A Helpful Person

That is so, Ānanda, that is so! When one person, owing to another, has gone for refuge to The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community, I say that it is not easy for the former to repay the latter by paying homage (respect) to him, rising up for him, according him respectful salutation and polite services, and by providing robes, almsfood, resting places, and medicinal supplies.

When one person, owing to another, has come to abstain from killing living beings, from taking what is not given, from misconduct in sensual pleasures, from false speech, and from liquor, wine, and intoxicants (substances that cause heedlessness), which are the basis of heedlessness I say that it is not easy for the former to repay the latter by paying homage (respect) to him, rising up for him, according him respectful salutation and polite services, and by providing robes, almsfood, resting places, and medicinal supplies.

When one person, owing to another, has come to possess unwavering confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community, and to possess the virtues praised by Noble Ones, I say that it is not easy for the former to repay the latter by paying homage (respect) to him, rising up for him, according him respectful salutation and polite services, and by providing robes, almsfood, resting places, and medicinal supplies.

When one person, owing to another, has become free from doubt about discontentedness, about the cause of discontentedness, about the elimination of discontentedness, and about the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness, I say that it is not easy for the former to repay the latter by paying homage (respect) to him, rising up for him, according him respectful salutation and polite services, and by providing robes, almsfood, resting places, and medicinal supplies.

(Reference: MN 142)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares a progression of how one can develop their life practice.

1.) Decide to go to The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community for refuge, is to seek protection of the mind through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to train the mind.

2.) Practice The Five Precepts to improve one’s moral conduct significantly reducing unwholesome decisions, therefore, significantly reducing the unwholesome results one experiences in life.

3.) As one observes the improvements to the condition of the mind and their life through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings, a Practitioner can gain confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community.

4.) As one observes the accumulated improvements to the condition of one’s mind and life, this can help to eliminate the fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as “doubt” which leads to the elimination of discontentedness.

Doubt (Elimination of doubts about The Teachings and the ability of them to attain Enlightenment. Confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, The Community, your Teacher, and your own ability to attain Enlightenment.)

What does it mean to take refuge in The Buddha, The Dhamma, and The Sangha and is there a ceremony to do this?

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

Buddha: A being who has attained Enlightenment on their own without the assistance of Teachers to independently discover Teachings that lead to their own Enlightenment, with the ability to share their independently discovered Teachings that lead countless others to Enlightenment during their lifetime and after their death. The last Buddha currently known to the world existed 2,500 years ago, whom I refer to as Master Teacher Gotama Buddha or Gotama Buddha. (You will see other ways people refer to him.)

Dhamma: The Teachings of Gotama Buddha based on The Natural Laws of Existence that lead to awakening of the mind, Enlightenment.

Sangha: The entire community of Practitioners to include Ordained Practitioners and anyone who has attained one (1) of The Four Stages of Enlightenment, this includes Household Practitioners. These are the Teachers who can guide others to attain Enlightenment through The Teachings of Gotama Buddha.

When we say, take refuge in The Buddha, The Dhamma, and The Sangha we are saying that one’s mind can be protected through having confidence in The Buddha, through learning The Dhamma, and through seeking guidance from The Sangha.

One would need to take refuge in all three, not just one. This is also referred to as the Triple Gem or the Triple Jewel.

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.

If one seeks refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community, the mind will be permanently protected through your own learning and practice to attain Enlightenment as you are guided by the Teachers of The Sangha.

The mind will be unshakable.

People throughout time have come up with rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship that they say are an acknowledgment of taking refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. However, these were not taught by Gotama Buddha and is only something that people developed along the way. There is no benefit to a ceremony. A ceremony does not have the power to change anything about the mind. It is only through learning and practicing The Teachings that the mind can develop and improve its condition to experience Enlightenment.

One of the aspects of the mind Gotama Buddha taught to eliminate in order to attain Enlightenment is:

Wrong behavior and observances (Elimination of the mind’s belief that rites, rituals, ceremonies, and worship will help a Practitioner to attain Enlightenment. Well developed practice of The Eight Fold Path.)

One needs to eliminate this fetter, or pollution, from their life practice to even attain the first Stage of Enlightenment. This is one of The Ten Fetters. All Ten Fetters need to be eliminated to attain Enlightenment. If the mind thinks that rites, rituals, ceremonies, or worship is going to improve the condition of the mind and progress a Practitioner to Enlightenment, the mind still has the pollution of “Wrong behavior and observances”. Therefore, the Practitioner’s mind is not Enlightened and will not be Enlightened until this pollution, or “wrong view”, is removed from the mind.

Taking refuge to Gotama Buddha would be to learn and practice The Teachings. In this way, the more you learn and practice the more and more protected the mind will become. A ceremony cannot do that for you. It is only through your own dedication and commitment to learning and practicing that will allow one to have protection of the mind taking refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community.

All human beings can take refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. All human beings should take refuge in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community.

This is the only way for the entire world to experience “worldwide peace”.