Taking Refugeby Yukhok Chatralwa Chöying Rangdrol

This has two sections: 1) causal and resultant refuge, and 2) how to take refuge.

1. Causal and Resultant Refuge

The commentary to Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind says:

In this regard, according to the vehicle of characteristics, the wish to attainthe ultimate dharmakāya and realize it in one’s mind is the resultant refuge,and to take refuge in the Three Jewels as one’s guides until this has beenattained, thus creating the cause for its attainment, is the causal refuge.

And:

The followers of the secret mantra tradition seek to realize directly the natureof their own mind, which is innate buddhahood, present even now, and thenthey take refuge in the common sources of refuge, the outer Three Jewels,and, in the uncommon refuge, by resting in the nature of mind, which is, andalways has been, unborn. Thus, the Three Jewels of the various maṇḍalas andthe Three Jewels of the teachings in general are the causal sources of refuge,and taking refuge in them is the causal refuge. The resultant source of refugeis the nature of one’s own mind, naturally arising wisdom, in which theThree Jewels have always been present, and to rest in this nature, one-pointedly, without acceptance or rejection or any kind of fabrication orcontrivance, is the resultant refuge.

The fundamental nature of the mind itself has always—throughout timeimmemorial—been the nature of the resultant Three Jewels. If, through thekindness of the causal Three Jewels, we can awaken this potential and realizeit for ourselves, then our minds will be easily and swiftly afforded protectionand all our conceptual thoughts will be released by themselves in thefundamental expanse of clear light, without any opportunity for creatinghabitual tendencies.

2. How to Take RefugeThe Character of the Objects of Refuge

In the Three Jewels, and their essence, the sugatas,In the three roots: lama, yidam and khandro,In the channels, inner air, and tiklés, and their nature, the bodhicitta,In the mandala of essence, nature and compassion,

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I take refuge until enlightenment is fully realized.

In the tradition of the common vehicles, we consider the buddhas who possess thefour kayas and five wisdoms as our guides, the Dharma which has aspects of bothtransmission and realization as our path, and the irreversible saṅgha who have thequalities of knowledge and liberation as our companions as we practise along thepath. We take refuge in them with the wish that in future we will actuallyaccomplish these three for ourselves.

According to the general method of the uncommon secret mantra, we take refuge inthe ‘three roots’ in addition to the buddhas who have perfected abandonment andrealization. We offer our body, speech and mind to the lama, who is the source or‘root’ of all blessings. We rely upon the yidam deities, who arise in infinite peacefuland wrathful forms out of the peaceful state of the dharmakāya, and are the sourceof all siddhis. We take as our companions the wisdom ḍākinīs, who courseunimpededly throughout the unborn space of reality through the force of unceasingcompassion, and are the source of eliminating obstacles.

According to the special, sublime method of the Vajra Essence, we take refuge in theswift path whereby, we use the great vital essence of the channels as thenirmāṇakāya, as a support for attaining the enlightened body; we train the fiveindestructible wind-energies as the sambhogakāya, as a support for attaining theenlightened speech; and we purify the nature of the subtle essences as thedharmakāya, as a support for attaining the enlightened mind. In this specialapproach of the vajra body’s channels, energies and essences, the coarse and thesubtle channels, wind-energies and essences, together with any impurities, arise dueto the dynamic energy of the great tiklé of clear light, within which the ‘supported’experience of unchanging great bliss and the great emptiness that is endowed withthe supreme of all attributes are inseparably united. If we apply the method the pureexperience of primordial wisdom will dawn, but if we do not practise, the impureexperiences of delusion will arise. For this practice to take effect, it is crucial that youlearn the nature of the vajra body as it is taught in the tantras, commentaries andpith instructions.

The ultimate and infallible refuge in the natural state involves cultivating the greatultimate maṇḍala of the naturally arisen non-dual wisdom that is present within theminds of the sources of refuge, the bodhicitta consisting of the empty essence, whichis the dharmadhātu or emptiness endowed with the supreme of all attributes, thespontaneously perfect wisdom of the cognizant nature, and the wisdom of all-pervading compassion. Moreover, the empty essence is the dharmakaya, guru andBuddha; the cognizant nature is the sambhogakāya, yidam deity and Dharma; andthe all-pervasive compassion is the nirmāṇakāya, ḍākinī and saṅgha.

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Some people might wonder whether or not the extraordinary, uncommon sources ofrefuge found in the secret mantra can be included within the Buddha, Dharma andSaṅgha. In fact, they are included in the following way.

The guru could either be an ordinary being or an Ārya, so he or she is either amember of the saṅgha or included among the buddhas. In a general sense, we cansay that the yidam deities are alike in being embodiments of primordial wisdom, yetthey appear in peaceful or wrathful forms according to the nature of theirmanifestation, and therefore they are included within the Buddha jewel. The ḍākasand ḍākinīs are to be included among the inner saṅgha of vidyādharas, as is statedclearly in the Tantra of Yamāntaka and other texts.

The reason these three are spoken of separately as the ‘three roots’ is as follows.Although, in general, the gurus might be included among the buddhas or the saṅgha,the particular guru who grants us the instructions which mature and liberate isexceptionally kind, and therefore we take refuge knowing that he or she is the ‘root’or source of blessings. Although all the peaceful and wrathful yidam deities areincluded among the buddhas, we consider as special the deity on whose symbol ourflower alights during an empowerment and with whom we have a karmicconnection from our former lives, recognizing him or her as the source of allaccomplishments. Although we take refuge in all the ḍākas and ḍākinīs knowingthat they belong to the inner saṅgha of vidyādharas, we make special offerings tothose who are particularly close to us, acknowledging that they are the source forthe elimination of obstacles.

Consider that you take refuge with the attitude of a great being, from now until youattain unsurpassable enlightenment.

Visualization of the Field of Merit for Taking Refuge

Imagine that the whole area where you are seated and in all surrounding directionsis a beautiful and heavenly realm, made from various precious jewels. From theground there grows a wish-fulfilling tree with five main branches. It is laden withabundant leaves, flowers and fruit, and decorated with hanging ornaments, tiny bellsand such like. It fills the whole expanse of space. In its centre, upon a jewelledthrone supported by lions and seats of multi-coloured lotus, sun and moon, is theembodiment of all the buddhas—your own root master—in the form of Orgyen DorjeChang (‘the Vajradhara of Oḍḍiyāna’), who is blue in colour and holding vajra andbell.

(Note: Shabdrung Rinpoche1 used to say that to consider Guru Rinpoche as blue inthe refuge practice accords with the oral tradition of the Omniscient One [i.e. JigmeLingpa] himself. As it says in Secret Embodiment of the Guru, Lama Sangdü:

“Dark blue, with one face and two hands, naked, with three eyes and bone

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ornaments, his right hand holding a vajra at his heart, and his left handholding a bell and embracing the consort. He is seated with his two feet in thevajra posture. The consort is seated in his lap to the left side. She is thewisdom ḍākinī Yeshe Tsogyal, in the full beauty of a sixteen-year old youth.”

He is in union with his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, who is white and holding a hookedknife and skull-cup. They are adorned with silk and bone ornaments.

The Guru is seated in the vajra posture. Above his head are the masters of theDzogchen lineage, seated one above the other. They are surrounded by the root andlineage masters, the yidam deities of the various mandalas associated with the sixgreat classes of tantra, and an inconceivable number of ḍākas and ḍākinīs of thethree spheres.

On the branch in front are Śākyamuni Buddha and all the other buddhas of the threetimes, in nirmāṇakāya form. On the branch to the right is the Mahāyāna saṅgha,including the Eight Close Sons. On the branch to the left are Śāriputra andMaudgalyāyana, and the assembly of the noble saṅgha of śrāvakas. On the branch atthe back is the Jewel of the Dharma in the form of stacks of books, red in colour,from which the vowels and consonants resound by themselves.

In the space in between, there is a great ocean-like gathering of samaya-boundguardians, both those of wisdom and those in forms brought about by their own pastactions. They fill the whole area, without leaving any gaps.

‘Those in forms brought about by their own past actions’ refers to protectors such asthe twenty-eight iśvarīs, who transcend the world and yet still appear in worldlyforms created by their past karma and disturbing emotions like ordinary worldlybeings. For example, when Vajra Manuṣya Rakṣasi was the wife of Rāvaṇa, king ofthe Rākṣasas, she had the face of a rakṣasī, but then when she was abducted byRudra, she transformed her rakṣasī face into that of a yak.

Consider how all these deities have immeasurable qualities of wisdom, love andpower, and are actually present as great guides who care for you and lead you alongthe path to enlightenment.

You are seated before them with your father on your right and your mother on yourleft. In front of you are all the beings who have ever caused you harm; and in thewhole surrounding area are all the sentient beings of the six realms. You all showrespect with your body by folding your hands together; with your speech, you allchant resoundingly the verse for taking refuge; and with your mind, you think thefollowing:

“From now until we realize the heart of enlightenment, we take the master as ourguide, the yidams and buddhas as our teachers; the Dharma as our path; and the

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ḍākinīs, Dharma protectors and members of the saṅgha as companions along theway. We rely on you. We offer everything to you. We have no other refuge or hopebut you. Whatever we do, take care of us.”

Practise taking refuge with fervent devotion in this way as many times as possible.

At the end, rays of light stream out from the hearts of the refuge deities. They enteryour body and mind, and those of all other beings, and purify your emotional andcognitive obscurations and habitual patterns. Consider that your life span isextended, your merit increases, and your qualities of learning and realizationdevelop further and further. Rest in meditation for a while in a state that is free fromany mental grasping.

Alternatively, according to Patrul Rinpoche’s Brief Guide to the Stages ofVisualization:

At the end of the session consider that you and all the other beings fly upwith a whirring sound, like a flock of birds scattered by a sling-stone, anddissolve into the assembly of refuge deities.

Then the refuge gradually melts into light. In front, the buddhas all dissolveinto Śākyamuni. To the right, the bodhisattvas all dissolve intoAvalokiteśvara. To the left, the noble saṅgha of śrāvakas andpratyekabuddhas dissolves into Śāriputra. They all dissolve into the Dharmaat the back, and then this entire Jewel of the Dharma dissolves into GuruRinpoche. All the surrounding masters, yidams, Dharma protectors andguardians also dissolve into Guru Rinpoche who then dissolves slowly intothe light and disappears. Rest for a short while in a state that is free fromconceptual reference.

This is said to be the absolute refuge, or the ultimate resultant refuge according tothe mantrayāna. Mipham Rinpoche said:

At the end of the session, consider that the sources of refuge melt into lightand dissolve into you and all other beings, through which you all becomebuddhas. Then dedicate the merit.

The precepts and benefits may be understood from other sources.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, Rigpa Translations, 2006 (revised 2012). Thanks to Ringu TulkuRinpoche for his clarifications.

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1. This refers to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. ↩

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