Taking Refuge

The first step to becoming a Buddhist is to take refuge. Taking refuge is not a ritual of sorts: it's a rite of passage. It is the first step that we take to practice the Buddha's most basic teaching: that is to take responsibility for ourselves and our own 'fate' and 'destiny'.  The word taking refuge itself does not imply that you have just joined a new group of people, but it marks a personal journey.

There is no such thing as salvation after refuge in Buddhism: it is all up to one's individual effort for self improvement and to change what is going on. The teachings of the Buddha, the Dharma isnt a holy way to get you out of trouble and unhappy situations: it just shows the results of certain actions, and their outcome, as well as the best way to go about things. It's not some magical formula that will make your troubles go away or make you belong to the Buddhist gang. The Dharma is holy because if we apply it we can achieve something more than just fame, money or temporary peace; else its just text and words and knowledge.

Living beings are conditioned to take advantage of other beings around them, or whomever they can get their hands to. That's our first instinct: what can our parents, family, friends do for us and how do we get them to do it. And over time this mentality has unhappy repercussions, unless we are able to shift it from that to "what can i do for them?" The whole point of refuge is to give ourselves a turning point to turn away from that mentality that would bring us to unhappiness.

Taking refuge also means taking responsibility: that whatever that happens is a result of our past actions, irregardless of whether or not we remember and we will not blame others for it. And that is the basis of Karma: we get what we have did for. 

In short, taking refuge is taking refuge from the causes of creating unhappiness from ourselves as nobody is capable of stopping that from happening. It's the mark of a beginning in doing something with what we need to do after we have set the goals: after understanding the Dharma, and that if we want to end suffering, we need to take the first step. And taking refuge is a reminder of this. It is a promise to ourselves to stop hurting others consciously and that we accept Buddhist teachings no matter how harsh it is to our ears and practice it no matter how hard it sounds.

There are a set of vows that a Buddhist must keep after taking refuge:

Body

1. No Killing
2. No Stealing
3. No Sexual Misconduct
   

Speech

1. No Lying
2. No Idle Chatter
3. No Divisive Speech
4. No Harsh Words
   

Mind

1. No Hatred
2. No Covetousness
3. No Wrong View

We'll take a look at these vows later as each and every vow can take quite sometime to explain; some are quite straightforward, while some requires explanations.

In addition to this 10 vows that are meant to reduce our chances of hurting others, there is some additional vows to cement our mind to committing in practicing the Dharma for the sake of others. 

THE REFUGE COMMITMENTS

1. Not to go for refuge to teachers who contradict Buddha’s view, or to Samsaric gods.

2. To regard any image of a Buddha as an actual Buddha

3. Not to harm others

4. To regard all Dharma Scriptures as the actual Dharma Jewel

5. Not to allow ourselves to be influenced by people who reject the Buddha’s teachings

6. To regard anyone who wears the robes of an ordained person as an actual Sangha Jewel.

7. To go for refuge to the Three Jewels again and again remembering their good qualities and the differences between them.

8. To offer the first portion of whatever we eat and drink to the Three Jewels, while remembering their kindness

9. With compassion, always encourage others to go for refuge

10. To go for refuge at least 3 times during the day and 3 times during the night, remembering the benefits of going for refuge

11. To perform every action with complete trust in the Three Jewels

12. Never to forsake the Three Jewels, even at the cost of our lives, or even as a joke

these additional vows may or may not be accepted by every "buddhist", but nevertheless, they need to be observed if one considers oneself to have taken refuge.


Taking refuge can happen with an ordained member of the Sangha, (spiritual community) or if that is not accessible, can be done in front of a Buddha statue. Holding these vows determines whether or not you have taken refuge, and not whether or not an illustrious Buddhist teacher has done the ceremony for you and then you go around taking other religions as your base. It's more if you hold the vows. But of course we cant do it all at once to be perfect but the key here is to always remember them and apply them when the situation demands -- until it becomes natural.


References taken from: http://tsemtulku.com/resources/guidelines/the-refuge-vows/ and http://www.kechara.com/kids-corner/submissions//what-taking-refuge-means/