何为皈依？ What Is Taking Refuge?

​(Prelude) 
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To me, Buddhist teaching is like the sun, and the sunshine.
 
I think what Buddhist teachings means in my life, is to pull me up when I am in pain.
 
I am quite convinced that it will surely, and only lead to a life that bring incredible happiness to me.
 
To me, Buddhism is a call which keeps me constantly looking forward to going home, returning back to this big family.
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In my opinion, Buddhist teachings is a glass of life-saving juice.

(Title）
Buddhism and Life
 
Lecturer  Venerable Master Xue Cheng
 
Lecture One   Taking refuge in the Three Jewels
 
Aug.，2004 
 
Guanghua Monastery, Putian, Fujian, China
 
（Title ）
The Master’s Daily Teachings 
 ---  What is taking refuge?
Dec.18, 2017​ 
 
(prelude)
What is Buddhism?
 
All living beings in the world have their own voices from their own hearts. Which one is yours?
 
What is going for refuge?
In real life, there is a variety of ways to express one’s faith. There are outward expressions, and there are also acts that care little about outward appearances. These two ways are common religious expressions.
 
What exactly is the beliefs of Buddhism?
 
As the master puts it,
“This (Going for refuge) is a very high-level training, neither inferior nor simple.
It is the first lesson for a practitioner at the beginning of his entering the gate of Buddhism, and is both the minimum standard and highest requirement.”
 
What are the two causes of going for refuge?
Have we ever thought about these two causes or been alive to them ?
 
The master says,
“Only when we have a deep understanding of the sufferings in different miserable realms (the realms of animals, hungry ghosts, and hell) and in the real world will we seek for protection. If we do not even recognize these different kinds of sufferings, what’s the sense of going for refuge?”
All living beings have some senses of fear. We just do not fear what we should fear.
 
(main lecture)
 
All Dharma masters,
all fellow practitioners,
and all lay Buddhists,
 
The Seven-day Amitabha Buddha Recitation Session during the Summer Retreat was orginially held for the monastic community to practice the teachings intensively.
 
However, (this year,) Summer Retreat overlaps with summer holidays, Therefore, some comes to attend the session, and a few others comes to participate in it. 
 
Such a opportunity (to have The Seven-day Amitabha Buddha Recitation  Session in Summer Retreat with monastics) is really precious and extraordinary. In this wondrous and rare occasion, I’d like to take a short time to share with you some of my understanding of the teachings, and by the way to form a spiritual tie with you all. 
 
Tonight’s topic is “going for refuge to the Three Jewels”, which people is quite familiar with. When you get into a temple, you’ll always see a lot of people, burning incenses, bowing down and worshiping with many offerings. It is hard to tell whether such a worshipper has a faith in Buddhism, whether he is a Buddhist, or whether he has taken vows in any taking-refuge ceremonies. In other words, he may believe, or he may not.
 
However, even if he has not participated in the ceremony of taking refuge in the three Jewels, it is hard to tell whether or not, in the end, does he have Buddhist beliefs. 
 
For this reason, it is difficult to tally the numbers of lay Buddhists. It is difficult to come by, and you cannot count it out clearly.
“Are you reckoned as a Buddhist or not?”
Does he have the Buddha in his mind or not?
If he does not believe, he would not make offerings. But if you assume that he has faith, his belief seems different from our’s. 
 
Besides, there is a saying spread in society, stating “The Buddha resides in my heart”. It means that to have the Buddha in your heart is enough, and one need not to stick to external routines. However, if one care little about outward expressions, is he still a Buddhist?
 
And this has brought about another question. Last time when we attended a meeting in the capital, a director of Fujian Bureau of Religiou Affairs said, once he met a man who was reciting the Buddha’s name with prayer beads. The director then asked this man,
“Are you a Buddhist?”
The man answered he was not.
The director continued to ask, ”Do you believe in Buddhism?”
The man answered he did.
he said, “I am not a Buddhist”.
When asked if he believed in Buddhism,he gave a negative answer.
The director went on to ask the man what he believed in.
The man said he believed in taking refuge.
“Whom do you take refuge in？”
The man replied the name of a venerable master.
He regarded this venerable master, as the one whom he took refuge in
and whom he believed in.
 
This is very common. That is to say, he might have faith, as he has a certain person in his heart. If he believes in somebody, can this very person he believes in be the object to which one go for refuge in Buddhism? This is a crucial question.
 
Going for refuge is in fact a very profound teaching, not simple. It is a very high-level teaching, not a low one. People may tend to think that it is simple to say the words and take refuge.
But in fact, going for refuge is the first lesson to become a Buddhist. It is not only the minimum criterion for Buddhists, but also the highest requirement in Buddhism.
 
You should recite the words. Everyday, Buddhists recite that “I take refuge”.
 
However, there are two most important causes of going for refuge:
One is fear, the other is seeking for protection.
Fear mainly refers to the fear of the cyclic existence(samsara) in the six realms, and terror of the three miserable realms. Because one is scared, fearing to suffer, he requests to take refuge. In other words, if one doesn’t even recognize these various sufferings, what’s the sense of going for refuge for him?
Let me put it this way, only when one has a deep understanding of the sufferings in real life and in various miserable realms will he seek protection from the Three Jewels .
 
Well, all living beings feel some fears, some senses of fear. It is just that sometimes living beings do not know. They do not know to fear what they should fear.
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