Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Sonam Rinchen guides students toward genuine refuge practice in this 45-minute teaching, beginning with the harsh realities of cyclic existence and rebirth in unfortunate states. He builds fear and revulsion toward saṃsāra by asking listeners to imaginatively engage with the sufferings of hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals, emphasizing how such rebirth can come within breaths of death. From this foundation of dread, he explains the two essential prerequisites for sincere refuge: deep aversion to cyclic existence and conviction that the Three Jewels can protect and guide. He then details the four qualities an authentic protector must possess, shows how the Buddha fulfills these, and clarifies why the Dharma—not the Buddha’s person—is the actual protection. The talk concludes with a detailed visualization practice for establishing a field of refuge, from the throne of Buddha Śākyamūni at the center to the lineage masters, tantric teachers, and one’s root guru positioned around him. Aimed at practitioners ready to develop genuine refuge practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 CtM.mp3
UUID: e13eba55-a393-415e-b6b7-b640c6818622
Teacher: Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Collection: Calming of the Mind (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.4 minutes
Words: ~3,944
Last week, we were talking about the preciousness of human life and how hard it is to come by a human life and that this human life doesn’t last for very long. But then when we die, it isn’t like a candle going out. It’s not like that. The point is that we are forced to take rebirth again and it’s not a rebirth that we can choose at this point. We’re forced to follow where our karma throws us, where we’re propelled by our past actions.
So if it’s good karma, good past actions that are propelling us, wholesome past actions that are propelling us, then we’ll take a fortunate rebirth. And if the actions which are propelling us were negative, are negative actions, then our rebirth will be an unfortunate one. At this time we have all sorts of imprints, both positive imprints and negative imprints laid down by the different kinds of actions that we’ve performed and these imprints haven’t come to fruition yet. They’re still to ripen. And depending on their meeting with certain circumstances, so when certain circumstances occur, they trigger these imprints, they trigger the latencies or imprints which then ripen.
So if they’re negative imprints, then when they meet with the appropriate circumstances which trigger them, it means that we take rebirth in one of the unfortunate states. When we talk about unfortunate states, we mean states of rebirth as a hell being or a hungry ghost or an animal. If we take rebirth in one of the hell states, we endure intense heat or cold which produces great suffering. If we take rebirth as a hungry ghost, then we suffer constantly from hunger and thirst and need. If we take rebirth in the animal realm, then because of our stupidity, because we are unable to think beyond the immediate present and to understand the situation we find ourselves in.
We suffer in all sorts of different ways and then others use us, others eat us up. So there’s a lot of suffering in the animal realm as well. It’s important for us to try to imagine these sufferings, to try and understand what it would be like to suffer like that. One has to use one’s imagination to evoke the suffering and to see, to assess whether one could bear to lead that kind of existence. And then, if one really does it with imagination, it’s quite probable that one would be afraid.
Such an unfortunate rebirth is not actually very far off. It can be, you know, just one or two breaths away. Because if we die, if we die and then, you know, then just a couple of breaths later we can be born, reborn like that. What what would happen if we went to bed tonight and then the next thing we found ourselves in a place where the ground was burning and we were surrounded by a wall of fire and suffering such intense heat. So, such suffering of course would be completely unbearable even now.
Even a pinprick hurts us. Even if somebody held a piece of lighted incense to our skin, we would cry out and try to get away. So we can imagine, if we use our imagination, we can see what it would be like if we were suffering such intense pain. And just imagine the intense suffering of a hungry ghost that never finds anything to eat or drink and that just constantly in pursuit of food and drink and unable to find it. We know how hard it is to stay for a single day without eating or drinking.
And if we have to fast for a day, it can be quite difficult. We need to try and allow ourselves to imagine such intense suffering in order to generate a fear of the consequences of our negative actions. And we need to also, in general, try to gain an understanding of the situation we find ourselves in and see that no situation in cyclic existence, no situation in this kind of existence that we now lead is desirable. So if we feel afraid of the suffering and problems that we meet in our own existence that we lead and in these other states of existence, then we will look for some source of protection. If one doesn’t see anything undesirable about or one’s own situation, then one won’t look for any way out.
But if one does see that there are lots of drawbacks and defects, if one does feel afraid, then one will naturally gravitate towards something which can give protection. Just imagine if you’re out in the wild and there’s a wild animal coming for you, I mean the first thing you think of is if there’s any way you can escape, if there’s anything that can protect you and you may even think of the people you love who are far away and I mean now at that moment they can’t actually help you but you may even remember them. Because a lot of people when they are in a crisis, Tibetan people do, I think maybe Western people sometimes do as well, they call that mother. I mean when things are getting really bad, so it’s a sort of cry for help. And if we’re out out of doors and we’re suddenly caught in a very heavy downpour, we’ll naturally if there’s somewhere to we’ll naturally make for that place.
If we feel that our own situation is one which constantly places us with suffering, with problems, difficulties, if we feel that this kind of existence that we lead, that the unfortunate states of rebirth are completely imbued with suffering, we’ll naturally seek some kind of protection. We’ll seek a way out. It happens quite spontaneously. If you really sincerely feel put off and fed up with the situation, then you look for a way out. So when we talk about the refuge practice of taking refuge, seeking a new direction from the Three Jewels, the Buddha and the doctrine or the Dharma and the spiritual community, the Sangha.
When we talk about refuge practice, it won’t be real, it won’t be genuine or sincere unless you have this strong fear and revulsion for your present situation. Because without that, you won’t actually feel like looking for some other way. You won’t feel like looking for a new direction. You won’t feel like seeking protection. And then the other factor that you really need is to feel convinced that the Three Jewels can offer you protection.
So you need these two things. First of all, you need to feel frightened. You need to feel frightened of this ongoing suffering that you find yourself in. And on the other hand, you need to feel convinced that the Three Jewels can offer you protection. With those two factors, your refuge practice can be genuine and sincere and come properly.
Fooled by worldly pleasure, I mean if you’re fooled by it and think that you’re going to be able to reach some kind of lasting happiness of this kind, are striving for that and at the same time take refuge and say, protect me. Protect me from the suffering of cyclic existence. Protect me from the three lower realms, from the unfortunate states of rebirth. Your refuge practice is just verbal. I mean, it’s just verbal because actually you’re in pursuit of something to do with cyclic existence which you’ll never be able to catch.
So most of us are actually in this rather hypocritical position because we’re busy trying to get comfortable. We’re busy trying to secure our ourselves and get comfortable in this very unstable world, in this existence which is always fraught with difficulties and problems. But we somehow are hoping to find happiness in it and while we’re striving to acquire that happiness, at the same time we’re saying, Please protect me from the suffering of cyclic existence. Please protect me from the suffering of the unfortunate of rebirth. So actually, we are in a very hypocritical position.
So that’s what happens if you don’t really feel fed up with cyclic existence. If you’re not genuinely fed up, then you’re in that position. You’re saying this on the one hand, but actually you’re still hoping that you’re going to be able to get happy. So on the one hand, if you’re not genuinely fed up and rather frightened of the suffering of cyclic existence, if you don’t recognize it for what it is, that it’s going to come again and again. If you lack that fear, then you know there’s one prerequisite missing and so your refuge practice won’t be really, won’t come right, won’t be strong.
And if on the other hand you are terribly fed up with the kind of existence you’re leading, that you really recognize that there are going to be constant problems and constant difficulties and suffering. But you don’t have any conviction that the Three Jewels, the Buddha and the teachings and the spiritual community can actually protect you, can offer you a new direction, can offer you a way out. If you’re not convinced about that, then your refuge practice won’t come right either. It won’t be strong. And if we don’t have this conviction that the Three Jewels can help us, if we don’t have the conviction, we won’t actually trust them.
We won’t entrust ourselves to the Three Jewels. And so, we’ll not really be seeking protection because to seek protection you have to entrust yourself to the protector. So if we’re interested in making our refuge practice grow, I mean taking refuge is the mark of a Buddhist, if you want to have a real, genuine refuge practice, then you need to make sure that these two prerequisites are present. You need to make sure that you are able to feel these two things. Otherwise, your refuge won’t be a genuine and sincere one.
Then, you know, we have to make sure that our seeking of refuge is sincere. The object of refuge, the object from which we seek protection needs to have four qualities. Protection needs to have four qualities. The first thing is that your object of refuge, the object from which you seek protection should be free from all fear, should be completely free from all fear itself. So the protector needs to be free from fear himself.
If the protector is also afraid, then he can’t protect you from the things that frighten you. If you imagine two people in the water drowning, so if they’re both drowning, one can’t help the other. Also, the protector needs to be skilled at knowing how to protect others, right? It has to have the ability to find the right technique to use to protect. So he needs the ability, the knowledge required to protect others.
Needs to know how to do it. If you imagine a child being carried off in the water and if the mother has no hands, no arms, how can she rescue her child? So now we are talking about the ideal protector. He has those two qualities, right? He is completely free from fear himself and he knows how to protect.
He knows how to protect. He has skillful means at his disposal to protect. And then the third quality he needs is to be unbiased, unprejudiced. Not that he protects some and doesn’t protect others. And also he should be one who protects people whether they are nice to him or not.
In other words, they benefit him, whether they do something useful for him or not, he should be willing to protect them. So that is the the the perfect or ultimate kind of protector. And the Buddha Śākyamūni fulfills those fulfills the bill fills the bill as it were. But how did the how did the Buddha Śākyamūni come about? How does how does a Buddha happen?
How does a fully enlightened being happen? A fully enlightened being happens through the teachings, through the presence of the teachings of both scriptural teachings and the insights which are born from those teachings. In other words, by practicing a certain path and attaining certain insights, a fully enlightened being comes into being. So the Buddha Śākyamūni was the result. This is the Buddha of our particular era who taught the teachings that we follow.
So the Buddha Śākyamūni came into existence by following the teachings, by practicing them and putting them into practice. Therefore it’s the teachings which are the actual protection. Right? The teachings and the insights generated on the basis of those teachings which are our actual protection. And in in general, so that’s the Dharma jewel or the jewel of the doctrine.
That’s the teachings themselves, both the scriptural teachings and the insights which are generated on the basis of those teachings. And the jewel of the spiritual community of the Sangha are those who put into practice, who are in the process of putting into practice all those teachings. In fact, it’s those who have already attained a certain level of spiritual insight. In other words, aryas, superiors who have attained the path of seeing and had direct experience of emptiness. But in general, we can think of all those who are putting the teachings into practice as the spiritual community.
So now we should have understood what is necessary for us to actually seek refuge properly. If we want to refuge, seek protection properly, we need two factors that spur us on with that lead us to take refuge. And then also we should now have some idea of what is meant by the Three Jewels. The Three Jewels which are the object of refuge, in other words, the source from which we seek protection. When we talk about how you should seek protection, the way that you should seek protection, then there are many, many things that we should understand about that.
You need to know the qualities, the different qualities of the Buddha and the doctrine and the spiritual community and so on. And you need to see them in the correct light, you know. There are certain attitudes which you need to cultivate and so on. So there is actually a lot that we can find out about that. And The Buddha Śākyamūni was the one who in our world age has shown what the true protection is.
He’s the one who has showing the true protection. In other words, the teachings. He’s revealed the teachings which are the true protection. And in this time that we’re living in, we can’t actually encounter him personally. So then we should understand that our Gurus, the ones who teach us the basic teachings of the Dharma, the ones who show us the way, are in fact Buddha’s representatives because we can’t have personal contact with the Buddhas in this time.
So the Gurus are taking their place in that they explain to us, they show us what the true protection is. And our gurus may actually be a manifestation of the Buddhas. Or on or the Buddhas may actually on a specific occasion enter the the body of a Guru, of a Lama and, you know, explain the teachings through him. And also, the Buddhas may inspire a Guru, I mean, not actually enter his body as such, but inspire a Guru and send him waves of strengthening blessing to explain the teachings to disciples. So the important thing is that since we can’t have any direct contact with the Buddhas at this time, we should see our Gurus in the place of the Buddhas.
So I think that since there are quite a lot of people here who are Buddhists who want to do refuge practice. I’m going to explain about how you should imagine the field of refuge and how to actually do the refuge practice. So then you think that in front of you, in the space in front of you, at the length of a full prostration, so that’s your body length, right? Your body stretched out with the hands out like that. You think about that distance that there’s a really large throne supported by lions.
So you shouldn’t think of it too far away and not too high up or too low down. If it’s too high up, it tends to make you feel more agitated, makes the mind agitated and excited. And if it’s too low down, it produces a sense of sluggishness. So it’s good to have it at just a middling level. So you think of this throne as really enormous, right?
You think of it as really big and spacious because it now has to hold another five small thrones. There are another five small thrones on this. There’s this big basic throne and then there’s one at the center. There’s one throne at the center which is slightly more raised than the others and then four other thrones in the cardinal directions. And each of the thrones has a lotus on it and a moon cushion or moon disc.
Then on the central one, you imagine the Buddha Śākyamūni. So if you have particular guru whose teachings have deeply affected you, you know, whose teachings you have received, then you imagine that that is your guru, but actually in the form of the Buddha Śākyamūni. So you should imagine him just like this statue, and his body is a yellow golden color and he’s got a begging bowl which is full of nectar, full of ambrosia. Then his right hand is touching the seat but it’s symbolic of touching the ground and his left hand is holding the bowl and his legs are in the vajra position. In other words, in the full lotus position.
So you shouldn’t think of the Buddha on that throne as being solid and heavy like a statue. You shouldn’t think of him as a statue. You should think of him as being formed of light that he’s in the very nature of light and radiant radiant. So the hand which is touching the ground symbolizes, subduing, subduing all interfering spirits. And the nectar or ambrosia in the begging bowl is of various kinds.
So there’s the medicinal nectar, the medicinal nectar which pacifies all illnesses. This overcomes the interference caused by our bodies which constantly are prone to sickness and disease and so on. So this of the medicinal nectar which frees from sickness shows that the Buddha has overcome having this kind of body that he no longer has this kind of body. So the Buddha’s body is not like our own. It’s not contaminated in the same way that it’s always ready.
It’s always just ready to have something wrong with it. It’s not like that. Then also in the begging bowl is the nectar of immortality. This means that the Buddha has overcome death. In other words, he’s not forced to die as a result of negative emotions and contaminated actions that spring from them.
He’s got out of that circle and so he has control. He has complete control and isn’t forced to die uncontrollably in the way that we are. And also in the begging bowl is the nectar of wisdom, of uncontaminated wisdom. Wisdom which is completely free from any kind of contamination. And this means that the Buddha has completely overcome all negative emotions like desire and hatred and aggression and and negative states of mind like confusion and bewilderment.
He’s completely overcome those. So the gesture with the hand and the three nectars, the three kinds of ambrosia in the begging bowl show, they signify that the Buddha has overcome these four kinds of obstacles that we just mentioned. And that if we practice in the same way, and if we seek protection and direction from the Buddha, and practice in the same way, then we too can overcome them. It’s possible for us to attain a state where we’ve overcome these four kinds of obstacles, where we’ve overcome overcome all of these. And if we want to do so, then we need to follow the direction which the Buddha has shown and seek protection from him.
So now on the Buddha’s right, so you mentioned the Buddha in the center and then on the Buddha’s right. So on the throne, on the slightly smaller throne, or slightly lower throne, to the Buddha’s right is Maitreya Buddha. So he has his hands in the way that Ganchen Rinpoche has just shown which is the teaching gesture. And he is surrounded. He is surrounded by all the Gurus that are connected with the lineage of bodhicitta teachings.
bodhicitta teachings, in other words the vast teachings. Is surrounded by Asaṇga was a great Indian sage, a great scholar and practitioner and he was one of the gurus surrounding Maitreya Buddha and then along with him were the others of that lineage. And now surrounding Mañjuśrī is the great Indian scholar and practitioner Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna and then all the other great teachers to do with the profound teachings. In other words, the teachings on emptiness.
Behind the Buddha, behind the Buddha, on the throne behind, we imagine Buddha vajradhara. Buddha Vajradhāra who’s blue in color and he has a vajra and bell and has his arms like that. And we should imagine around him many of the great teachers who propagated tantric teachings. So who taught the Tantras. And then in front of the Buddha, on the throne in front of the Buddha, you imagine your main Guru in his ordinary form.
So you should imagine him with his right hand the way Ganchen Rinpoche just showed up like this, which is giving the teachings, another Mudra of giving the teachings and then in his left hand he has a vase holding life giving nectar. And so the hand which is up like this in the teaching Mudra, it’s advising us, listen carefully, right? Listen carefully. And then the hand that is like this, that’s holding the vase with the life giving nectar, this gesture, the hand in this gesture is the meditation mudra. The gesture of meditation equal poise.
So what he is saying is, you’ve got to listen carefully, but that’s not enough. You have to actually generate the insights yourself. So there are two things that prevent us gaining liberation. There’s death which intervenes and prevents us from going the full way in this life. Death intervenes and that destroys our body.
The the other thing that prevents us attaining liberation is confusion which destroys our mind. So confusion which destroys our mind. So these two things prevent us from attaining release. So the vase containing life giving ambrosia is to destroy or overcome death which intervenes and stops attaining liberation. And the other hand in the teaching Mudra, it indicates the possibility of gaining wisdom which is the outcome of hearing, hearing the teachings.
Wisdom which is the outcome of thinking about them and then of familiarizing with them. So three kinds of wisdom. And these three kinds of wisdom overcome the confusion, bewilderment which also stops us gaining liberation. So you think of your main guru on that throne just in front of the Buddha Śākyamūni and then he’s surrounded by your other gurus, by your other gurus that you’ve taken teachings from. So you may have taken teachings from quite a number of gurus, all of whom you feel a reverence for because of what they’ve given you.
So they surround