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SNOW LION THE BUDDHIST MAGAZINE & CATALOG

H.H. the Karmapa on Genuinely Taking Refuge: Teachings Given in December at Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya, India

On the topic of fear and faith as causes that lead us to generate refuge in the three jewels, His Holiness the Karmapa commented that while the fear that motivates us to seek refuge is basically fear of suffering, nevertheless there are different understandings of suffering, and different forms of suffering that might be feared.

He then deftly mapped out the sorts of fear that induce practitioners in different vehicles and of different capacities to take refuge in the three jewels. For example, lam rim teachings divide practitioners into three types, according to capacity, the lowest of which is moved to seek refuge out of fear of suffering in future lives, and especially the fear of falling into the three lower realms, of animal, preta and hell beings. At the very least, His Holiness said, to generate sincere refuge in the three jewels, we should have a concern for the sufferings that await us in the lower realms.

Yet nowadays, His Holiness pointed out, there are many who have adopted the Buddhist path but still harbor serious doubts about the existence of past and future lives. With no conviction in future lives, naturally there is no genuine concern about falling into the lower realms. Indeed there are many who lack conviction in the very existence of these lower realms. If our fear of suffering does not extend to future lives, but is merely limited to the sufferings of this life, all our actions are inevitably bound up with the concern for this life. Our practice of the Dharma itself is likely to be motivated by the eight worldly concerns, and if that is the case, it becomes doubtful whether our practice actually qualifies as a Dharma practice. As His Holiness indicated, the first of the eight benefits of taking refuge is that this makes one a Buddhist. This raises the question whether those who lack the minimal concern for future lives that serves as a cause for refuge for the lowest capacity practitioners can actually be considered Buddhists.

His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa,
Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Thus at an absolute minimum, our practice of refuge must look beyond this life and be based in a concern for the suffering of future lives. It is up to each of us to sincerely search within ourselves to see whether we have the minimal conviction in future lives and fear of sufferings in the lower realms to produce sincere refuge in the three jewels.

Nevertheless, His Holiness added, even if not all who consider themselves Buddhists are yet at the level of this lowest scope of being, the Dharma itself is able to address people at whatever level they are when they encounter it, and offers a path to support us all in our wish to progress from there.

His Holiness further discussed the way to take refuge, underscoring that refuge is not something we simply receive from the outside, as if we could go to a lama and he could hand us refuge. Rather, we need to make the determination within ourselves to strive for our own liberation and omniscience.

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