

   
   
              BPS Newsletter Cover Essay #21 (Spring 1992)
                                           
                                           
                          REFUGE IN THE BUDDHA
                                           
                            by Bhikkhu Bodhi
                                           
                                           
                                           
   The first step in entering the Buddhist path is going for refuge to 
   the Triple Gem, and the first of the three gems that we approach as 
   refuge is the Buddha, the Enlightened One. Because the act of going 
   for refuge to the Buddha marks the beginning of a new chapter in our 
   life, it is worth our while to repeatedly pause and reflect upon the 
   significance of this momentous step. Too often we are prone to take 
   our first steps for granted. Yet it is only if we review these steps 
   from time to time in a deepening awareness of their implications 
   that we can be sure the following steps we take will bring us closer 
   to our desired destination.
   
   The going for refuge to the Buddha is not a single action which 
   occurs only once and is then completed with absolute finality. It 
   is, or should be, a continually evolving process which matures in 
   tandem with our practice and understanding of the Dhamma. To go for 
   refuge does not imply that at the outset we already possess a clear 
   grasp of the dangers that make a refuge necessary or of the goal 
   towards which we aspire. Comprehension of these matters grows 
   gradually over time. But to the extent that we have actually gone 
   for refuge with sincere intent, we should make an earnest effort to 
   sharpen and deepen our understanding of the objects to which we have 
   turned as the basis for our deliverance.
   
   In going for refuge to the Buddha it is most essential at the outset 
   to clarify our conception of what a Buddha is and how he functions 
   as a refuge. If such clarification is lacking, our sense of refuge 
   can easily become tainted by erroneous views. We may ascribe to the 
   Buddha a status he never claimed for himself, as when we regard him 
   as the incarnation of a god, as the emanation of the Absolute, or as 
   a personal savior. On the other hand, we may detract from the 
   exalted status to which the Buddha is properly entitled, as when we 
   regard him simply as a benevolent sage, as an unusually astute 
   Asiatic philosopher, or as a genius of meditative technology.
   
   A correct view of the Buddha's nature would see him in terms of the 
   title he assigned to himself: as a Fully Self-Enlightened One 
   (//samma sambuddha//). He is self-enlightened because he has 
   awakened to the essential truths of existence entirely on his own, 
   without a teacher or guide. He is fully enlightened because he has 
   comprehended these truths completely, in all their ramifications and 
   implications. And as a Buddha he has not only fathomed these truths 
   himself, but has also taught them to the world so that others may 
   awaken from the long sleep of ignorance and attain the fruits of 
   liberation.
   
   Taking refuge in the Buddha is an act anchored in a particular 
   historical individual: the recluse Gotama, the scion of the Sakyan 
   clan, who lived and taught in the Ganges valley in the fifth century 
   B.C. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we rely upon this historical 
   individual and the body of instruction that stems from him. It is 
   important to stress this point in view of the fashionable notion 
   that taking refuge in the Buddha means that we take refuge in "the 
   Buddha-mind within ourselves" or in "the universal principle of 
   enlightenment." Such ideas, allowed to go unchecked, can lead to the 
   belief that anything we contrive in the flights of our imagination 
   can qualify as true Dhamma. To the contrary, the Buddhist tradition 
   insists that when we go for refuge to the Buddha, we place ourselves 
   under the guidance of one who is distinctly different from 
   ourselves, one who has scaled heights that we have barely begun to 
   glimpse.
   
   But when we rely upon the recluse Gotama as our refuge, we do not 
   apprehend him merely as a particular individual, a wise and sensible 
   sage. We apprehend him rather as a Buddha. It is his Buddhahood --  
   his possession of the full range of excellent qualities that come 
   with perfect enlightenment -- that makes the recluse Gotama a 
   refuge. In any cosmic epoch, a Buddha is that being who first breaks 
   through the dark mass of ignorance encompassing the world and 
   rediscovers the lost path to Nibbana, the cessation of suffering. He 
   is the pioneer, the trailblazer, who discovers the path and 
   proclaims the path so that others, by following his tracks, may 
   extinguish their ignorance, arrive at true wisdom, and break the 
   fetters that tie them to the round of repeated birth and death.
   
   For the refuge in the Buddha to be genuine, it must be accompanied 
   by a commitment to the Buddha as an incomparable teacher, as 
   unexcelled and unsurpassed. Strictly speaking, the historical Buddha 
   is not unique since there have been earlier Fully Enlightened Ones 
   who have arisen in past epochs and there will be others who will 
   arise in future epochs as well. But in any one world system it is 
   impossible for a second Buddha to arise while the teaching of 
   another Buddha is still extant, and thus in terms of human history 
   we are justified in regarding the Buddha as a unique teacher, 
   unequalled by any other spiritual teacher known to humanity. It is 
   this readiness to recognize the Buddha as "the unsurpassed trainer 
   of persons to be tamed, the teacher of gods and humans" that is the 
   hallmark of an authentic act of taking refuge in the Buddha.
   
   The Buddha serves as a refuge by teaching the Dhamma. The actual and 
   final refuge, embedded within the Dhamma as refuge, is Nibbana, "the 
   deathless element free from clinging, the sorrowless state that is 
   void of stain" (Itiv. 51). The Dhamma as refuge comprises the final 
   goal, the path that leads to that goal, and the body of teachings 
   that explain the practice of the path. The Buddha as refuge has no 
   capacity to grant us liberation by an act of will. He proclaims the 
   path to be traveled and the principles to be understood. The actual 
   work of walking the path is then left to us, his disciples.
   
   The proper response to the Buddha as refuge is trust and confidence. 
   Trust is required because the doctrine taught by the Buddha runs 
   counter to our innate understanding of ourselves and our natural 
   orientation towards the world. To accept this teaching thus tends to 
   arouse an inner resistance, even to provoke a rebellion against the 
   changes it requires us to make in the way we lead our lives. But 
   when we place trust in the Buddha we open ourselves to his guidance. 
   By going to him for refuge we show that we are prepared to recognize 
   that our inherent tendencies to self-affirmation and grasping are in 
   truth the cause of our suffering. And we are ready to accept his 
   counsel that to become free from suffering, these tendencies must be 
   controlled and eliminated.
   
   Confidence in the Buddha as our refuge is initially awakened when we 
   contemplate his sublime virtues and his excellent teaching. It grows 
   through our undertaking of the training. At first our confidence in 
   the Buddha may be hesitant, punctured by doubts and perplexity. But 
   as we apply ourselves to the practice of his path, we find that our 
   defilements gradually lessen, that wholesome qualities increase, and 
   with this comes a growing sense of freedom, peace and joy. This 
   experience confirms our initial trust, disposing us to advance a few 
   steps further. When at last we see the truth of the Dhamma for 
   ourselves, the refuge in the Buddha becomes inviolable. Confidence 
   then becomes conviction, the conviction that the Blessed One is "the 
   speaker, the proclaimer, the bringer of the good, the giver of the 
   Deathless, the lord of the Dhamma, the Tathagata."
   
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