Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The analogy of a frightened child running to parents sets the emotional center of this 37-minute commentary by Geshe Pema Tsering on refuge in the Three Jewels. He begins by explaining why worldly gods such as Shiva and Vishnu cannot offer genuine refuge — still within saṃsāra, they cannot show the way out of it — before walking through the distinct role of each jewel: the Buddha as the one who explains the path, the Dharma as the actual protection through realizations, and the Sangha as companions who encourage development. He then covers the precepts of refuge and clarifies two frameworks for understanding conventional versus ultimate Sangha. The session closes with a careful defense of “valid fear” — the dread of lower-realm consequences that sharpens awareness of one’s actions — set against ignorant fears that only deepen suffering.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 2004 03 16 RG.mp3
UUID: 18ddfdbd-7a9b-48ba-ba50-ad2fef951bdb
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Essence of Refined Gold (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-03-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 36.9 minutes
Words: ~2,613
The sufferings of the lower realms and temporarily from fear, in this lifetime, not just in terms of the ultimate goal of being shown the path out of saṃsāra, but they can also temporarily help us. We develop this idea that the Buddhas are everywhere, that they really have the ability to help us. We develop doubts about that. We also have the idea usually that there aren’t many Buddhas around. So we think that because we can’t see Buddhas that they don’t they’re not here and they’re not working for our benefit.
But just because we can’t see something doesn’t make it not there. Just because we can’t see the Buddha’s activities and the Buddha’s being present and trying to help us doesn’t mean that they’re not actually trying to do it. Just because we haven’t realized something doesn’t mean that it is negated or it ceases to exist. It’s also said that the founders of other religious traditions cannot offer this same kind of protection or the same kind of refuge. At the time that this text was written, was thought that it was referring to the other Shaivite and Vaishnava traditions of India because the of of those the refuge of the beings in that those traditions is said to be still worldly gods.
That is Vishnu and Shiva. And as they are worldly gods or gods that are still in Samsāra, then they can’t show you the way out of Samsāra because they’re still experiencing Samsāra. So in this way it’s saying that the external types of refuge are not valid types of refuge for beings to actually get full protection from the sufferings of the lower realms. So within these traditions, there are teachers, there are realizations. These beings have many realizations.
They have realizations of calm abiding. They have realizations of insight. They have realizations of compassion. They have many different types of realizations. But they don’t have the same sort of understanding and the same sort of realizations as the Buddha does because the Buddha developed the path completely and found the way out of saṃsāra completely.
So because the other beings don’t have these complete sets of realizations and they can’t actually act as complete refuges because they can’t show the way out of the sufferings of the lower realms completely. This one? Of course. So the actual way that we go for refuge then is to recite this prayer. That is, the first thing is to have this idea I go for refuge to the Buddha who is supreme amongst literally those who go on two legs which is said to refer to men or as in humanity not just males.
So I go for refuge to the Buddha supreme amongst humans. And now the reason that we go for refuge to the Buddha is because we are requesting the Buddha to explain to us the path that can lead us out of the sufferings of saṃsāra and in particular sufferings of the lower realms. So the Buddha has the ability to show us what it is we need to do in order to stop these sufferings, to stop these experiences of sufferings. So we are requesting the Buddha to teach us what it is we need to do in order to get out of saṃsāra And by practicing what he teaches us, we will cease to experience this suffering. So our refuge in the Buddha is one of requesting teachings, is requesting explanations.
The next refuge is towards the Dharma jewel and it says, I go for refuge to the Dharma jewel supreme amongst those separated from desire. And what this is talking about is realisations. Separation from desire refers to what’s called true paths. That is true realisations. So the Dharma jewel is said to be the supreme among realisations.
Now the way that we request protection from the Dharma jewel is that the Dharma jewel is said to be our actual refuge. When we request the Buddha for refuge, request the Buddha for teachings that will explain to us how to get out of saṃsāra. When we request the Dharma jewel, it is to be our actual refuge because it is through realisations that we develop the ability to stop experiencing suffering and to be protected from the lower realms. So it says, please be my actual refuge and lead me to freedom from the terrors Samsāra in general and the lower realms in particular then the third jewel the refuge of the supreme Sangha we are actually asking for friends right so in this one we say I go for refuge to the the Sangha jewel supreme amongst congregations or supreme amongst groups please be my friend or please be my helper in order to liberate me from the sufferings of saṃsāra in general and specifically the sufferings of the lower realms. So in this way we’re dealing with the three objects of refuge.
We’re dealing with a being who can explain to us or show us how to get out of saṃsāra. The actual realizations that lead us, mean we are protected from the sufferings of the lower realms and the friends or the helpers that enable us to or that encourage us or and enable us to develop these understandings. And so the what we’re requesting, There’s a word in Tibetan which is is like a really groveling way of saying please. And Geshe-la said that we need to develop that idea about the Three Jewels in terms of our refuge. It’s like we’re really like please please help me.
And and we kind of have that idea again of please please be able to show give me protection from these experiences in a really of subservient way. It’s the same sort of thing as if we were asking our parents for something then you would use this word. You would say like please please can I have that or please please can I have this and we’re really desperate for something and then Geshe-la said that this idea of refuge is similar to the way that we look to our parents when we’re very young children? It says I’m just trying to think there’s a weird expression here No. Just anyway.
It doesn’t it doesn’t translate, but it says. Yeah, so that we have to say this from At least it’s not a phone call from Sarah like it was last week. Anyway, we have to try and So if we have this feeling from the bottom of our heart that we really need this protection and we go towards the Three Jewels in the same way that we would go towards our parents when we’re young children and we’re in danger, then this is the right kind of motivation that we need. It’s not enough just to say this prayer, we actually have to feel it in the same way as we would feel fear when we were a child and run towards our parents for protection. But having refuge in the Three Jewels is not as helpful if we don’t if we don’t abide by the precepts of refuge.
If we just have the idea of refuge and we don’t abide by the precepts of refuge then we are unable to protect our refuge properly. What we need to know then is the precepts of refuge. So the precepts of refuge, the first one is having taken refuge in Buddha jewel we don’t go for refuge to what are called worldly So the ones that are specifically pointed out here are Shiva and Vishnu but also other forms of worldly gods. We don’t go for refuge to them because they can’t actually grant us protection from the sufferings of saṃsāra. Having gone for refuge to the Dharma we cease to we try and refrain from harming any beings and at the same time as we refrain from harming any beings we try and treat any words of Buddhist Dharma or other dharmas with respect.
We treat texts respectfully, we treat Dharma books respectfully and we have a respectful mind towards those. Having gone for refuge to the Sangha jewel we treat those who wear robes with respect and by this we’re able to accumulate merit and to stop doing negativities. Although our actual refuge is the realised Sangha and not all Sangha necessarily realised, not all conventional Sangha are necessarily realised by treating robed people with respect then we are able to reinforce our refuge in the Three Jewels. So in this way we should also be respectful even to robes themselves, so red and yellow robes. If we find these then we should be very respectful to those as well to the actual robes themselves because that helps to reinforce the idea of refuge within our mind and we’re going stop here and I’m just trying to find where we’re up to and you guys can ask questions.
Okay, so the ultimate refuge is the attainment of Buddhahood. So there’s only one type of ultimate Conventional refuge or temporary refuge can come in many different forms. It can come in the way of protecting our mind from acting negatively and even acting as a physical protection sometimes. So there’s many different types of conventional refuge, but there’s only one type of ultimate refuge. Okay.
Right. Now, it’s a bit complicated. Okay. So there’s two different ways of looking at it. You can look at it from the ultimate point of view.
From the ultimate point of view then the ultimate Sangha is Buddha’s plural. The ultimate Sangha because they are thoroughly realized Sangha therefore they are said to be the ultimate Sangha. And from this perspective then the realised being so whether it’s said to be anyone with a realisation considered lower than an arhat, a Hīnayāna arhat. So that means someone who has completely gotten rid of negativities or someone who has realised emptiness and so forth. From that perspective then they are seen to be the conventional Sangha because they are helped in the short term or temporarily in order to develop realizations until you ultimately become a Buddha.
So in this way the Buddha is said to be the ultimate Sangha, the ultimate Sangha jewel because it’s the end result. Yes and the temporary Sanga jewel or the conventional Sanga jewel is said to be those with realizations because they help you to develop realizations until you become a Buddha. Okay that’s one way of looking at it. Another way to look at it is that the conventional Sangha is said to be anything from four bhikshus or bhikṣuṇīs up, right, in terms of more people. So a group of four bhikshus or four bhikṣuṇīs or more is said to be a conventional sangha.
And then the ultimate sangha in that case is then said to be the realised sangha. So there’s two different ways of looking at it. In either way of looking at it, getting involved by himself is an asanga. Is that okay? So it depends on which text you’re reading and it can be a bit confusing because from some perspectives they say then that this group of realised beings is the ultimate sangha and from others perspectives they say that the, group of realized beings is a conventional Sangha.
Is that okay? Yes? Mhmm. And fear. Sure.
Yeah. Yeah. And Geshe-la said, Yeah, no, s fine because what you re trying to do is develop an idea of the sufferings of saṃsāra to try and develop renunciation so you’re looking at the sufferings of saṃsāra if you’re focusing on them develops fear from which comes a sense of refuge then that’s fine because the thing you’re trying to develop is an idea of renunciation from saṃsāra so focusing on the sufferings of this life is fine But just because you haven’t seen something doesn’t mean that it’s not there. It’s difficult to do meditations and difficult to do meditations and teachings on it but that sense of focus or meditation on the lower realms is based on the teachings of the Buddha. So it’s a matter of developing faith in the Buddha and believing that the Buddha doesn’t tell lies.
So if the Buddha doesn’t tell lies then these states exist. Therefore you can start reflecting on them as well. Just because we don’t see things doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. We may not see the hell realms we may not see future and past life doesn’t mean they don’t exist we may not actually see outlying areas of China and India we may not have a direct perception of them either doesn’t mean they don’t exist Yeah. That means I could use my workplace as a As an example as hell.
And then say, well, you spend five hours on the chargrill and then you chuck in the freezer for three hours, So, said, yeah, Andrew, just try and like, if we had to experience that, if we had to be thrown in a frying pan and then chucked in the freezer, we wouldn’t be able to cope. True. Not fear. Okay. There’s there’s I can say fear, agitation, terror, any of those words. But he didn’t say that So, the fear that we usually have, the types of fear that we usually have throw us all around the place.
We have this idea of I’m afraid of that, I don’t want to experience that and we don’t actually know what it is that we’re afraid of. We’re not actually afraid of something that can truly harm us usually. We’re afraid of losing things that we think are going to make us happy but what we re actually doing is creating more causes for suffering through those types of fears. Those types of fears are ignorant fears fears that aren’t based on anything valid. The type of fear that we are developing here is a valid fear and so it’s a fear of the way that things actually are.
Through this fear then we’re going to look for the causes of that fear and how to stop those fears coming about. Through understanding the things that we are afraid of then we are able to stop the causes for that and then we are able to go beyond that. But unless we acknowledge it and develop fear of it then we can’t do anything to stop it. So you have fear of the road. Yeah, he says the same thing.
If we are afraid of getting hit by cars, it makes us very aware of cars, and we are very focused on where the cars are going and we are very careful about what we do in that situation. This is the same thing once we develop fear of the experiences of the lower realms then we are very aware of our actions and we become very aware of the consequence of our actions and that stops us from performing negative actions. He said, ultimately, fear is something to be abandoned. Yeah? But we need this fear at the moment to keep us on the right track so when we have fears which aren’t based on anything valid then we don’t have to pay attention to them But we need this one to keep us on the right track.
Yeah. You’re not the first that’s funny. A lot of people have said to me, can’t you get a different word apart from fear? Oh, it’s me. Here we have fear.
Fear of sinning. No. It’s fear. It’s like they talk they’re ones that fear. Shaking.