Living the View is Refuge

The theme that runs through the levels of Buddhist Refuge is the refuge of no refuge.  Through practice we come to understand that there is no state or object that can give us safety from the neuroses of our own minds; that the only way we can be liberated from conditioned perception and response, and the confusion that arises from our attempts to separate emptiness and form, is to aspire to the enlightened state.  This confidence and Refuge can only remain alive and of use to us through practice  Living the View is Refuge: recognising the frustration and irritation we experience as opportunities for realisation, as much as the joy and love. 

Aro Encyclopaedia Index: Refuge by Ngakma Nor’dzin Pamo

Refuge

Refuge – what does the word mean in terms of dharma; and what does dharma mean?  Dharma—or chö—means as it is.  As it is is actuality, and to ‘take refuge’ means to establish confidence in actuality.
To take refuge is not to seek safety and assurances. It is to acknowledge that any form of security is illusory.  The pursuit of security is the root of our dualistic dilemma. To live this view in every moment is the goal of practice.

p85, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, ISBN 978-1-898185-06-2

Refuge

"We have to know that ultimate, everlasting happiness will not come if we could just get that new job, adopt a new lifestyle, clinch the business deal, buy a new house, change the type of car we drive, give up the car and buy a bike and trailer, if we become vegetarian or vegan, take more exercise, find our ideal partner, buy a new wardrobe of clothes, or have a change of scene, career, friends. We have to feel this enough to actually start practising and discovering experientially that the cause of our dissatisfaction is something fundamental in ourselves, rather than anything we can manipulate externally. We must realise that there is nothing in our lives we can manipulate and change that will ultimately quieten the feeling of unsatisfactoriness. It is our own relationship with experience that creates unhappiness."

refuge, Ngala Nor'dzin Pamo

Fourfold refuge

"The inner refuge is Lama, Yidam and Khandro/Pawo. Usually when we speak of refuge, in the Tibetan system we talk about a fourfold refuge which is Lama, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; this is a hybrid between the outer and the inner refuge. Lama is always put there first because without the Lama, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha do not exist. This is because someone has to exemplify the path. A path is all well and good; but if you cannot see anyone who has lived that, if you cannot see anyone who in some way exemplifies the fruit of that path, then what inspiration is there?"

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge

"Buddhism is always the refuge of no-refuge - it is complete. It is open – it is not closed. And it is wakeful – it is not hiding in some way. Sang-gyé kyab-su ché: I establish confidence in the actuality of complete, open wakefulness."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge

"Through practice we come to understand that there is no state or object that can give us safety from the neuroses of our own minds. We come to understand that the only way we can be liberated from conditioned perception and response, and the confusion that arises from our attempts to separate emptiness and form, is to aspire to the enlightened state and the spontaneous realisation of the non-duality of emptiness and form. This confidence and Refuge can only remain alive and of use to us through practice."

Refuge, Ngala Nor’dzin Pamo, Aro Encyclopaedia

Self-created illusory samsara

"Externally speaking, one should take refuge in sang-gyé, chö and gendün with devotion. But internally, sang-gyé, chö and gendün are symbolic. They are a profound and skilful way to lead us out of this self-created illusory samsara."

Dzogchen View of Tantric Ngöndro, His Holiness Düd'jom Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

The refuge of no-refuge

"Buddhism is always the refuge of no-refuge - it is complete. It is open – it is not closed. And it is wakeful – it is not hiding in some way. Sang-gyé kyab-su ché: I establish confidence in the actuality of complete, open wakefulness."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge and Bodhicitta

"There is no refuge and bodhicitta greater than the comprehension of the non-duality of emptiness and form."

Seven Line Song, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge

"Refuge – we seek protection from our own conceptual minds: from our compulsion to split reality into dualistic view; from our addiction to conditioned responses rooted in preconception."

Refuge, Ngala Nor’dzin Pamo, Aro Encyclopaedia