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Outer Refuge As The Basis For Engendering Confidence
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Excerpted from the transcript of "Refuge" (Vermont 1996)
Originally published in Bodhi
Issue 1
Part 2 of 5 | 1
, 2, 3, 4
, 5 In the initial ceremony, we're principally concerned with the external refuge. We take refuge in
the historic Buddha. We take refuge in the Dharma, the teachings of Buddha. And then we take refuge in the Sangha, the Assembly, as our companion. The outer form of refuge is simply a confirmation through our body,
speech, and mind of the inner-most discovery of refuge, of taking refuge simply within our heart, within our mind. Taking refuge in the outer sense, which we are going through right now, is the process of
re-strengthening and confirming our confidence, our trust, and our basic sense of courage in order to further our understanding and realization of this enlightened heart. An analogy for this is to imagine we are sitting in our room, and we say, "I am going to give five dollars to pan-handler tomorrow when I go out on the street." You know,
we have that sort of nice, enlightened, compassionate heart. But when we walk outside and see a pan-handler, we may have the instinct to simply pass by without any effort to bring our wallets out of our pockets.
It's very simple and easy to just pass by the pan-handler the next day. This is like having some sense of inner refuge but not going through with the outer form of refuge. We may pass by a panhandler and say, "OK,
I don't have the money now but I'm going to bring you five dollars tomorrow." You promise that to him, and then you go back to your home. The next day, when you go out, it's pretty sure that you will have the five
dollars to give to him or her on the street. When you go out next day, there's a much stronger commitment involved. You know that you will really give five dollars rather than just think about giving. Therefore, taking
refuge in the outer sense strengthens our heart, our path, and practices. That's why the outer refuge is so strongly emphasized in entering the path of Buddhadharma. We take refuge in the Buddha as an example, in the
dharma as the path, and in the Sangha as our companion. These are the three outer refuges. Part 2 of 5 | 1, 2, 3,
4, 5 | Talk Index |
