The Three Refuges and Five Precepts.

[Joe Mc]

Honoring the Buddha:

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa
(Homage to the Blessed, Noble and Perfectly Enlightened One)

The Three Refuges:

buddham saranam gacchāmi / To the Buddha I go for refuge.
dhammam saranam gacchāmi / To the Dhamma I go for refuge.
sangham saranam gacchāmi / To the Sangha I go for refuge.

dutiyampi buddham saranam gacchāmi / For the second time...
dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchāmi / For the second time...
dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchāmi / For the second time...

tatiyampi buddham saranam gacchāmi / For the third time...
tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchāmi / For the third time...
tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchāmi / For the third time......

The Five Precepts

pānātipāta veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi.
I undertake the training to refrain from destroying living beings.

adinnadāna veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi.
I undertake the training to refrain from stealing or taking that which is not freely given.

kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyāmi.
I undertake the training to refrain from sexual misconduct.

musāvādā veramani sikkhāpadam samādayāmi.
I undertake the training to refrain from false speech.

surā-meraya-majja-pamādatthāna veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyami.
I undertake the training to refrain from taking intoxicants, which cause carelessness and cloud the mind.

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[Gem]

Most people on the internet don't really get it, but this bloke explains refuge pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6rfIDRWAyU

[Native spirit]

Interesting to watch


Namaste

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Gem

Most people on the internet don't really get it, but this bloke explains refuge pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6rfIDRWAyU

Thanks for the link Gem, I like what he says and it's a lived experience too.
I'm just looking around for some other stuff. Vince Cullen is interesting
from the recovery movement, what he says. Think I've told you about him
before.

https://5th-precept.org/fifth-precep...-vince-cullen/

He says that in his own experience 80 percent of suffering just dropped away for him and those around him by taking account of the 5th precept.
Also as many other teachers do, he stresses that there is no 'success' with meditation without the framework of the 5 precepts.

surā-meraya-majja-pamādatthāna veramani sikkhāpadam samādiyami.
I undertake the training to refrain from taking intoxicants, which cause carelessness and cloud the mind.


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I undertake the training to refrain from taking intoxicants, which cause carelessness and cloud the mind.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

I undertake the training to refrain from taking intoxicants, which cause carelessness and cloud the mind.

When I first started doing retreats, sila and refuge seemed like a ritual, 'say three times'. After a while it started to sink in that sila is about ending craving and refuge is about trust.

You trust in the enlightened quality of yourself, trust the way nature works and trust your spiritual community (wary about the third one). It follows that, as a community member, you have to be trustworthy and therefore moral, so sila. Otherwise, the sangha is not a safe refuge and you can forget the whole thing.

Maybe the bigger picture of truthfulness, purification, resolving sorrows and realising the enlightened quality of yourself is a better ambition - and the 5th sila is merely necessary to achieve any of that.

Hence I don't think Buddhism should be a 'recovery' strategy... but dealing with craving in the overall sense is pretty much what it's all about.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Gem

You trust in the enlightened quality of yourself, trust the way nature works and trust your spiritual community (wary about the third one). It follows that, as a community member, you have to be trustworthy and therefore moral, so sila. Otherwise, the sangha is not a safe refuge and you can forget the whole thing.
.

Thanks for your post Gem, Plenty to consider. Just a quick point for now about Sangha. The word Sangha has been used in different ways and contexts.
I think the 'hardcore' traditional meaning is a group of fully ordained monks, that go to make up the Sangha. That definition seems to be used alot still.

Then there are alot of other looser definitions of Sangha going all the way up to the whole human race in general. Any thoughts on this one ?
Also I was going to ask was your waryness around Sangha to do with power dynamics etc. etc. ? Thanks once again.

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[Gem]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

TSangha going all the way up to the whole human race in general. Any thoughts on this one ?
Also I was going to ask was your waryness around Sangha to do with power dynamics etc. etc. ?

I think context is important, so sangha can be different things in different contexts, but with the retreat thing there's teachers and the volunteers who make the food etc, so you rely on the sangha to support your own retreat.

It's about trust so it can't be 'all the people'. It's really reserved to the the teachers and/or the group of people you trust to mutually support each other along the spiritual path. Practice together and or belong to the same spiritual organisation - etc.

When you become a volunteer you become part of a peer group which is the sangha that people on retreat 'take refuge' in. We have codes of behaviour, daily meetings with teachers along with group metta meditations to make sure we stay more aligned with wholesome mind-states like compassion, forgiveness, understanding etc. - and don't get carried away with ill-will, animosity, gossip and so forth.

When it comes to sangha, people have to earn trust. Many schools out there are involved with corruption and degeneracy, and the monks and trustees are generally untrustworthy. They ask you to 'take refuge', but it's not a safe place to undergo purification.

An organisation has to be structured on a proper moral framework, have codes of behaviour based on moral foundations; and practices like group metta and continuous mindfulness are essential for the working staff. The staff have to work in dana, generosity, selfless service, to give and expect nothing in return. They are practicing, like, karma yoga, same as dana or generosity, so it's improper to pay or even thank them for all that they do. It's improper to charge anyone for retreat, but people who found value in the practice may give a donation if they want to help finance someone else's stay.

Once you pay for what you get, and get paid for what you give, it's going the wrong way from the start. That's how rare a really proper school is.

I know people aren't going to like it because we imagine spirituality as free and easy with petals, colours, smiles and hugs etc, but bringing about and establishing the right conditions for refuge is very important, and it's not simple.

[Redchic12]

I totally get what you are saying so I have only attended No speaking retreats.

So good to read about all the historical event and about the interesting conversation going on.

Thanks for sharing!!

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Glenda

So good to read about all the historical event and about the interesting conversation going on.

Thanks for sharing!!

Good to see you Glenda hope you are keeping well.

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