The
Incomparable Gift of
Buddhist
Refuge
When
one chants, ”I take refuge in the Guru. I take refuge in His Pure
land...” and so on, one instantly becomes a buddha. The ultimate
reality becomes even more compelling when chanting, ”I am the Guru.
I'm in the Pure Land...” By taking refuge, one uncovers oneself as
an entirely free, selfless, timeless and yet vividly and effortlessly
present being. Oh, this is the field of buddhas and bodhisattvas who
dance and rejoice in the sheer purity of presence, sending out rays
of healing and compassion to burdened beings. In other words, by
taking refuge, one becomes the eye of wisdom that sees the emptiness
of all phenomena.
This
simple chant makes us discover our true being that is so well hidden
by self-based misperception. The story goes that when Gautama the
Prince realized and became Shakyamuni the Buddha and met merchants,
who asked a teaching from him, he told them to take refuge.
Maybe
the incomparable preciousness of refuge isn't obvious in the
beginning but with gradual practice, one realizes that all teachings
of sutrayana, tantrayana and even atiyoga are contained in, ”I take
refuge in the Guru...”
Kim
