CHAPTER 6

RULES OF TO TAKE REFUGE.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

Driven by fear of the sufferings of rebirth and the lower realms of the cycle of birth and death, a Buddhist is the one who relies on taking refuge in the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma (teachings), and Sangha union (spiritual community). A Buddhist, through practice and experience, knows that the Triple Gem is capable of protecting them from falling into the lower realms of samsara. In the eleventh century Po-to-wa during his visit to a monastery, he noticed that even among the elderly teachers who were praying, there were a few non-Buddhists. Many of them lack a proper understanding of the Three Jewels. It is the refuge that strengthens the desire to attain Nirvana.

The Buddha is the One who is completely free from delusion and defects, He is endowed with all good qualities and has attained the wisdom of dispelling the darkness of ignorance. Dharma is the result of his Enlightenment. After achieving Enlightenment, a Buddha teaches, and what He (be it male or female) teaches is called Dharma. The sangha was formed by people who went into the practice of the teachings given by the Buddha. These are the basic definitions of the Three Jewels. Buddha's activity is to give teachings and specify the path. The activity or function of the Dharma is to eliminate suffering and its causes, delusion. The mission of the Sangha is to rejoice in the implementation of this Dharma practice. You have to look at the Buddha with respect. Your attitude towards Dharma must be an attitude of wish, The effort to create the experience of Dharma is in your mind, and you must regard the Sangha as the knowledgeable people participating in the process of the path. The Buddha is the master who shows us the path to enlightenment, the Dharma is the true refuge, where we seek protection to escape suffering, and the Sangha consists of mind companions. Linh goes through the stages of the path.

One of the benefits of taking refuge is that all the bad deeds you have committed in the past can be purified, because taking refuge requires accepting the Buddha's guidance and following the path of virtue. Most of the negative actions you have committed in the past can be mitigated or reduced and your store of merit will grow. Having sought refuge in the Three Jewels, we will be protected not only for the present harm, but also to escape the calamity of rebirth in the lower realms of existence. , and can quickly attain the Enlightenment of Buddhahood. We must never give up the Triple Jewel, even if we have to pay with our lives. There have been many cases of Tibetans being forced to give up their beliefs. Many answered that they could not deny the faith and instead, they choose to give up their life. This is the true commitment of refuge.

Tsong-kha-pa said that if your fear and conviction are merely words, then refuge is just words, but if your fear and conviction are in the capacity of the Three Bao can protect you from such fear deeply rooted, then your refuge will also be very effective.

It is the objects of refuge that attain a state of complete freedom from fear and suffering. If the subjects themselves do not achieve such a state, then they will not be able to protect us, just like falling people cannot help you to stand up. Those whom we seek protection in them must be liberated from suffering and fear; otherwise, although they may wish to do so, they will not be able to protect us. Buddha Shakyamuni not only freed himself from suffering and fear, He was also very skillful in leading sentient beings to the right path. We can understand this by thinking about the different teachings that Buddha gave to the different interests and dispositions of sentient beings. He leaves teachings that can affect us regardless of our level of spiritual development. Recognizing the importance of this, we will also begin to respect all the religions in the world, for the very purpose of the teachings of all religions is to help others.

Tsong-kha-pa said that if you reflect on the great qualities that create an object of refuge and develop a deep, single-minded conviction in the three objects of refuge, there is no way to you are not protected. What we need is a deep sense of fear of the sufferings of the lower realms and the reliance on the ability of the Three Jewels to protect us from them. We develop this trust through meditation on the qualities of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

The great compassion of the Buddha has no bias. He does not distinguish between beings who help Him and those who do not. His work for the benefit of all sentient beings is unbiased. These standards are sufficient only in the Buddha, and so he and his many forms and incarnations, along with the teachings he gives, and the community follow his example on the path of practice Him, became a refuge (refuge).

The Buddha's language is the ability to ask about any or many different things at the same time, we know that he can understand the nature of all these problems and can respond in a statement. As a result, the answers correspond to the understanding of the questioner.

The wisdom of the Buddha can understand the whole range of phenomena, relative or absolute, like he is looking at something in the palm of his hand. Therefore, all objects of knowledge are understood and remain in the grasp of his wisdom.

The mind of the Buddha is also fully enlightened. The reason why a Buddha's mind can understand the whole range of phenomena without exception is because he has attained a state of complete liberation from all obstructions to knowledge. miasma). Karmic obstacles are traces or biases left in the mind by delusion - the delusion (ignorance) of the nature of reality, attachment, and anger - from beginninglessness. When these traces are erased, we attain a state called omniscience, because there is no longer any obstacle. We attain the state of omniscience, which knows the whole range of phenomena without any obstruction. The Buddha's mind is naturally moved by great compassion not to see the suffering of sentient beings. At the beginning of the road, Buddha developed great compassion towards all sentient beings and, through the process of the path, he brought that great compassion to the highest level. Compassion, which is a virtuous mood and is based on the pure nature of the mind, has the capacity to grow indefinitely.

The body, speech and mind of the Buddhas are always actively working for the benefit of sentient beings. They fulfill the wishes of sentient beings and lead them through the stages of the path in a skillful manner suitable to the various needs, interests and tendencies of sentient beings. Tsong-kha-pa said that if your faith in Buddha is strong, then because you remember the great kindness and other qualities of Buddha your faith in the other two objects is Dharma. , his teachings, and Sangha, the spiritual community, will come naturally, and the entire Buddhist Scriptures will be like your personal advice. Therefore, when you have developed strong faith in Buddha, you must also develop strong faith in his teachings.

You should never criticize the image of a Buddha, regardless of material or shape. You have to respect images like you respect the Buddha himself. Once you take refuge in the Buddha, you do not care what image is made of what material but should give it respect no matter how it is. You should never bring Buddha statues for sale or use as collateral. Atisha was once asked by one of his disciples to comment on a statue of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and said that if Atisha found it good, he would buy it. Mr. Atisha said that one cannot criticize the form of Manjushri, but if it is said to sculpt it is only average, then he places the statue on the head as a sign of respect. When I say the work must be average, It seems Mr. Atisha wants to say it doesn't look great, so artists need to be more careful. Artists have a great responsibility when painting or sculpting images that look good. Otherwise, it will be a serious danger because many people accumulate non-virtue, because sometimes, due to the disproportionate appearance of the image, we can not help laughing.

The method leading to the state of Omniscience is the path. The path and the cessation of suffering create Dharma, the true refuge. Dharma is something we cannot absorb immediately; it must be realized by a gradual process. Within the scope of the practice of taking refuge, you have to be very skillful to have the virtue when avoiding negative actions. That is what is called Dharma practice. If you are afraid of the sufferings of life in the lower realms, you should transform your mind and prevent it from plying it in negative actions, which cause you to be at a loss. It all depends on whether you practice seriously, whether you stick with the accumulation of good deeds and avoid doing negative actions, and then it depends on whether you are credible. into the law of karma or not.

There are two different types of experiences, desirable and undesirable, each with its own cause. Suffering, the unpleasant experience, is called samsara, and it stems from the delusion and the bad deeds that force us to commit. The ultimate form of happiness, the desirable experience, is Nirvana, and is the result of Dharma practice. The cause of suffering and the lower realms of samsara is ten negative actions (described in chapter 7). The desirable success and rebirth in the favorable samsara realms are created by the purification of moral conduct, or the practice of the ten virtuous actions. To prevent you from having to be reborn in life in the lower realms and endure suffering there, you must end their causes by turning your body, speech and mind about virtues. The degree of your attachment to rigorous practice depends greatly on how convinced you are, on how deeply you believe in the law of cause and effect, how completely confident you are about unpopular suffering and unhappiness are the result of negative actions, and how convinced you are about desirable outcomes, such as happiness, joy and success, are the consequences of positive actions. Therefore, it is very important, first of all, to develop a deep conviction in the non-working of the law of karma. how do you fully believe that unpopular suffering and unhappiness is the result of negative actions, and how convinced you are about desirable outcomes, such as happiness and joy and success, the consequences of positive actions. Therefore, it is very important, first of all, to develop a deep conviction in the non-working of the law of karma. how do you fully believe that unpopular suffering and unhappiness is the result of negative actions, and how convinced you are about desirable outcomes, such as happiness and joy and success, the consequences of positive actions. Therefore, it is very important, first of all, to develop a deep conviction in the non-working of the law of karma.

When one has relied on (taking refuge) in the Dharma, as a firm commitment, one must show respect for the Buddhist Sutras. You should not step on even one page of the Sutta, and the texts must be kept in a clean place. You should not have an ownership attitude towards the Sūtra; They should not be sold or used as collateral for a loan. Do not leave glasses or pens written on the classic head. When turning the page, don't lick your finger. It is said that Geshe Chen-nga-wa often stood up when he saw the Sutras being brought over, but later on because of his old age he could not stand up, he often clapped his hands together. When Atisha, in western Tibet, there was a tantric practitioner who did not receive teachings from him. One day, Atisha saw another Tibetan mark on a Bible reading with a piece of food in his mouth.

We must also trust in the Sangha, the spiritual community. When we talk about the Sangha, it is primarily about the noble people who, due to their diligent practice, have absorbed the Dharma in their mind, and penetrated the nature of reality. The Sangha are really people who are always engaged in Dharma practice, upholding the right precepts, being perfect in observing morality, and always being honest, upright, and peaceful , and full of compassion.

When you take refuge in the Sangha, you should never insult any monks or nuns who are living a religious life. You have to respect them. In the Sangha community you should not faction or hold any rivalry. In places like Thailand, the Sangha is highly respected. Because people respect them, monks should also not do anything shameful that discourages lay people. In general, I don't think having a large sangha like in Tibet is necessarily a good thing, but it is best to have really pure monks, even a small community. Whether or not you become a monk is a matter of personal choice, but when you have chosen to live the life of a monk or a nun, it is certainly not good to do humiliating Dharma. On the other hand, not only is it bad for you, it also makes others distrust and accumulate in vain non-virtues. It is said that Drom-ton-pa did not step on even a small piece of red or yellow clothes, because it represented monks and nuns' robes.

Tsong-kha-pa said that refuge is really the entrance to the Buddhist community, and if our refuge is not merely words and is really a deep sense, then we will not be harmed by others and will easily improve in our practice. Recognizing these benefits, we should strive to strengthen our fear of suffering and develop a strong faith and conviction in the power of the Three Jewels that can protect us from those sufferings. . We must try to make our practice of refuge as much as possible and try to never go against the rules we have received. Thus, with the awareness of death and fear of the lower realms of samsara, we will realize that the Triple Gem is capable of protecting us, and is a true source of refuge.

Buddha is the master who manifests his true refuge, and the Sangha is like good friends on the path to enlightenment. The true refuge is the Dharma, because through our awareness of the Dharma, we will become free and free from suffering. Dharma includes the cessation of suffering and the path to cessation. The absence of ignorance or deliverance from delusions is called cessation. If we do not apply our antidote to our deficiencies or delusions, they will continue to arise. But after using antagonism, once ignorance is completely uprooted, it will never arise again. Such a state, liberated from delusions or mental defilements, is called ending. In short, whatever we want to eliminate, such as suffering and its cause, can be eradicated by applying countervailing powers. The final end, also called nirvana, is a state of complete liberation.

Buddhas, who are utterly liberated, cannot think, Dharma, which is their teaching, cannot think, and monks cannot think. Therefore, if you develop faith inconceivably, the result will be inconceivable. It is said in the Sutras that if it is possible to show the benefits of taking refuge in the Triple Gem, the whole universe that contains them will become too small, like the immeasurable oceans in your hands. . Remembering these great benefits, you should rejoice at the opportunity to make offerings and take refuge in the Three Jewels. You will be able to minimize the effects of the negative actions committed with karmic hindrances. All of them will be eradicated, and you will be counted as a great man, that will please the Three Jewels.END=NAM MO SHAKYAUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.26/5/2020.