Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche guides students through the refuge precepts in this 86-minute session, establishing the foundation for authentic Buddhist practice. He distinguishes two categories of precepts: those to adopt and those to abandon, then explains the specific commitments for each of the Three Jewels. For refuge in the Buddha, practitioners should regard all representations—statues, photographs—as the Buddha himself, generating faith and making offerings; even a casual glance at an image becomes virtuous. For the Dharma, one must renounce harm to oneself and others while cultivating beneficial actions, treating Buddhist texts with reverence and never disrespecting them. For the Sangha, one accepts the laws of rebirth and causation, avoiding harmful company that might undermine these views. Khensur then outlines three levels of refuge practice—small, medium, and great scope—each rooted in different motivations: fear of lower rebirth; fear of all cyclic existence; and compassion for all sentient beings. He concludes that refuge paired with study of cause and effect forms the essential ground for all higher practices, and that neglecting this foundation makes tantric practice incomplete.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 18 LR 1999 07 13.mp3
UUID: 5abda1a3-0b1f-4764-8dca-e437a3c04ee2
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Lam Rim (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-07-13
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 86.3 minutes
Words: ~5,116
So today, we’ll go through the refuge precepts, and by going through this we may finish the session of refuge here. So in order to lead a perfect practice of Buddhist practice or also the Mahāyāna practice, one should perform it by having a pure faith in the refuge and at all times by recalling the qualities and the kindness of the refuge. So in order to do that, first one has to know the precepts or the advice of the refuge, and here the advice or the precepts of refuge have been classified into two categories: precepts of what should be taken and precepts of what should be abandoned or should not be done. And about the precepts, there are two precepts, the precepts of individual precepts and the general precepts. So for the individual precepts, there are two: the precepts regarding what should be done and what should not be done. And for that, for the taking refuge in the Buddha, at all times you should always consider any of the Buddhas themselves or the representations of Buddha like the photos or the photographs or Buddha’s statues and so forth, always see them as the actual Buddha and have developed faith, respect, making offerings and do prostrations at all times.
The purpose of doing this is because the Buddha has, himself has become Buddha, collecting lots of merit and good merits and good qualities. So due to that, by making, developing developing respect and so forth towards the Buddha, one one one attains or one yeah. One attains or collects great amount of merit. And so and then when one look at the the the representation of Buddha and the moment at the looking itself becomes a virtuous action. Even when a person look at Buddha even a angry person look the angry person look at Buddha, the time of looking itself of that angry person becomes virtuous.
And so if one looks at the photographs of Buddhas in in one’s house or one’s room and and it becomes one by by doing that, looking that one leaves the imprints of seeing the real Buddha in future. So it is because if one sees that the picture of the Buddha is as a real Buddha, then by the exalted wisdom, Buddha’s exalted wisdoms itself comes into the the photograph of the Buddha, into into the photograph of Buddha. So being a Buddhist, in Buddhism the Buddha is the only one who gives you the advice or gives the precepts, and being a Buddhist one should not take refuge other than in the Buddha. It is because it’s said that a needle with two sharp tips cannot accomplish one’s meaning. The example for that is a needle with two heads can’t sew.
[Laughter] So it is like a needle with two tips will not accomplish its meaning. What it means is actually like, for example, in the normal life, a person who wants to do something and ask something ask a question to a person at the left and then later on, he didn’t believe or trust that person. He’s not sure. And he asked another one.
And then later, he he still have a doubt for that person. So later on, the both person on both side will know. Alright. So next time you ask the question, he will go find other people and he won’t trust me. So they won’t share the idea.
So this is like example of the step. So it is luck. So one should make sure before one choose one deity or or what one, the lama and so forth like, there are great many deities, great many lamas, great many spiritual communities and so forth and so it is good for one to, choose one, make decision before one choose and then once one choose then, give and stick with particular deity, lama and so forth single pointedly and practice and through this one will lead, finish or achieve one’s aim and one does like going to following search and search and not completing that and then choosing another one and then another one, by doing this it becomes like, it becomes later one will not able to accomplish one’s wishes. And the fact is that by going refuge in the Buddha, one does not necessarily need to go take refuge in others, because he has already instructed and he has the capability and he has also shown you the path to attain both the temporary and ultimate happiness. And then when one goes to take refuge in the Dharma, it is certain that the Dharma will never harm, towards both oneself and others it only brings happiness or helps. So as the Dharma only brings help towards oneself and others, when one takes refuge in the Dharma.
And for this one should always bring help towards others and should not cause any harm. And not only harming to others, sorry. So should not harm others as well as oneself. At this stage, one may there is a thinking, danger that one may think one will not harm oneself. But actually, one harms oneself.
For example, when one does the performs a negative action, it becomes that it becomes that one is harming oneself. Is because because it causes or it brings suffering to yeah, it brings suffering. So one harms others becomes the harm for others and one which brings suffering towards oneself is the harm towards oneself. So the abandoning the harm towards both oneself and others are the precepts of is the precept one should not be what one should negate and also means that becomes the precept of negation, neglecting or yeah, neglecting. And the bringing help towards both ones and others is the precept of taking or precept what should be done.
So one should always develop faith and respect to the dharma. Because all the methods of bringing help towards both oneself and others, as well as the method of stopping harm towards oneself and others, are taught in the dharma itself, and it also shows this in dharma texts like the Vinaya. So all the spiritual texts like the dharma textbooks which are not the actual dharma but it is representation of the dharma and so therefore because all the scripts have been written in that book so therefore one should consider the text as a dharma and will never place them, use them as a cushion or walk over the, put a step or walk over the text or place and leaving them on a floor and so forth. So one should not be doing one should not do such things and pay always develop a faith in the text as well. So, placing one’s mark on a text or putting the text under one’s feet or walking, putting your foot over the text, these things will accumulate a great store of demerits or non-virtues.
We should not do this. In the olden days, the great Kadampa masters, what they do is whenever they see a small, a single alphabet written on a if they find a pebble on a floor with a single alphabet on it, they just put it on, they take it off and put on their forehead and put it and place them in higher places. And and whenever they see someone is taking text in their hand like scriptures, just stand up and pay, they just stand on their feet and pay respects. And about the spiritual community or the Sangha, here the actual Sangha are the superior beings. A superior being, in the sense a being who realizes, who directly realizes emptiness and directly realizes the meanings of the Four Noble Truths and directly realizes the selflessness of persons.
So such persons are called the Aryas, and those beings are the actual Sangha or spiritual community. So while one takes refuge or develops faith and respect in the spiritual community, the Sangha, for that one should, being a Buddhist, accept the former and later rebirths, and in accepting the Triple Gem as refuge, one accepts the law of causes and effect. So as one accepts and agrees with these laws, one should never, by going refuge in Sangha, go or keep company with the persons who does not agree with the existence of former and later rebirths, Triple Gems and the law of cause and effect. It is because as that person is not Buddhist and does not agree with the law of cause and effect, having, accepting refuge and existence of former and later rebirth, by dealing by keeping company or dealing with such and such person, sooner or later there is more likely or or danger that one may become or or or one may become a follower of such person or agree on or may start believing with such person so that they’re not agreeing agreeing with those those laws and then may danger of developing a wrong view.
So the beings are like that at this stage because if if they go go with the good people or the right person, they themselves converting convert into good and right person and if they could go with the wrong person and not a good people then they all danger of becoming exactly like the bad person. For example, like a person who does not drink goes with the one who always drinks or groans. And then if that person goes with that person for a long time, sooner or later the the person become they will start drinking. So it’s like that. So it is also like a person who is not smoking goes with the smoker and sooner or later he becomes a smoker.
It is like when I first traveled from my home on the way to Lhasa to join the monastery and study the philosophy. So I, Rinpoche, had the Chinese businessmen’s company on the journey. And it was very cold winter. And every morning, those Chinese businessmen, they just smoke and they said, it is good, you know, it keeps you warm. And they’re just throwing some cigarettes for Rinpoche.
And then Rinpoche just started smoking one or two, and then later got used to it and then smoked until he reached Lhasa. And then and then later, I become a monk in monastery. And there are some monks. It’s not a proper. They sometimes they just use snuff, you know, just to wake them up, you know.
So and I wasn’t using any of the snuff, but by seeing being with the friends, there were some who who used the snuff and he’s he he did use some. And then, so it’s like when so one goes goes with a bad person then one start following the bad person’s activity and so likewise, I mean, I have used some snuffs in the early time in monastery and later when I take a bhikkhu vows from the the other. It’s called the Thamkang Rinpoche, who is the emanation of Maitreya, and so from him I take the bhikkhu vows and onward, I promise not to use any. So so there are many dangers that none that are which are likely to happen to you when one goes deals or cooperate with the such and such person. So it does not mean that one should because by going with that later on at the present one is Buddhist and by going with them there is a danger of losing one’s practice of Buddhist and one may become a non-Buddhist.
So it does not mean that one should not communicate with the person, but even when communicating, one should be very careful. And one should always try to go with the person who practices the Dharma and the person like the monks, nuns and lay people who does meditations and so forth and always go with and be with spiritual friends and spiritual community, try to be in spiritual community and meditate and practice as much as one can. So these advices are given by taking refuge in the spiritual community. So, one should always take refuge in the Triple Gem, and take refuge three times in the morning and three times at night, at all times, and go and make prostrations and so forth, and always make request, belief and trust in the Buddhadharma and Sangha, and always pray for Buddhadharma and Sangha to help at any time, or whatever one wants to do or whatever one wishes to have, always make requests and seek protection from Buddhadharma and Sangha. About the practice of refuge, the way of going refuge has been classified into three categories, like the teaching of the Lam Rim has been classified into three scopes.
So the way of taking refuge has been classified into three categories. It is because there are different causes of taking refuge. Taking refuge according to the lower, small scope has two causes: being terrified or afraid of the suffering of the lower realms, and then having faith in the Triple Gem, that terrifying is the first one. And then the second cause is having faith and belief that the Triple Gem, that the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has the capability or potential to protect you from the suffering, and by knowing this one takes refuge single-pointedly. That is the way of taking refuge according to the small scope. What does it mean to be terrified? It is like that.
Oneself is terrified. One self is terrified of the suffering of lower realms and so forth. And the way of taking refuge according to the medium scope is that one is terrified of the suffering of saṃsāra. The first one is the suffering of lower realms and the second one is being terrified by the suffering of saṃsāra, and knowing and believing that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha has the capability or potential to protect you, and by knowing this and through this, one taking refuge single-pointedly in the Triple Gem is the way of taking refuge in accordance with the middling scope. And the way of taking refuge in the great scope is that oneself is terrified, one is terrified of the suffering of lower realms as well as saṃsāra, that is the first one.
And the second is that and develop the great compassion I mean, feeling uneasiness and having a compassion and love or affection towards these these suffering beings and wanting them free from the suffering. And the third one is that knowing that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha has the capability or protects oneself from the suffering of lower realms and saṃsāra as well as they have the capability of freeing all sentient beings from the suffering. So by knowing this, taking refuge is done in the great scope, practice of great scope. So by having the different causes of taking refuge for that, there is different ways of taking refuge. So the way of taking refuge in the practice of the small scope is stated in the Guru Puja, saying that seeing the lower realms as like a blazing fire of suffering, which means one should see that taking a birth in the lower realms, which are the three lower states, and seeing those as a blazing fire, and feel how one would feel if one falls into that blazing fire of suffering, and by imagining one falls into that, one would undergo through great suffering.
One will suffer a lot. So by knowing this and feeling terrified of falling into the blazing fire of suffering, one should develop fear, and one should develop a faith in the refuge that they have the potential to protect you. One should understand that they have the potential to protect you from falling into the blazing fire of suffering.
And by knowing this, one should take refuge in the Buddhadharma and Sangha single-pointedly. And through this, you recite the refuge prayers. So the similar type of taking refuge is also stated by the great master Pabongka Rinpoche, saying that when one takes refuge, one should go with three reasons or through thinking in three different ways. So so there’s, three different ways of taking refuge and we’ll demonstrate the example here. It’s like example first.
Here, for example, say at this stage, say before one goes to sleep, during that time, before one goes to sleep, one can see everything in front of you, building walls and so and so. And then one falls asleep, and at that time one will not see anything, one cannot see anything, it’s only dark. And then while one is in sleep, then one dreams. And within the dream, one can see something. And then suddenly one wakes up and everything is back again.
So likewise, say, we are not dead at the moment. So at this time, we can see everything. And then at the time we die, it’s like we cannot see anything, it’s like sleep, and then we enter the intermediate state and it’s like dreaming. Within the intermediate state one sees things and one is busy searching for a rebirth, searching for a birth. And then finally, one finds the birth, and it’s like back again, seeing all the things once again, one is awake.
So when one takes refuge, first one is not died, but imagine that one has already died and been born in the hell realms like the reviving hell or a hot hell. Imagine that. And then been suffering in that hot realm and feel the sufferings of the hot realms, been burning and so on. And one cannot bear the sufferings of the hell realms and feels afraid, being terrified by the suffering of that hell realm, and is just looking for a refuge, and finally you find it: it is only the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha that are the only hope, the only protection from which one can be freed from the suffering, and by knowing this, go take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Yeah.
This is the first way of So when one goes refuge in this way, then later there is more likely to think that it’s just imagination. I don’t need to feel afraid because I’m not actually born or yeah. Born in those hell realms now. And so when one develops such a thought, then it is true that one has not died yet and is not born in the lower realms like those hell realms. But so at that time what one does is another way of taking refuge. When one feels such, develops such a thought, then another way of taking refuge, the second reason, is that it is true I have not been born in those hell realms yet, but I have all the conducive causes to take birth there, or all those causes, I have already collected the causes of taking birth in those hell realms, because I have cultivated enough negative deeds in this life as well as I have accumulated many negative deeds or bad, yeah, non-virtues from the beginningless time of previous lives.
So, and it is true that I have accumulated the, those courses to take both in the holograms. And it is true that we have accumulated numbers of negative deeds because we can examine or we can check by oneself to see that when one try to do memorize the text, one will not one is not able to memorize much and when one one cannot maintain the good concentration and even one cannot develop any realization even one does the meditation, it is because of having accumulated lots of negativities. So these things happen because of having accumulated many negative deeds and non-virtues. So one has a huge amount of negative deeds, such a huge amount of negativities. And can one purify all those negativities in this life?
Life? And the answer is we can more likely to say no because by seeing into one’s practices how much one does practice in daily life, I mean how much practices one does or one performs. So by looking into one’s practices it is more obvious, it becomes more clearer or obvious that one may one will not will one will not be able to purify all the negative witness in this lifetime. So as one cannot purify all the negativities, that negativities act as a cause and will let you be born in the hell realms. So think that one has not been born in hell yet, but think that you have done the same things as the person who has already been born in the hell realms, and the person in the hell realm was born there because of having done such and such causes or such and such negative deeds, and I have already done it.
So it seems likely that I will be born in the hell realms. So think that there’s hardly any difference between oneself and the person who is already in the hell realms. And then it is more or less the same, and then imagine whether one can bear the suffering of that hell realm or not, and by seeing that one will not be able to bear that, one feels afraid, and then says that it is the right time, and what I should do is search for a refuge. So through this one should take refuge. The third reason or third way is that, as we have dealt with this before, develop the faith and respect in Buddhadharma and Sangha, and have believed and have trust in them that they have all the potential and the capability to protect you from the suffering. And by knowing this one should take refuge.
So at this time one is not in the lower realms, and so before falling into the lower realms one should look for protection or the refuge to protect you, and take refuge in the Triple Gem, and then by taking refuge, follow and bring all the precepts or the advice into practice, and by following the instructions it is certain that one will avoid taking birth in the lower realms. So so during the instruction or during the practices, one should do the practice before the death and impermanence comes and because when in, when when does an impermanence actually comes or approaches, then one will not able to do the practice now. So one should do the practice before death comes. And for example, forget about the hell realms, practicing in the hell realms is impossible. See, even for the animal realms, like the cat, you should see whether they can practice or not.
You can obviously see they can’t. And say, like the cats, if you want if one teaches the Dharma, people not understand. And if you and they don’t know how to take refuge and they don’t know how to accumulate the merits. And even if you ask them to say these six syllable mantras or once, they can’t. They can’t.
So it has no qualities or the knowledge how to overcome the suffering and acquire the qualities that are like the way we have. And so it has no knowledge of cultivating the good causes, but it has a knowledge of how to cultivate the causes for the suffering. Can get angry and it can kill other animals and it can it has attachments and, yeah, do anything bad bad things. And so, I mean, so those cats in Australia, Australian cats are quite lucky. They don’t have much problem.
They are very happy. But the thing that if it’s, if we, the beings in those, the hell realms, hot realms and the cold realms, the hot realms I mean, hot realms beings have been born in the in the fire and then and the colds are in the mountains, snowy mountains and in the ice. So imagine that, I mean, forget about those beings to practice, they they don’t even remember the remember how to practice and always undergo undergoes through suffering. So if I’m born in such a hell realm, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has no potential to protect you. It is because the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the Triple Gem, has the capability to protect one who has developed faith and trust in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha that they have the capability of freeing you, and also by having faith and trust in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and performing the meditation and practices, through this, by doing this, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has the capability of protecting you.
If one doesn’t have faith and trust and doesn’t do meditation and practice, then even Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has no potential to protect such a person. Never mind the cats or the beings in the lower realms, even a human one who hasn’t got faith and so on, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has no potential to protect such a person. So for that reason it is stated that Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, these three, are the refuge or the protector for the one who seeks liberation. So by this one knows that it does not, it doesn’t say and said that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are the protector of all beings.
It means that they are the protector for the one who seeks liberation, who wishes to free from cyclic existence. So so it’s like that Buddha, Dharma, Sangha has the potential to protect or the refuge or protector for the one who seeks liberation. It is because both the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are able to protect or the students in the following way: they protect the student disciple through showing and giving the instruction, showing the path of what things to be done and what to be avoided, and the students, disciples, they follow the instruction and they bring all the hearing into the practice, and by combining one’s practice and the instructions of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, through this, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha can help that particular being. And by combining those two then one can attain the state of happiness without suffering. And so just a single side alone is not enough to protect one from the suffering. Say that the Buddhadharma and Sangha give the instruction and show the path of attaining the state of happiness without suffering, but the disciple, one who does not practice and follow the practice, then that single side of having the instruction of Buddhadharma and Sangha cannot help.
And also say one has the wish to practice and wants to free oneself from the suffering and wants to attain the state of happiness without suffering, but hasn’t got a teacher who gives, or Buddhadharma and Sangha who give the instruction of what things to be done and what things to be taken, then that single part, which is having the wishes and wanting to be free from suffering from the student’s side, is also not enough for one to be free from the suffering. So the fact is that both sides, from the instructions from the Buddhadharma and Sangha, and the practice of following the instructions from the student’s side, are needed to free one from the suffering and reach the ultimate state. For example, it is like, say, it’s that the Buddha Buddha’s compassion towards the sentient beings are the same and it is very it is like a very imagine that it is like a very sharp hook. But if a person who has no faith and who does not believe in the teachings and whose mind is not oriented towards the Dharma and one is not happy with doing practice and so forth, then such a person is like that upside down, or like a hook facing upward.
And then no matter how sharp the compassion of Buddha’s hook is, it never hooks the upward-facing hook. It always slips. So it’s like that. Buddha has affection and always wants to protect all sentient beings. And if a person or disciple who has faith and belief, who has faith in the Dharma and does the practice and does the meditation and practice and so forth, then such a person is like a ring, and then it really suits with the Buddha’s hook, and from the disciple’s side, he wishes to practice, he wants to be free, and also from the Buddha’s side, he wants to have compassion to free all sentient beings. And so the Buddha’s compassion, like the hook, really reaches and can hook the ring, this disciple who is like a ring, and then takes you to the top. So to do the Buddhist practice, one should start one’s practice from the middling scope, and the way of practicing in the middling scope is that it starts with taking refuge and studying the law of causes and effect.
So about the refuge and taking refuge, I think I have been very detailed through the the way of taking refuge and we have told this topic for a long time. So if one hasn’t have a proper understanding and proper does not perform a practice of refuge well, then it is very difficult for one to have the proper knowledge and to do the proper practice in the law of cause and effect. And without having that, then one has not the knowledge of the practice of the small scope. And without having a small scope, then one will not have the practice of mid middling. And not that, then one will not have the practice of the the great scope.
So what we do is we just go straight to practice the secret tantric practice and then start meditating on those wrathful deities and such. But the great masters like the Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, the master Tsongkhapa and so forth, what they said is first one should meditate on the renunciation, develop renunciation, and then meditate on bodhicitta, and then meditate on the views, and by doing this, and finally meditate upon the deities and so on. And he said that just and sometimes it is far it’s better to meditate upon the suffering of hell realms than meditating on deities. This is what they said. So so but it is because by by by meditating upon, meditate, you’re doing meditation on the suffering of the hell realms then one develops the, yeah, feel, then one will be terrified by the suffering and through this one started taking the refuge seeking protection. And after going refuge, then one will train in the law of cause and effect.