Refuge in the Three Jewels

To become a Buddhist is to take refuge in the Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures.

The Three Jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Ch'an Master Sheng-Yen said, "The genuine Three Jewels, in essence, are none other than the enlightened Buddha nature that is already inside you."

"Taking refuge in the Buddha, we learn to transform anger into compassion; taking refuge in the Dharma, we learn to transform delusion into wisdom; taking refuge in the Sangha, we learn to transform desire into generosity."

1) I Take Refuge in the Buddha
Bikkhu Bodhi wrote that taking refuge in the Buddha is not merely taking refuge in his "concrete particularity. ... When we go for refuge to the Buddha we resort to him as the supreme embodiment of purity, wisdom and compassion, the peerless teacher who can guide us to safety out of the perilous ocean of samsara."

In Mahayana Buddhism, while "Buddha" may refer to the historical Buddha, called Shakyamuni Buddha, "Buddha" also refers to "Buddha-nature," the absolute, unconditioned nature of all things. While "Buddha" may be a person who has awakened to enlightenment, "Buddha" might also refer to enlightenment itself (Bodhi).

2) I Take Refuge in the Dharma
Studying the Buddha's teachings -- one definition of dharma -- is important, but to take refuge in the Dharma is much more than just trust and acceptance of teachings.

It's also trusting your practice of Buddhism, whether regular meditation and regular chanting. It's about trusting mindfulness, the present moment, right here, not putting faith in something far away.

Robert Thurman said,"Dharma is our own reality that we seek to understand fully, to open to fully. Dharma, therefore, also consists of those methods and the teaching of those methods that are the arts and sciences which enable us to open ourselves. The practices that we do, which will open us, which follow those teachings, which implement them in our lives, in our practice, and in our performance, which deploy those arts-they are also Dharma."

3) I Take Refuge in the Sangha
The importance of sangha cannot be overestimated. Trying to achieve enlightenment by yourself and only for yourself is like trying to walk uphill during a mudslide.

Opening yourself to others, supporting and being supported, is critical to loosening the fetters of ego and selfishness.

"The sangha is the community of people who have the perfect right to cut through your trips and feed you with their wisdom, as well as the perfect right to demonstrate their own neurosis and be seen through by you. The companionship within the Sangha is a kind of clean friendship-—without expectation, without demand, but at the same time, fulfilling."

By taking refuge in the Sangha, we become the refuge. This is the path of the Buddhas.