Refuge: Its Meaning, Causes, and Objects

The following is a guided meditation from the Buddhist tradition. Of course, the understanding of taking refuge in a Higher Power is not unique to Buddhism. Christians, for example, take refuge in God the Father and Jesus Christ. As death approaches, taking refuge in an Other Power becomes a paramount consideration.

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The Blessed One has made the Dharma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. Venerable sir, I go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dharma and to the Sangha of monastics. Let the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge for life. (Upali Sutta, Majjima Nikaya)

1. Refuge means to entrust our spiritual guidance to the Three Jewels: the Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

• Taking refuge opens our heart so that they can teach us and guide us along the path to freedom.

• Contemplate the effect that taking refuge in the Three Jewels could have on your life and lives.

2. To deepen your refuge, cultivate its causes:

• Considering what your future would be like if you continued to live on “automatic,” be aware of the possibility of experiencing suffering in the future.

• Thinking about the qualities of the Three Jewels and how they can steer you away from potential suffering and its causes, develop confidence in their ability to guide you.

• Remembering that others are in the same situation as you, let your compassion for them arise so that you seek a means to progress spiritually for their sake as well as your own.

3. To enrich your faith and confidence in the Three Jewels as objects of refuge, develop a general idea of their qualities:

• The Buddhas are those who have eliminated all defilements and developed all good qualities completely.

• The Dharma is the cessations of all unsatisfactory conditions and their causes, and the paths leading to those cessations.

• The Sangha are those who have direct perception of reality.

Conclusion: With a sense of caution regarding suffering and with confidence in the ability of the Three Jewels, from your heart turn to the Three Jewels for guidance.

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Refuge: An Analogy and the Qualities of the Three Jewels

Bound himself in the jail of cyclic existence,

What worldly god can give you protection?

Therefore when you seek refuge,

Take refuge in The Three Jewels which will not betray you—

This is the practice of bodhisattvas.

(Gyelsay Togmay Sangpo, The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas)

1. Contemplate the analogy of a sick person seeking a cure to his illness. Beings trapped in cyclic existence are like sick people.

• We turn to the Buddha, who is like a doctor, to diagnose our illness and prescribe a cure.

• The Dharma is the medicine we must take. 

• The Sangha are the nurses who help us take it.

In this way, we can be liberated from misery.

2. To enhance your faith and confidence, consider why the Buddhas are suitable guides on the path:

• They are free from the extremes of cyclic existence and self-complacent peace.

• They have skillful and effective means to free others from all fear.

• They have equal compassion for all, regardless of whether we have faith in them or not.

• They fulfill the aims of all beings whether or not those beings have helped them.

Conclusion: From your heart, make a determination to follow these reliable guides and to put into practice their guidance.

Having entrusted our spiritual guidance to the Three Jewels, we want to follow their counsel. The first advice they give us is to stop harming others and ourselves. We do this by observing actions (karma) and their effects.

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Source: Chodron, Thubten. Guided Buddhist Meditations (pp. 85-86). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.

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