them to fit into the mould they themselves want to impose. Thus our minds work by way of selection and exclusion. We take note of those things agreeable to our pre-conceptions; we blot out or distort those that threaten to throw them into disarray.

From the standpoint of a deeper, more comprehensive understanding the sense of security we ordinarily enjoy comes to view as a false security sustained by unawareness and the mind's capacity for subterfuge. Our position appears impregnable only because of the limitations and distortions of our outlook. The real way to safety, however, lies through correct insight, not through wishful thinking. To reach beyond fear and danger we must sharpen and widen our vision. We have to pierce through the deceptions that lull us into a comfortable complacency, to take a straight look down into the depths of our existence, without turning away uneasily or running after distractions. When we do so, it becomes increasingly clear that we move across a narrow footpath at the edge of a perilous abyss. In the words of the Buddha we are like a traveler passing through a thick forest bordered by a swamp and precipice; like a man swept away by a stream seeking safety by clutching at reeds; like a sailor crossing a turbulent ocean; or like a man pursued by venomous snakes and murderous enemies. The dangers to which we are exposed may not always be immediately evident to us. Very often they are subtle, camouflaged, difficult to detect. But though we may not see them straightaway the plain fact remains that they are there all the same. If we wish to get free from them we must first make the effort to recognize them for what they are. This, however, calls for courage and determination.

On the basis of the Buddha's teaching the dangers that make the quest for a refuge necessary can be grouped into three general classes: (1) the dangers pertaining to the present life; (2) those pertaining to future lives; and (3) those pertaining to the general course of existence. Each of these in turn involves two aspects: (A) and objective aspect which is a particular feature of the world; and (B) a subjective aspect which is a corresponding feature of our mental constitution.

...

There's a lot more to that article, but I figured that was a good intro

Hope this helps.

_/\_
metta

LatinaMermaid

I appreciated your reply Palzang. I do think I might want to take them formally sometimes.Is it called 'jukai' in all traditions?

Palzang

No, Jukai is a Japanese word. We call it "jukebox". Just kidding! Actually we just call them Refuge Vows.

Another interesting story: in the days before my teacher officially became "Buddhist", she wrote Refuge and Bodhicitta vows (tho she didn't use the word Bodhicitta - I think she called them Renunciate Vows) by herself. When H.H. Penor Rinpoche showed up, she showed him the vows (with some trepidation) and asked if it was OK to use them. His Holiness had them translated, and then began roaring with laughter, slapping his knees and really breaking up. My teacher, meanwhile, was wondering if this was a good thing or a bad thing! Maybe she had really screwed up. But he said, no, you can use these vows because they say the same thing as our traditional vows. So we still use the original vows she wrote rather than the more traditional vows. People seem to like them better because they're written specifically for Westerners.

Palzang

Brigid

But why did they make him laugh so hard?

Palzang

Brigid wrote:

But why did they make him laugh so hard?

He often finds a lot to laugh at with our strange habits and behavior. I guess he thought it hilarious to find perfect Refuge and Bodhisattva vows written by someone with no formal Buddhist training whatsoever (at least in this life).

Palzang

Simonthepilgrim

One of the reasons that I love spending time in monasteries and convents is that men and women in the monastic traditions, particularly the older ones, laugh so much of the time. My old friend, Sylvester Houedard, a monk of Prinknash, used to say that the vows were a form of satire on the world's values - and satire should be funny, He was quite right.

shambala

It will be in a singular moment when for some strange reason your mind is free from all prejudice, when you realize the essence of what Buddha said is true and it hits you like a rock -- when that moment comes, in your mind with all your heart say:

Buddham sharanam Gacchami
Dharmam sharanam Gacchami
Sangham sharanam Gacchami

don't let that moment pass you by for therein it is taken with your whole heart:


Get up!
Sit up!
What's your need for sleep?
And what sleep is there for the afflicted,
pierced by the arrow,
oppressed?

Get up!
Sit up!
Train firmly for the sake of peace,
Don't let the king of death,
— seeing you heedless —
deceive you,
bring you under his sway.

Cross over the attachment
to which human & heavenly beings,
remain desiring
tied.
Don't let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.

Heedless is
dust, dust
comes from heedlessness
has heedlessness
on its heels.
Through heedfulness & clear knowing
you'd remove
your own sorrow.

Utthana Sutta
Sn 2.10

Palzang

:thumbsup: I couldn't agree more, Simon

not1not2

It will be in a singular moment when for some strange reason your mind is free from all prejudice, when you realize the essence of what Buddha said is true and it hits you like a rock -- when that moment comes, in your mind with all your heart say:

Buddham sharanam Gacchami
Dharmam sharanam Gacchami
Sangham sharanam Gacchami

That is exactly how I felt when I decided to change my sig-line(s). It was a genuine and spontaneous moment, and I realized I actually was sincere about this buddhism thing. Things have been getting better with my practice ever since.

_/\_
metta

shambala

not1not2 wrote:

That is exactly how I felt when I decided to change my sig-line(s). It was a genuine and spontaneous moment, and I realized I actually was sincere about this buddhism thing. Things have been getting better with my practice ever since.

_/\_
metta

I think that moment is the moment Buddha "see's" you and you "see" the Buddha.:bowdown:
and so you literally take the Triple Gem in front of the Buddha, which is the most powerful. It is literally, "Let the universe take witness, I glimpse the truth".

It is said Buddha at the time of enlightenment, goes through every age and time and sees who has much dust in their eye and who has little.:eek2:

I guess it is a fanciful way of saying "you get a glimpse of your unbiased Buddha mind". And your "truth or Buddha Nature" becomes a witness to itself.