You might notice that I notice about Buddhism a lot. A lot of pagans and magicians hold Buddhism with a lot of respect. In the words of Crowley paraphrased from somewhere in the begining of Magick ABA (Book 4), many famous religious leaders achieved attainment: Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha are among them, but the advantage with Buddha is that instead of recording what happened after attainment he focused on recording the path he took to attainment. So Buddhism provides us with an approach to religion which is not “here is the doctrine”, but instead “here is what you need to do to find this stuff out for yourself”.
Okay first I will preface by saying I’m learning in everything I do and often I find with Buddhism that there are people who have been studying it earnestly for decades and they are very quick to try and prove they have superior knowledge by telling me when I got something wrong. So please bare with me, I am a student in everything I do.
The focus of this article is to pull together my notes on the 3 jewels of Buddhism also commonly known as the 3 refuges. What is most significant about these jewels is that, these are often considered to be what makes a person Buddhist. Many Buddhist meetings will begin with 3 recitations of the phrase “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma (teaching), I take refuge in the Sangha (spiritual community)”.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu of Meta Forest Missionary writes that the Buddha would first introduce the 3 refuges. This was part of graduated course where he would first introduce the idea of pleasure gained from virtue and generosity, and rewards in heaven. When he sensed that an initiate was ready to hear the doctrine of renunciation he would move onto the 4 pillars.
To Take Refuge
When we think of taking refuge we often think about taking cover from the elements or finding safety in a house fleeing some danger. In ancient India it had associations with joining a house, often the house of a deity. In doing so you would have to assume the customs, law and rites of that house.
While in Buddhism there is no deity from whom you might seek protection it is accepted that the teaching provides protection from greed, anger and delusion.
To take refuge in the first gem is to take refuge in Buddha. Obviously this isn’t being protected by him, but by having faith in his awakening. In believing that he could awaken you then can have hope in the capacity for others to awaken.
To take refuge in the Dharma (or teaching), means to apply it to your life and experience the relief it gives you.
To take refuge in the Sangha (spiritual community) is to recognise that without the community we would have no teaching. Also being surrounded by the community we are challenged to be the best we can be, to give an example for others and to keep pursuing for ourselves.