What is to Take Refuge？｜03 Buddhism for Beginners

What is to Take Refuge？｜03 Buddhism for Beginners
Q 14: Why is the “initial turning of the Dharma wheel ” considered so important?
A: The Buddha’s initial turning of the Dharma wheel at Sarnath was a major event in Buddhism. From that moment, Buddhism was established and the Three Gems were complete.
Q 15: What are the Three Gems?
A: They refer to the Gem of the Buddha, the Awakened One; the Gem of the Dharma, the teachings given by the Buddha; and the Gem of the Sangha, the order of the Buddha’s monastic disciples. The three are called gems because they can lead people to cease evil and accomplish good, to free themselves from suffering and obtain happiness. They are rare and precious.
When the Buddha first turned the Dharma wheel, his five followers took refuge in him and and formed a Sangha. From that moment, the Three Gems were all in place.
Q 16: What is to “take refuge”?
A: Taking refuge means to turn towards and rely on completely, spirit and body. Those who have taken refuge in the Three Gems are Buddhists.
Q 17: Did many take refuge in the Three Gems during the Buddha’s lifetime?
A: Yes. After the Buddha’s initial turning of the Dharma wheel, many people took refuge as he gave his teachings from Sarnath to Magadha State. Among them there were three brothers with the family name of Kasyapa who used to be Zoroastrians. But they abandoned their original faith and led more than a thousand of their followers to take refuge in Buddhism. After the Buddha arrived in Rajgir, the capital of Magadha, many more took refuge, including renowned disciples such as Sariputra, Moggallana and Kasyapa. Afterwards, when the Buddha returned to his home town, his younger half-brother Nanda, his cousins Ananda and Devadatta, and his son Rahula all followed him and became monastic disciples. The Buddha’s aunt Prajapati also took refuge to become the first female monastic disciple. Even more people took refuge in the Three Gems without renouncing lay life.
Q 18: Whether male or female, one can choose to learn the Dharma with or without taking monastic vows?
A: Yes. Buddhism’s male monastics are called bhikkus, and female monastics are called bhikkunis. Male and female lay followers are called upasaka and upasika respectively. Together they are known as the four groups of disciples.
Q 19: Where did Shakyamuni Buddha travel and teach during his lifetime?
A: Mainly in central India. The places the Buddha resided for most of his lifetime were Rajgir and Sravasti, in the states of Magadha and Kosala respectively. Outside Rajgir was a bamboo forest, donated to the Buddha and his disciples by King Bimbisara. It was later known as Bamboo Grove Monastery. In Sravasti, Prince Jeta of Kosala and a rich merchant, Sudatta, together gave the Buddha a garden, subsequently named Jeta Grove Monastery. Gijjhakuta Hill (Vulture Peak), south of Rajgir, was another place where the Buddha gave many discourses. Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma for 49 years, until he passed into nirvana at the age of 80.
Q 20: What is “nirvana”?
A: Nirvana is a state that is very hard to describe with words. It carries the meanings of extinction, cessation, non-birth, inaction, peace and joy, liberation and death. It also connotes elimination of the karma of birth and death, transcendence of the rebirth cycle, perfection of wisdom and virtue, and achievement of an eternal, quiescent, steady and joyous state of liberation. Such a state can “only be known by sacred beings.” It cannot be measured with concepts such as “present,” “absent,” “coming” and “going.” It is an unfathomable state of liberation.
To describe it thus with words is already very inaccurate. The state of liberation is an actual experience obtained through spiritual practice in accordance with the Dharma. It cannot be deduced by the logic of worldly thinking.
Namo Amitabha Buddha
Compiled by Householder Fo’en
English translation : Householders Foqing and Folu
Edited by Householder Jingtu
Narrator: Fosu
Pure Land Buddhism Australia
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信受彌陀救度，專稱彌陀佛名；
願生彌陀淨土，廣度十方眾生。
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本願稱名，凡夫入報，
平生業成，現生不退。
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