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I’m actually in a Buddhist retreat for a few days, which is why I will keep this article very short. More on the retreat later on. We were talking about what could be a lasting refuge?

In short, all Buddhists take refuge to what they call the three jewels: The Buddha, his teachings, and the friends on the way.

Buddha is not a name, rather it simply means “awakened”. Neither was or is Buddha some kind of God figure. Instead, the word describes the enlightened state that was first reached by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in our age. When we take refuge to Buddha, we actually aim to discover the awakened nature that is already in us, as displayed by the historical Buddha.

The teachings, or dharma, were given by the Buddha in order to show the path to end all suffering, or to become enlightened. They are said to be 84,000 in number, and the Buddha is supposed to have said when he died at 80 that he did not keep anything in his closed hand, that he has given all the teachings we could need, so he can leave his body satisfied.

The friends on the way, the boddhisatvas or sangha, stand for the community of fellow Buddhists who often help us to not stray too far from the path to enlightenment. Indeed, I have experienced the sangha to be extremely helpful, friendly, and cool people, but I guess that depends on your lineage.

Tibetan Buddhists also take refuge to the lama – the teacher. In most Tibetan Buddhist lineages, the teacher is an extremely important figure who has the power of immensely speeding up your progress. Which brings us to the topic of the different streams, sects, and lineages of Buddhism. To be continued …

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Avid sagesex readers ought to have noticed by now that I have taken an active interest in Buddhism lately. In fact I have taken what Buddhists call refuge more than two months ago. In this series of posts I want to give a very subjective account of what I am experiencing in this often misunderstood new world.

So what is this refuge I have mentioned? I think this might be one of the most appropriate entry points, since not only does this mark the typical beginning of the Buddhist path, but from what I understand this ritual also unites most if not all of the countless Buddhist sects. More on these sects in another post.

I’ve taken refuge. This might sound a little cowardly to you at first. Far from that. I’m not fleeing from anything. But I’ve started a journey towards liberation, one that might be long and tiring. At least the direction feels right. From what am I taking refuge, and to whom or what? I’ve been told that the Tibetan term for refuge literally means “protection from suffering”, and in a way, this is what Buddhism is about. You might have heard of the four noble truths. The first one is: There is suffering. This first truism is probably the reason why so many in the west, including myself, used to believe that Buddhism is a rather pessimist religion. Here’s why it isn’t.

The second truth says that there is a cause for all the suffering. Still not very optimistic, is it? But it’s getting better, because number three says there is an end to suffering! And, differently from say Christianity or Islam, Buddha says in truth #4 that there is a means to that end, and we might reach the end of suffering even in this life.

If you think about it, though there are many pleasures in life, in the end they all result in suffering. I’m sure that you can think of many ways in which this might happen. One of these is the simple fact that all good things in life end (at the latest when your life ends), and thereby create suffering. That is why, even though we look for refuge in all these wordly things all the time, they can never be a lasting solution. If you are clinging to money, drugs, sex, relationships, family, ideology, people, whatever gets you high, very soon it will let you down.

That is why Buddhists take refuge, or seek protection from suffering. But what could provide lasting refuge? More on that in tomorrow’s installment.

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