Refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha
from:
Beyond All Directions
Essays on the Buddhist Path
by
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
d
2013-2016
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If you'd had the opportunity to approach the Buddha and ask to be his student, he would have expected a few things of you: to be honest and observant, to show him respect, to pay him careful attention, and to try your best to master the skills he taught. When you met these conditions, he in turn would have felt some obligations to you: to give you thorough instructions, to test you to make sure you understood the instructions, and — most interestingly — to provide what he called, "protection in all directions."
The idea that teachers should offer protection to their students was apparently common in ancient India. This is one of the reasons why people would seek out teachers. It also explains why many people, on becoming convinced that the Buddha was the teacher they wanted, would take refuge in him, in his Dhamma (his teachings), and in his Saṅgha of monks. They wanted the protection offered by him, his teachings, and those who also lived by those teachings.
The type of protection offered by different teachers in ancient India would depend on the skills they taught and the dangers from which they felt those skills would offer protection. This was not simply a cultural oddity from the Buddha's time. Researchers have found that people are most likely to master skills when they have a keen sense of the dangers that come from
not mastering those skills, and of the safety that comes when the skills are thoroughly mastered.
In the Buddha's case, the skill he taught led to the safety of nibbāna, free from the dangers of aging, illness, and death. In fact, although we think of nibbāna as
the name for the final goal of his teachings, it was only one of many names he gave to that goal. Some of those names —
shelter, island, harbor, security, and
refuge itself — make the point that his teaching is aimed at safety. Others —
the ageless, the undecaying, the beyond, the deathless, the ultimate — indicate that this safety is of an extraordinary sort: the ultimate protection from any and all dangers, the ultimate refuge to which anyone might go. Once you've reached this refuge, the Buddha has more than fulfilled his responsibility to protect you in all directions, for he's pointed you to a refuge that goes beyond all directions, a protection transcending the confines of space and time.
However, the Buddha also saw two types of dangers within space and time that can stand in the way of your achieving this refuge: outside dangers and inside ones. The world around you is a dangerous place; and your mind, a dangerous mind. Outside dangers come in the form of other people's examples and teachings that might discourage you from making the effort to follow the path to nibbāna. Inside dangers come from your own greed, aversion, and delusion, which can totally block any desire to follow the path.
In fact, these inside dangers are what leave you susceptible to unskillful outside influences to begin with. If you were innately trustworthy and good, bad outside influences would have no power over you. But, as the Buddha pointed out, the mind is capable of anything. And although he was a master of finding apt analogies, he had to admit that he could find none to adequately describe how quickly the mind can reverse itself. Love can turn to hate, good qualities to vicious ones, and even "the flash of an eye" is slow by comparison. Only when trained can the mind become its own refuge, and only when gaining a sense of heedfulness — the realization that its actions can cause harm, but that the harm can be avoided through careful effort — will it willingly undergo training. Only when it sees the dangers it's capable of producing will it look for external refuges under which to train.
This is why, in his capacity as a responsible teacher, the Buddha recommended that his students — after gaining a sense of heedfulness — take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha as a first step in overcoming both the outside and inside dangers that stand in the way of the ultimate refuge of nibbāna.
When, having gone to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Saṅgha for refuge, you see with right discernment the four noble truths — stress, the cause of stress, the transcending of stress, & the noble eightfold path, the way to the stilling of stress: that’s the secure refuge, that, the supreme refuge, that is the refuge, having gone to which, you gain release from all suffering & stress.
—
Dhp 190–192
To offer protection against outside dangers to that supreme refuge, the Buddha offered himself as what he called an "admirable friend." Through the example of his life and the content of his teachings, he made it possible for others to realize that nibbāna is an attainable and desirable goal. In a famous exchange, when his disciple Ānanda thought it was generous to say that having admirable friends is half of the holy life, the Buddha replied No: It's the whole. Of course, given the nature of the path to nibbāna, the Buddha couldn't tread the path for his students. He wasn't a sufficient cause for their awakening, but he was a necessary one. Only by having his example and his teachings would his students possess a reliable touchstone against which they might measure other examples and teachings as to what human beings can and should attain. Without that touchstone, they could easily fall prey to teachings that would lower their sights — and to their own internal qualities that would be happy to keep their sights low. Having that touchstone would allow them to expand their horizons and raise their aspirations to a higher level.
Because he wouldn't live forever, the Buddha also trained his students so that they could be admirable friends for succeeding generations. This is why the Saṅgha — in both its traditional forms,
monastic and
noble — is counted as one of the three refuges. The monastic Saṅgha has kept the teachings alive; and the noble Saṅgha — the Saṅgha of the Buddha's awakened disciples, both lay and ordained — have kept his example alive to the present day. (The modern sense of
Saṅgha, as any group that meditates, cannot provide these sorts of refuge, which is why a wise policy would be to revive the traditional name for such a group —
parisā — to avoid confusion.) It's because of both types of Saṅgha that admirable friends on the path are still with us.
As for the Dhamma, it offers external protection in making clear what should and shouldn't be done if you want to follow the path to nibbāna. The basic operating principle of the Dhamma is that your actions — thoughts, words, and deeds — make a difference, and that the difference can range from long-term suffering through long-term happiness, and on to the happiness of nibbāna, which, because it's beyond space and time, is beyond long-term.
This is why the teachings on action, or karma, are so central to the Buddha's message. Contrary to popular belief, the Buddha did not teach fatalism. In fact, he was extremely critical of fatalism — the belief that your experiences are already determined from causes in the past — because fatalism denies that your present actions can make a difference. In one of his discourses, he notes that fatalism leaves you without protection, for it allows no foundation for even the idea of what should and shouldn't be done. If everything is predetermined, there's no way of saying that one action is good and another bad. Everything is just the way it has to be.
The Buddha's teaching on karma, however, focuses on the fact that while your experiences are influenced to some extent by actions from the past, the way you experience those influences depends on what you do with them in the present. In fact, without the karma of your present actions, you wouldn't experience anything at all.
So the Buddha's teaching on karma is one of the ways in which the Dhamma offers external protection: It emphasizes the importance of your present actions — providing for the possibility of "should be done" and "shouldn't be done" — at the same time offering clear guidelines for figuring out, in any situation, where the shoulds and shouldn'ts lie. This is one of the ways in which the Buddha's Dhamma offers external protection in all directions. It gives you tools to discern, regardless of time or place, which actions always lead to long-term suffering, which ones always lead to long-term happiness, and then lets you decide for yourself which path you want to follow.
In choosing to follow the Buddha's path to happiness — both long-term and beyond long-term — which you've learned from the external level, you begin to take refuge on the internal level. In other words, you internalize the examples provided by the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, developing them in your own thoughts, words, and deeds. This is a form of refuge in that you protect yourself from the dangers that would come from following unskillful actions and habits of mind.
Internalizing the refuge of the Buddha means developing the three main qualities he embodied: discernment, compassion, and purity. To do this, you look to the Dhamma for advice on how to foster these qualities within yourself. Discernment, it says, comes from trying to find an answer to the question, "What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?" Compassion comes from realizing that other beings love themselves as much as you love yourself, and so your happiness should never depend on causing them harm. Otherwise, it won't last. Purity comes from examining the actual results of each action — before, during, and after the action — to see if it will cause, is causing, or has caused anyone any affliction. If it
will cause affliction, you don't do it. If it
is causing affliction, you stop. If it
has caused affliction, you talk it over with a reliable friend and then resolve never to repeat that mistake. If it didn't cause any affliction, you take joy in being harmless and continue with your training in skillful actions.
The beauty of these basic instructions for cultivating discernment, compassion, and purity is that they harness our desire for genuine happiness. From the Buddha's point of view, the pursuit of happiness doesn't have to be narrow or selfish. When conducted intelligently, it can lead to noble, expansive qualities of mind. At the same time, these instructions show that the virtues of the Buddha grow within you, not by denying your desire for happiness, but by training it to be truly effective. Although this training requires doing battle with the greed, aversion, and delusion within you, it doesn't require that you deny what, deep down inside, you really want: a happiness you can trust. This is what helps to make your inner refuge secure.
Internalizing the refuge of the Saṅgha means developing these same three qualities of discernment, compassion, and purity, for these are the qualities that the noble Saṅgha have developed as they themselves have internalized the refuge of the Buddha. The noble Saṅgha also provide the added dimension of showing the advantages of practicing the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma as the Buddha taught it, and not in line with their own preconceived notions. In other words, instead of revising the Dhamma to fit in with their preferences, they put their preferences aside and adjust themselves to fit with the Dhamma. When you follow this example, you gain an internal refuge of reliable conduct.
You're also internalizing the refuge of the Dhamma. All the good qualities taught by the Dhamma, when you develop them in your thoughts, words, and deeds, provide protection on the internal level. But most interesting in this regard are the teachings that the Buddha specifically cited as offering protection. In one discourse (
AN 7:63), he compares the qualities of mind developed in the practice to the requisites of a well-defended frontier fortress. In another (
AN 10:17), he lists ten external habits and inner qualities, calling each of them a "protector." In yet another (
Sn 2:4), he answers a question about protective charms by citing 38 habits and qualities — from avoiding fools to attaining nibbāna — as genuinely effective protective charms.
These three discourses, which follow this article, describe in detail the principles to internalize to give yourself protection. But as an overview, it's important to note that protection touches on all aspects of your thoughts, words, and deeds — the way you engage with other people, the way you look after your livelihood, and the qualities you develop within yourself in dealing with your own mind. You avoid causing harm while, at the same time, mastering skills that allow you to be truly helpful to others and to look after yourself with ease. As you do this, you — through your thoughts, words, and deeds —
become Dhamma. Taking refuge in the Dhamma on the internal level allows you to begin to rely on yourself.
Your own self is your own mainstay, for who else could your mainstay be? With you yourself well-trained you obtain the mainstay hard to obtain.
—
Dhp 160
Only when you've thoroughly trained yourself to practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma can you reliably act as your own refuge. Your mind becomes less quick to reverse itself, and less inclined to cause harm. This is why, in the Buddha's injunction to be your own refuge, he equates it with taking the Dhamma as refuge, defining both in internal terms: the practice of the four types of right mindfulness, which in turn function as the themes of right concentration, the culminating factor of the path.
"And how does a monk live with himself as his island, himself as his refuge, with no other as his refuge; with the Dhamma as his island, the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other as his refuge? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself — ardent, alert, & mindful — subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. … For those who, now or when I am gone, live with themselves as their island, themselves as their refuge, with no other as their refuge; with the Dhamma as their island, the Dhamma as their refuge, not with another as their refuge, will be my foremost monks: those who are desirous of training."
—
DN 16
Once the path is completely internalized and developed, it opens to the ultimate refuge of the deathless. The path doesn't
cause the deathless — if the deathless were caused, it wouldn't be deathless, for it would die when its causes ran out — but the practice of the path leads to the deathless, in the same way that a road leading to the Grand Canyon doesn't cause the Grand Canyon to be, but following it can take you there. That's why the path is called the path: It takes you to where you want to go.
So, all in all, the act of going for refuge occurs on three levels: external, internal, and — beyond external and internal — the level of nibbāna. These three levels can be summarized in two different ways: in terms of what they protect you from, and in terms of what they depend on to protect you.
In terms of what they protect you from: The first level protects you from the unskillful actions of others; the second level, from your own unskillful actions; and the third level, from the results of all actions, skillful and not. After all, even skillful actions don't last forever. They can provide long-term happiness, but long-term isn't forever. Only when you've reached the dimension beyond time are you totally free from the vagaries of time. Only then is your happiness totally secure.
In terms of what the three levels depend on: In the first level, you learn to choose others you can reliably depend on. In the second level, you learn to make yourself reliable so you can depend on yourself. In the third level you abandon both "self" and "others, " for you've found something that, because it's unconditioned, doesn't need to depend on anyone or anything at all.
Once your happiness is secure in this way, you can engage in the world without being exposed to its dangers — for your mind is free from the dangers it used to pose for itself. And you pose no dangers to the world. Because you don't need others for your happiness, your relationships with them can be pure.
In fact, now that you are a member of the noble Saṅgha, you can offer them an external refuge as well, in the example of your thoughts, words, and deeds.
In this way, the act of going for refuge is a gift not only to yourself. It's a gift — an offering of safety and protection — that extends to everyone in every direction.
Readings
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has a foundation post — deeply rooted, well embedded, immovable, & unshakable — for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way a disciple of the noble ones has conviction, is convinced of the Tathāgata's [Buddha's] Awakening: 'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy and rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge &conduct, well-gone, a knower of the cosmos, an unexcelled trainer of those persons ready to be tamed, teacher of human & divine beings, awakened, blessed.' With conviction as his foundation post, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has a moat, both deep & wide, for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way, the disciple of the noble ones has a sense of shame. He feels shame at [the thought of engaging in] bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct. He feels shame at falling into evil, unskillful actions. With shame as his moat, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has an encircling road, both high & wide, for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way, the disciple of the noble ones has compunction. He feels compunction about [the suffering that would result from] bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct. He feels compunction about falling into evil, unskillful actions. With compunction as his encircling road, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has many weapons stored, both arrows &things to be hurled, for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way, the disciple of the noble ones has heard much, has retained what he has heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that — in their meaning & expression — proclaim the holy life that is entirely complete & pure: those he has listened to often, retained, discussed, accumulated, examined with his mind, and well-penetrated in terms of his views. With learning as his weapons, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has a large army stationed within — elephant soldiers, cavalry, charioteers, bowmen, standard-bearers, billeting officers, soldiers of the supply corps, noted princes, commando heroes, infantry, & slaves — for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way a disciple of the noble ones keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities and taking on skillful mental qualities, is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities. With persistence as his army, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has a gatekeeper — wise, experienced, intelligent — to keep out those he doesn't know and to let in those he does, for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way a disciple of the noble ones is mindful, endowed with excellent proficiency in mindfulness, remembering & able to call to mind even things that were done &said long ago. With mindfulness as his gatekeeper, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"Just as the royal frontier fortress has ramparts — high & thick &completely covered with plaster — for the protection of those within and toward off those without; in the same way a disciple of the noble ones is discerning, endowed with discernment of arising & passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress. With discernment as his covering of plaster, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity. …
"These are the seven true qualities with which he is endowed.
"And which are the four jhānas — heightened mental states that provide a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now — that he can obtain at will, without difficulty, without trouble?
"Just as a royal frontier fortress has large stores of grass, timber, & water for the delight, convenience, & comfort of those within, and to ward off those without; in the same way the disciple of the noble ones, quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters & remains in the first jhāna — rapture & pleasure born of seclusion, accompanied by directed thought &evaluation — for his own delight, convenience, & comfort, and to alight on Unbinding.
"Just as a royal frontier fortress has large stores of rice & barley for the delight, convenience, & comfort of those within, and to ward off those without; in the same way the disciple of the noble ones, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, enters & remains in the second jhāna — rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance — for his own delight, convenience, & comfort, and to alight on Unbinding.
"Just as a royal frontier fortress has large stores of sesame, green gram, &other beans for the delight, convenience, & comfort of those within, and toward off those without; in the same way the disciple of the noble ones, with the fading of rapture, remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhāna — of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding' — for his own delight, convenience, & comfort, and to alight on Unbinding.
"Just as a royal frontier fortress has large stores of tonics — ghee, fresh butter, oil, honey, molasses, & salt — for the delight, convenience, & comfort of those within, and to ward off those without; in the same way the disciple of the noble ones, with the abandoning of pleasure & pain, as with the earlier disappearance of joy & distress, enters & remains in the fourth jhāna — purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain — for his own delight, convenience, & comfort, and to alight on Unbinding.
"These are the four jhānas — heightened mental states that provide a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now — that he can obtain at will, without difficulty, without trouble.
"When a disciple of the noble ones is endowed with these seven true qualities and can obtain at will — without difficulty, without trouble — these four jhānas, heightened mental states that provide a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now, he is said to be a disciple of the noble ones who can't be undone by Mara, can't be undone by the Evil One."
—
AN 7:63
"Live with a protector, monks, and not without a protector. He suffers, one who lives without a protector. And these ten are qualities creating a protector. Which ten?
"There is the case where a monk is virtuous. He dwells restrained in accordance with the Pāṭimokkha [the basic code of monastic rules], consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He trains himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults. And the fact that he is virtuous… seeing danger in the slightest faults, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk has heard much, has retained what he has heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that — in their meaning and expression — proclaim the holy life that is entirely complete and pure: those he has listened to often, retained, discussed, accumulated, examined with his mind, & well-penetrated in terms of his views. And the fact that he has heard much… well-penetrated in terms of his views, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk has admirable friends, admirable comrades, admirable companions. And the fact that he has admirable friends, admirable comrades, admirable companions is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is easy to speak to, endowed with qualities that make him easy to speak to, patient, respectful to instruction. And the fact that he is easy to speak to … respectful to instruction, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is adept at the various affairs involving his fellows in the holy life; is vigorous, quick-witted in the techniques involved in them, is up to doing them or arranging to get them done. And the fact that he is adept at… doing them or arranging to get them done is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is one who desires the Dhamma, endearing in his conversation, greatly rejoicing in the higher Dhamma & higher Discipline. And the fact that he is one who desires the Dhamma, endearing in his conversation, greatly rejoicing in the higher Dhamma & higher Discipline, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful qualities and for taking on skillful qualities. He is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful qualities. And the fact that he keeps his persistence aroused… not shirking his duties with regard to skillful qualities, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is content with any old robe cloth at all, any old alms food, any old lodging, any old medicinal requisites for curing sickness at all. And the fact that he is content with any old robe cloth at all, any old alms food, any old lodging, any old medicinal requisites for curing sickness at all, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is mindful, endowed with excellent proficiency in mindfulness, remembering & recollecting what was done and said a long time ago. And the fact that he is mindful, endowed with excellent proficiency in mindfulness, remembering & recollecting what was done and said a long time ago, is a quality creating a protector.
"Then again, the monk is discerning, endowed with discernment of arising& passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress. And the fact that the monk is discerning, endowed with discernment of arising &passing away — noble, penetrating, leading to the right ending of stress, is a quality creating a protector.
"Live with a protector, monks, and not without a protector. He suffers, one who lives without a protector. These are the ten qualities creating a protector."
—
AN 10:17
"Not consorting with fools, consorting with the wise, homage to those deserving of homage: This is the highest protective charm. Living in a civilized land, having made merit in the past, directing oneself rightly: This is the highest protective charm. Broad knowledge, skill, well-mastered discipline, well-spoken words: This is the highest protective charm. Support for one's parents, assistance to one's wife and children, consistency in one's work: This is the highest protective charm. Generosity, living in rectitude, assistance to one's relatives, deeds that are blameless: This is the highest protective charm. Avoiding, abstaining from evil; refraining from intoxicants, being heedful of the qualities of the mind: This is the highest protective charm. Respect, humility, contentment, gratitude, hearing the Dhamma on timely occasions: This is the highest protective charm. Patience, composure, seeing contemplatives, is cussing the Dhamma on timely occasions: This is the highest protective charm. Austerity, celibacy, seeing the noble truths, realizing Unbinding: This is the highest protective charm. A mind that, when touched by the ways of the world, is unshaken, sorrow less, dustless, secure: This is the highest protective charm. Everywhere undefeated when acting in this way, people go everywhere in well-being: This is their highest protective charm."
—
Sn 2:4
