iv_everdumbening_three_refuges
frAnk you said, "i believe in taking the three refuges (when i'm paying enough attention)."

what do you mean by that?
021229
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frank note*

i looked it up and noticed there is an abundance of information defining them, which, by the way is very cool, so i think my question is directed more at your personal belief in them and how you go about keeping them true to yourself in your world.
021229
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Strideo What are the Three Refuges?

A refuge is a place where people go when they are distressed or when they need safety and security. There are many types of refuges. When people are unhappy, they take refuge with their friends, when they are worried and frightened, they may take refuge in false hopes and beliefs. As they approach death, they might take refuge in the belief in an eternal heaven. But, as the Buddha says, none of these are true refuges because they do not give comfort and security based on reality.

Truly these are not safe refuges,
not the refuge supreme.
Not the refuge whereby one is
freed from all sorrow.

But to take refuge in the
Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha
and to see with real understanding
the Four Noble Truths.

Suffering, the cause of suffering,
the transcending of suffering and
the Noble Eightfold Path that leads
to the transcending of suffering.

This indeed is a safe refuge,
it is the refuge supreme.
It is the refuge whereby one is
freed from all suffering.

Taking Refuge in the Buddha is a confident acceptance of the fact that one can become fully enlightened of the fact that one can become fully enlightened and perfected just as the Buddha was. Taking Refuge in the Dhamma means understanding the Four Noble Truths and basing one's life on the Noble Eightfold Path. Taking Refuge in the Sangha means looking for support, inspiration and guidance from all who walk the Noble Eightfold Path. Doing this one becomes a Buddhist and thus takes the first step on the path towards Nirvana.

""

.
021230
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Strideo Definition: The Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha. These are often recited as a means of confirming one's commitment to Buddhism. The formula is as follows: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the Dhamma; I take refuge in the Sangha.

""

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ever dumbening "I used to have a cat, an old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest. And some mornings I'd wake in daylight to find my body covered with paw prints in blood; I looked as though I'd been painted with roses.

I washed before the mirror in a daze, my twisted summer sleep still hung about me like sea kelp. What blood was this, and what roses? The sign on my body could have been an emblem or a stain, the keys to the kingdom or the mark of Cain. I never knew as I washed, and the blood streaked, faded, and finally disappeared, whether I'd purified myself or ruined the blood sign of the passover. We wake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery, rumors of death, beauty, violence.... 'Seem like we're just set down here,' a woman said to me recently, 'and don't nobody know why.'"

-from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Annie Dillard

~~~

You put forth the question. I pondered. The waters were slightly muddied. I shifted. I went to house sit for some friends of my parents. Annie Dillard sat patiently waiting, greeting me, leading me to a starting point. Like Mary Oliver, Annie Dillard springs from a special well for me.

So to this starting point then.

Waking. And waking to mystery. And mystery. And starting points. And hope.

The simple beauty of buddhism is that there is very little about it that is all or nothing. "IF YOU DON'T THIS, THEN THAT. ROAR." Not too much of that goes on. There aren't tons of absolutes and obligations. In buddhism: good is okay, bad is also okay, we are simply to notice both and how we react to them. The three refuges begin to explain why.

1. Within me is a great tool, the ability to recognize (if nothing else) where conflict within arises, and the ability to lessen that conflict.

2. There is a simple path. Simple on paper, but there's the challenge.

3. Others are on that path, steps ahead, steps behind. Others can be hawks--remember?

The three refuges are a kind of starting point, a point of hope, a nudge, a gentle reminder, to which I can return infinitely, while always being slightly farther along with each return.

The three refuges are a great reducer of the guilt I have collected.

The three refuges say: Wake up, and Pay attention to the mystery, and You don't have to figure it all out today. That's it. Little shavings pile up.
030103
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ever dumbening ps

I realize this is all rather vague, but I didn't want to give a treatise on buddhism. For those that have questions:
read a book
ask someone
write me
.
030103
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frAnk thanks james, for your well conceived and thoughtful answer. it is always a pleasure to ask you a question.

i am a spiritual man with a wide range in my belief system and i truly appreciate your enlightenment.

conflict and ways to lessen it. i love that.

continue on your path. the light is shining on you.
030103
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