With The Teachings and Yourselves as Your Refuge

But have I not already declared, Ānanda, that we must be parted, separated, and severed from all who are dear and agreeable to us?

How, Ānanda, is it to be obtained here: May what is born, come to be, conditioned, and subject to disintegration not disintegrate? That is impossible.

It is just as if the largest branch would break off a great tree standing possessed of heartwood: so too, Ānanda, in the great Monk Community standing possessed of heartwood, Sāriputta has attained Final Nibbāna (Final Enlightenment).

How, Ānanda, is it to be obtained here: May what is born, come to be, conditioned, and subject to disintegration not disintegrate? That is impossible.

Therefore, Ānanda, reside with yourselves as your own island, with yourselves as your own refuge, with no other refuge; reside with The Teachings as your island, with The Teachings as your refuge, with no other refuge.

And how, Ānanda, does a Monk reside with himself as his own island, with himself as his own refuge, with no other refuge; with The Teachings as his island, with The Teachings as his refuge, with no other refuge?

Here, Ānanda, a Monk resides reflecting on the body as body, dedicated, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed craving and displeasure in regard to the world. He resides reflecting on feelings as feelings ... mind as mind … mental objects as mental objects, dedicated, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed craving and displeasure in regard to the world.

Those Monks, Ānanda, either now or after I am gone, who reside with themselves as their own island, with themselves as their own refuge, with no other refuge; who reside with The Teachings as their island, with The Teachings as their refuge, with no other refuge, it is these Monks; Ānanda, who will be for me topmost of those determined on the training.

(Reference: SN 47.13)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how all conditioned objects are impermanent. This means that there is nothing that we can maintain permanently in this material world, therefore, why hold on to it allowing it to cause the mind discontentedness due to craving/desire/attachment?

He advises one of his closest Students Ānanda to reside with The Teachings as his refuge or protection.

Refuge: Shelter or protection from danger or distress. A place that provides shelter or protection. Something to which one can receive help in difficulty.

The Teachings of The Buddha are what will protect the mind from all discontentedness. Through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to experience the results of attaining Enlightenment, a Practitioners mind is fully protected and will never experience discontentedness ever again.

When one learns and practices these Teachings with guidance from Teachers, the mind can reside permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy. The mind is unshakable because on this path you will know the “truth” and have deep wisdom. The mind will be unshakable meaning nothing and no one can ever cause the mind to be angry, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, or have even the slightest stress or discontentedness.

The mind will be protected from these and all other discontent feelings like boredom, loneliness, guilt, shame, fear, shyness, jealousy, resentment, anxiety, etc. Absolutely nothing will ever negatively affect the mind once it is experiencing Enlightenment. The Enlightened mind is fully protected.

The Buddha’s Teachings are oftentimes misunderstood and then due to those misperceptions, Practitioners create hindrances for themselves to attain Enlightenment. The following sentence is sometimes misunderstood to imply that The Buddha is sharing that one does not need anyone to attain Enlightenment and that they do not need a Teacher or a Community of Practitioners to seek guidance but instead, they can attain Enlightenment on their own.

“Therefore, Ānanda, reside with yourselves as your own island, with yourselves as your own refuge, with no other refuge; reside with The Teachings as your island, with The Teachings as your refuge, with no other refuge”.

This Teaching is guiding Students to focus on learning, reflecting, and practicing The Teachings, not advising that one does not need a Teacher to attain Enlightenment. If Practitioners did not need a Teacher to attain Enlightenment, why would The Buddha have taught for forty-five (45) years sharing these Teachings? Why not just awaken to Enlightenment and say, “Ok, I did it on my own; now you can too, good luck”?

The Buddha did not say that when he awoke to Enlightenment. Instead, he dedicated forty-five (45) years, the remaining time of his life, to sharing these Teachings with countless Students. Since the death of The Buddha, his Teachings have reached countless people providing wisdom to help guide their life.

To attain Enlightenment, a Practitioner will need guidance from Teachers but one should always keep in mind that this is an independent journey. You will need to actively work towards the attainment of Enlightenment through your own determination, dedication, and diligence to learn, reflect, and practice. Without the guidance of a Teacher, a Practitioner would have no ability to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings to experience progress on The Path to Enlightenment.

There is only one type of individual that can attain Enlightenment on their own without the guidance of a Teacher. That is a Buddha.

In order to progress on The Path to Enlightenment, a Practitioner will need a Teacher to receive guidance. One would not be able to only read a book and attain the results of an Enlightened mind.

Nothing in Gotama Buddha's Teachings is based on belief. All his Teachings can be learned and practiced to independently observe the truth as the mind "gradually" acquires wisdom through independent verification of his Teachings through practice of his Teachings. It is a real struggle to exist in a world that the unEnlightened mind does not understand.

This new found wisdom gradually improves the way the mind functions in the world through eliminating discontentedness of mind. The mind can completely eliminate all discontent feelings such as sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc. on The Path to Enlightenment.

Through actively learning and practicing Gotama Buddha's Teachings with guidance, the mind becomes Enlightened in that you can observe the improvement in the condition of the mind as you eliminate all discontent feelings where the mind can reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently. You are not believing The Teachings wishing for a positive outcome at some point in the future or after death. Instead, you are observing the improvements to the condition of the mind right now - in the present moment.

Only a Buddha would be able to attain Enlightenment on their own without Teachers. These are some of the criteria that make a Buddha a Buddha is that they discover The Teachings on their own attaining Enlightenment without help from a Teacher, share their independently discovered Teachings to guide countless others to Enlightenment during the remaining time of their life, and they leave their Teachings in a condition that they guide countless others to Enlightenment after their death.

The last Buddha currently known to the world existed over 2,500 years ago.

That means you and everyone else will need Teachers on this Path to Enlightenment. A Buddha has already done the hard work of figuring out how to attain Enlightenment. You just need to learn and practice his Teachings to improve the condition of the mind and your life.

Lastly, The Buddha provides guidance directing Students to learn, reflect, and practice The Four Foundations of Mindfulness when he shares “Here, Ānanda, a Monk resides reflecting on the body as body, dedicated, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed craving and displeasure in regard to the world. He resides reflecting on feelings as feelings ... mind as mind … mental objects as mental objects, dedicated, clearly comprehending, mindful, having removed craving and displeasure in regard to the world”.

The Buddha considered those who resided with The Teachings are their refuge to “be for me topmost of those determined on the training”. Students who are residing in The Teachings are, for The Buddha, those who are actively progressing towards Enlightenment and the ideal Practitioners who may actually attain Enlightenment.

Attaining Enlightenment is the best thing you could ever do for your life, those close to you, and all of humanity. Through eliminating the harm you are causing in the world through your intentions, speech, and actions, not only is the condition of the mind and your life going to improve but, you are also improving the world.