A Place Where One Belongs

I take refuge in awakening
I take refuge in the Way
I take refuge in my companions

—The Three Refuge Vows, from Pacific Zen’s Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way

What does it mean to take refuge? The dictionary defines it as “a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble.” It is entering a safe place.

At the same time, while most commonly the Chinese characters (三 帰) are translated as “the three refuges,” their direct translation means “the three returns: returning home, going to a place where one belongs, return from whence one came.” Indeed.

These vows form the basis for lay ordination, where the petitioner is given a small robe (rakusu) and a dharma name by her teacher. But we also use the vows as final koans in the Pacific Zen curriculum, as has been done in our school for more than a hundred years.

Our ancestral teacher, Harada Daiun (Great Cloud), who was ordained, lived, and taught as a Soto Zen monk, completed his koan study in the Rinzai school. He merged Soto form (ritual) with Rinzai substance (koans), a practice we generally follow today.

Evidently, Hakuin Ekaku, the 18th century Rinzai teacher who revived that school, only used the Ten Grave Vows for final koan study, leaving out the Three Refuge Vows and Three Pure Vows. Harada was highly critical of this practice, and included all sixteen vows in his koan curriculum.

Harada’s student, Yasutani Haku’un (White Cloud) writes of the Three Refuge Vows: “Taking refuge in the Three Treasures (awakening, the way, and our companions) is the most basic requirement for any follower of Buddhism, a requirement exceeding all others. Absolutely all other vows, including the Three Pure Vows and the Ten Grave Vows, entirely flow from these three. They are the very wellspring of the Buddha Way.”

The beauty of studying these vows as koans, however, is not in appreciating what our ancestral teachers thought of them. They are for us to hold in our own hearts and minds and to realize their meaning, for us personally, at this very time and very place.

What does it mean to take refuge in awakening? Only you can know for yourself. No ancestor can tell you. Over the months, as you sit with a vow, you will find it comes closer and more intimate in your life, “like someone drinking water, who they alone know whether it is cool or warm.”  

—Jon Joseph