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Returning to Refuge (1) – The Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra (1)
When reciting the refuge, our mind must have the energy of peace and happiness, because we are clearly seeing the path, the place of refuge; that is, we are going upward (toward happiness, toward love), not going downward (toward suffering, toward pain). The secret of the practice is to maintain that awareness: every step, no matter how small, carries Boston or New York depending on the direction, just as on the path of practice, each moment contains awakening or delusion depending on where the mind is directed. When chanting “Buddham saranam gacchami, Dhammam saranam gacchami, Sangham saranam gacchami” three times (the Threefold Refuge), we need to recognize the three levels of taking refuge:
- First time: clearly seeing the act of taking refuge – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha are external places of refuge;
- Second time: clearly seeing the result of taking refuge – we have a bright and beautiful direction, a Dharma door of transformation illuminated by the Sangha;
- Third time: clearly seeing the inner reality – the nature of awakening, Dharma nature, and Sangha nature manifest together in our own being, and we give rise to the aspiration to open the bodhi heart and build the fourfold community, embracing and transforming all beings.
In the “Universal Worthy’s Practices and Vows” chapter (Avatamsaka Sutra, Chapter 36), wisdom eye – practice – vow are expressed through the ten great vows:
- with body, speech, and mind purified, to respectfully bow to countless Buddhas;
- to praise the ocean of virtues of the Thus Come One with an ocean of sound;
- to make offerings of the finest flowers, music, incense, lamps, and canopies;
- to repent of all karmic obstacles created by beginningless greed, hatred, and ignorance;
- to rejoice in the merits of all beings – those still learning, those beyond learning, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas;
- to invite all Buddhas to turn the Dharma wheel to liberate the world, and to encourage the Buddhas to remain in the world;
- (… and continuing to) vow to build the fourfold community – monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen – to embrace, protect, guide, and transform all beings.
