The Refuge Secure

by Burleigh Custis

The world we inhabit is full of many fearful things.  The lives of each one of us at some time or another has been touched by deep sorrow, painful experiences, or tremendous loss.  We have been witness to awful acts of violence.  We have suffered at the hands of others’ greed.  We have been victims of unbridled hatred.    We have brought suffering upon ourselves by our own ignorance.

Such experiences invoke in us the need to find solace and comfort from these assaults.  In order to assauge the pain we undergo, we grasp after any faint glimmer of pleasantness and hold onto it firmly.  We hope that this might bring us protection from the constant upheaval which surrounds us.  For a time we do find relief, we forget momentarily what went before, and delight in the happiness at hand.  But then inevitably, that small thing we took hold of comes to an end as well, and what we thought would be true happiness itself becomes a sorrow.

Again and again this cycle repeats itself for us.  At last, out of desperation, we must stop and ask ourselves whether there can be no true, lasting release from the sufferings we undergo. 

Two and a half millenia ago, Prince Siddattha Gotama found himself engaged in the same quest for ultimate happiness, for an end to suffering in every sense of that word.  His search led him to many extreme experiences, from indulgence in sensual pleasures, to extreme forms of fasting and self-mortification. After finding disappointment in both of these ends, he began to pursue a spiritual practice that avoided all extremes, that held to the middle way.

This practice lead him to the final abandonment of all attachments, to release from craving that formerly had held him bound to constant seeking, to suffering, to rebirth.  His pursuit had lead him to a state of perfect bliss, and mental equipoise, where all defilements and miseries were not just momentarily checked, but completely eradicated.  He had arrived at the other shore of Nibbana.

 Having discovered a way out of suffering and rebirth, the Buddha, out of compassion for all his fellow beings still embroiled in the turmoil of Samsara, began to teach this practice of the Middle Way to others.  With the help of this Dhamma, soon many were also able to make the same journey to that other shore.  Those persons are known to us as the Ariya Sangha.

To this day, that same doctrine that the Buddha proclaimed to the world is leading people towards the true end of suffering.  Alone among all pursuits in the world, this pursuit of Nibbana is worthy of one’s total effort—this pursuit alone yields ultimate satisfaction. 

 The gift of Dhamma exceeds all other gifts.

The flavor of the Dhamma excels all other flavors.

Delight in the Dhamma surpasses all other delights.

The destruction of craving overcomes all suffering.

                                Dhmp.354

A Buddhist is formally defined as one who has sollemnly taken refuge in the Triple Gem, the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.  As followers of the Buddha and practitioners of the Dhamma, we should pursue the goal set before us with our utmost effort, and constant striving.  With the Buddha and the Sangha as our examples, we must diligently walk the middle path that leads to lasting peace.  As the season of Vassa begins, we turn our attention once more with renewed strength to our commitment to practicing Dhamma, to finding our refuge in the Triple Gem, and to striving towards to ultimate goal of Liberation.

Burleigh Custis
Austin, Texas