| Translations of refuge | |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | शरण (IAST:śaraṇa) |
| Pali | saraṇa |
| Bengali | শরন (shôrôn) |
| Burmese | သရဏ (tharana) |
| Chinese | 皈依 (Pinyin:guīyī) |
| Indonesian | perlindungan, pelindung |
| Japanese | 帰依 (Rōmaji:kie) |
| Khmer | សរណៈ (saranak) |
| Korean | 귀의 (RR:gwiui) |
| Sinhala | සරණ (saraṇa) |
| Tamil | சரணம் (saranam / saran) |
| Tagalog | salanam (Baybayin:ᜐᜎᜈᜋ᜔) |
| Thai | สรณะ, ที่พึ่ง ที่ระลึก (RTGS:sarana, thi phueng thi raluek) |
| Vietnamese | quy y |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
| Translations of three jewels | |
|---|---|
| English | three jewels, three treasures, triple gem |
| Sanskrit | त्रिरत्न, रत्नत्रय (IAST:triratna,ratna-traya) |
| Pali | tiratana, ratanattaya |
| Burmese | ရတနာသုံးပါး (jadanà θóuɴ bá) |
| Chinese | 三宝, 三寶 (Pinyin:sānbǎo) |
| Indonesian | triratna, tiga permata, tiga mestika |
| Japanese | 三宝 (Rōmaji:sambō, sampō) |
| Korean | 삼보 (RR:sambo) |
| Tibetan | དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ, (dkon mchog gsum) |
| Thai | ไตรรัตน์,รัตนตรัย (RTGS:trairat, rattanatrai) |
| Vietnamese | tam bảo |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
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InBuddhism,refuge ortaking refuge refers to a religious practice which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Its object is typically theThree Jewels (also known as theTriple Gem,Three Treasures, orThree Refuges,Pali:ti-ratana orratana-ttaya;Sanskrit:tri-ratna orratna-traya), which are theBuddha, theDharma, and theSangha.[1][2] Taking refuge is a form of aspiration to lead a life with the Triple Gem at its core. In early Buddhist scriptures, taking refuge is an expression of determination to follow the Buddha's path, but not a relinquishing of responsibility.[3] Refuge is common to all major schools of Buddhism.
Since the period ofEarly Buddhism, allTheravada and mainstreamMahayana schools only take refuge in the Triple Gem. However, theVajrayana school includes an expanded refuge formula known as theThree Jewels and Three Roots.[4]
Since the period ofEarly Buddhism,devotees expressed their faith through the act of taking refuge, which is threefold. These are the three supports or jewels in which a Sutrayana Buddhist takes refuge:
In this, it centres on the authority of a Buddha as a supremely awakened being, by assenting to a role for a Buddha as a teacher of both humans anddevās (heavenly beings). This often includes other Buddhas from the past, and Buddhas who have not yet arisen. Secondly, the taking of refuge honours the truth and efficacy of the Buddha'sspiritual doctrine, which includes the characteristics ofphenomenon (Pali:saṅkhāra) such as theirimpermanence (Pali:anicca), and theNoble Eightfold Path to liberation.[7][3] The taking of refuge ends with the acceptance of worthiness of thecommunity of spiritually developed followers (the saṅgha), which is mostly defined as the monastic community, but may also include lay people and evendevās provided they arenearly or completely enlightened.[8][2] Early Buddhism did not includebodhisattvas in the Three Refuges, because they were considered to still be on the path to enlightenment.[9]
Early texts describe the saṅgha as a "field of merit", because early Buddhists regardofferings to them as particularly karmically fruitful.[8] Lay devotees support and revere the saṅgha, of which they believe it will render them merit and bring them closer to enlightenment.[10] At the same time, the Buddhist monk is given a significant role in promoting and upholding faith among laypeople. Although many examples in the canon are mentioned of well-behaved monks, there are also cases of monks misbehaving. In such cases, the texts describe that the Buddha responds with great sensitivity to the perceptions of the lay community. When the Buddha sets out new rules in themonastic code to deal with the wrongdoings of his monastics, he usually states that such behavior should be curbed, because it would not "persuade non-believers" and "believers will turn away". He expects monks, nuns and novices not only to lead the spiritual life for their own benefit, but also to uphold the faith of the people. On the other hand, they are not to take the task of inspiring faith to the extent of hypocrisy or inappropriateness, for example, by taking on other professions apart from being a monastic, or by courting favours by giving items to the laypeople.[5][6]
Faith in the three jewels is an important teaching element in bothTheravada andMahayana traditions. In contrast to perceived Western notions of faith, faith in Buddhism arises from accumulated experience andreasoning. In theKalama Sutra, the Buddha explicitly argues against simply followingauthority ortradition, particularly those of religions contemporary to the Buddha's time.[11] There remains value for a degree of trusting confidence and belief in Buddhism, primarily in the spiritual attainment and salvation orenlightenment. Faith in Buddhism centres on belief in the Three Jewels.
InMahayana Buddhism, the three jewels are understood in a different sense than inSravakayana or non-Mahayana forms of Buddhism. For example, the Buddha is usually explained through the Mahayana doctrine of the three bodies (trikaya).
According to the Mahayana treatise titledRatnagotravibhāga (Analysis of the Jeweled Lineage), the true meaning of the triple gem is as follows:[12]
According to the Tibetan Buddhist masterLongchenpa:
According to the Mahayana approach, thebuddha is the totality of thethree kayas; the dharma encompasses scriptural transmission (contained in thesutras and tantras) and the realization of one’s self-knowing timeless awareness (including the views, states of meditative absorption, and so forth associated with stages such as those of development and completion); and the sangha is made up ofbodhisattvas,masters of awareness, and other spiritually advanced beings (other than buddhas) whose nature is such that they are on the paths of learning and no more learning.[13]
Thus, for Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha jewel includes innumerable Buddhas (likeAmitabha,Vajradhara andVairocana), not just Sakyamuni Buddha. Likewise, the Dharma jewel includes theMahayana sutras and (for certain sects of Mahayana) may also include theBuddhist tantras, not just theTripitaka. Finally, the Sangha jewel includes numerous beings that are not part of the monastic sangha proper, including high level bodhisattvas likeAvalokiteshvara,Vajrapani,Manjushri and so on.
According to theŚrīmālā Sūtra, the Dharma and Sangha are "partial refuges," while the Buddha, possessed of limitless compassion and not being bound by time, is the supreme and ultimate refuge. The Dharma and Sangha are limited refuges in relation to the Buddha because the Dharma attains theDharmakāya while the Sangha, being afraid, looks to theTathāgata for refuge. Therefore, to go for refuge in the Dharma and Sangha is ultimately to go for refuge in the Tathāgata, who is thus the supreme truth of the three jewels. Furthermore, the Dharma and Sangha are not separate from the Tathāgata who is identical to the three refuges "because of the path of the One Vehicle" (Ekayāna).[14][15] Additionally, according to theŚrīmālā Sūtra, of theFour Noble Truths, the noble truth of the extinction of suffering is the one refuge, as it is permanent and separate from the conditioned. It is therefore not false or deceptive in nature. Conversely, the other three noble truths are impermanent, conditioned, and are thus false and deceptive in nature.[16]
According to theRatnagotravibhāga, the Buddha alone is considered to be a true and permanent refuge. This is because the Dharma (as doctrine) is like a boat that is ultimately abandoned. Also, the Dharma (as realization) is made up of the truth of the path and the truth of cessation, but the former is artificial and impermanent while the latter is, according tośrāvakas, a mere absence of defilement and suffering. An absence, or nonexistence, can be neither a refuge nor non-refuge. As for the Sangha, it is possessed of fear and has many things still to be done, having not yet attained perfect enlightenment. Being with fear, the Sangha goes for refuge in the Buddha. However, that which goes for refuge in others cannot be a refuge by itself.[note 1] Therefore, theRatnagotravibhāga considers the Dharma and Sangha to be temporary refuges, while the Buddha jewel is an eternal and lasting refuge. This is because the Buddha jewel possesses the Dharmakāya and neither arises nor disappears.[18]
InChan Buddhism, it is taught in thePlatform Sūtra that, rather than take refuge in external buddhas, one should take refuge in the buddha within oneself. In thePlatform Sūtra,Huineng urges his listeners to take refuge in the three jewels of their own essential nature. According to this explanation, "Buddha" refers to awareness, "Dharma" refers to truth, and "Sangha" to purity.[19] ThePlatform Sūtra says:
Learned Audience, each of you should consider and examine this point for yourself, and let not your energy be misapplied. The sūtra distinctly says that we should take refuge in the Buddha within ourselves; it does not suggest that we should take refuge in other buddhas. [Moreover], if we do not take refuge in the buddha within ourselves, there is no other place for us to retreat.[20][note 2]
Mahāyāna sources may speak of the three refuges according tonon-dual interpretations which do not regard them as three separate entities. For example, in theMahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, one reads:
Good man, now you should not distinguish among the Three Jewels asśrāvakas and ordinary people do. In the Mahāyāna, there is nothing that marks the three refuges as separate. Why do I say this? Because the dharma and the sangha exist within thebuddha-nature itself. It was in order to ferry śrāvakas and ordinary people to the other shore that I separately expounded different marks for each of the three refuges.[22]
TheMahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra also emphasizes that since the Buddha "is permanently abiding and immutable," the Dharma and the Sangha are also permanent.[23] Thus, the sutra affirms that "the Three Jewels all abide permanently."[24] InChan materials one also finds definitions according to which the three jewels are inseparable in and as mind, or heart (xin), such as when the second patriarchHuike explains, "This Heart is Buddha, this Heart is Dharma; Dharma and Buddha are not two. The jewel of the Sangha is like this too."[25] Likewise, theTsung Ching Record ofDazhu Huihai states:
Mind is the Buddha and it is needless to use this Buddha to seek the Buddha. Mind is the Dharma and it is needless to use this Dharma to seek the Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are not separate entities and their togetherness forms the Sangha. Such is the meaning of Three Jewels in One Substance.[26][note 3]
InTibetan Buddhism there are three refuge formulations, theOuter,Inner, andSecret forms of the Three Jewels. The 'Outer' form is the 'Triple Gem', (Sanskrit:triratna), the 'Inner' is the Three Roots and the 'Secret' form is the 'Three Bodies' ortrikaya of aBuddha.[4]
These alternative refuge formulations are employed by those undertakingdeity yoga and othertantric practices within the Tibetan BuddhistVajrayana tradition.[4]
The most used recitation inPali:[29]
Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
I take refuge in the Buddha.
Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
I take refuge in the Dharma.
Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
I take refuge in the Saṅgha.
Dutiyampi Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the second time, I take refuge in the Buddha.
Dutiyampi Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the second time, I take refuge in the Dharma.
Dutiyampi Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the second time, I take refuge in the Saṅgha.
Tatiyampi Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the third time, I take refuge in the Buddha.
Tatiyampi Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the third time, I take refuge in the Dharma.
Tatiyampi Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi.
For the third time, I take refuge in the Saṅgha.
Except this there are various recitations mentioned in Pali literature for taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Brett Shults proposes that Pali texts may employ theBrahmanical motif of a group of three refuges, as found inRig Veda 9.97.47, Rig Veda 6.46.9 andChandogya Upanishad 2.22.3-4.[30]
Lay followers often undertake five precepts in the same ceremony as they take the refuges.[31][32] Monks administer the precepts to the laypeople, which creates an additional psychological effect.[33] The five precepts are:[34]
A layperson who upholds the precepts is described in the texts as a "jewel among laymen".[35]
TheTriratna (Pali:ti-ratana orratana-ttaya;Sanskrit:tri-ratna orratna-traya) is aBuddhistsymbol, thought to visually represent theThree Jewels of Buddhism (theBuddha, theDhamma, theSangha).
The Triratna symbol is composed of:
On representations of thefootprint of the Buddha, the Triratna is usually also surmounted by theDhamma wheel.
The Triratna can be found onfrieze sculptures atSanchi as the symbol crowning a flag standard (2nd century BCE), as a symbol of the Buddha installed on the Buddha's throne (2nd century BCE), as the crowning decorative symbol on the later gates at thestupa in Sanchi (2nd century CE), or, very often on theBuddha footprint (starting from the 1st century CE).
The triratna can be further reinforced by being surmounted with three dharma wheels (one for each of the three jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha).
The triratna symbol is also callednandipada, or "bull's hoof", byHindus.
A number of examples of the triratna symbol appear on historical coins of Buddhist kingdoms in theIndian subcontinent. For example, the triratna appears on the first century BCE coins of theKuninda Kingdom. It also surmounts the depictions ofstupas, on some the coins ofAbdagases I of theIndo-Scythian of the first century CE and on the coins of theKushan Empire, such as those coined byVima Kadphises, also of the first century.
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