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1, 2, 3, 0 or 2 Refuges ?
(Late)
Buddhist (schools) scripture states that Gautama left home to resolve his
problem, i.e. his disgust of death = mata and the unpleasantness = dukkha it
engendered. Gautama had no Tathagata (later called Buddha), dhamma (i.e. law
or teaching) or sangha (i.e. a group of like minded) to help him, i.e. in
whom he could take refuge (Pali: sarana). He found refuge i.e. support, i.e.
shelter, to wit: sanctuary) only in (him-) self (= atta ??). Therefore he operated with only 1
refuge. Having
awakened completely (via samma-sambodhi) to the supreme goal (i.e. the
deathless = amata), the Tathagata (this is the name he took after he
had reached his supreme goal) invited others, specifically the professional
(but according to him misguided) itinerant beggars whom he had met earlier,
to take refuge in (i.e. trust) him (as guide) and in his law (i.e. dhamma). The initial 5 converts, therefore,
operated with 2 refuges; actually with 2 official and 1 unofficial refuge
since they no doubt had trust, firmed up by the Tathagata, in their own (=
atta) ability to reach the (in fact, his) supreme goal. Once a
community of followers (i.e. of refugees from death = mata) had been
established, newcomers (both professional and lay) were admitted to the sect
by taking refuge in the Buddha, the teaching, i.e. the dhamma, and in the
community of followers, i.e. the sangha. So now there were 3 refuges, accession being
verbalised as follows: Buddham saranam gakkhami“I go for
refuge (or, I entrust myself to) the Buddha” There is a
major problem here in that if this refuge had been introduced by the
Tathagata it would have been taken either in the Tathagata or the Bhagavat
(see Vin. 16.1), certainly not in ‘The Buddha’, who, as mythological
figure, was invented centuries later, possibly during the reign of Ashoka.
Alternately, ‘buddham’, taken to mean ‘awakening’, is a far more useful goal. Dhammam saranam gakkhami“I go for
refuge (or, I entrust myself to) the Dhamma” Sangham saranam gakkhami“I go for
refuge (or, I entrust myself to) the Sangha” Halfway
though his career, however, the Tathagata abolished the 3 refuges. (Vinaya, Mahavagga 28:3) But then, as
he was dying, he changed his mind again and prescribed 2 refuges (Mahaparinibbana sutta
2/33), to
wit: Note, this is Rhys Davids’ 1870 Anglican Christian version “Therefore, O Ananda, be ye
lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to the truth
as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the truth. Look not for refuge to anyone
besides yourselves.” The actual
version of what the Tathagata is alleged to have said goes: “tasmàtih ànanda atta dipà Therefore
Ananda own; or self, (or
atma?) lamp, light (or island
(unlikely)) viharatha atta saranà abiding own;
self, or (atma?) protection;
shelter; refuge; remembrance anañña
saranà,
dhamma dipà no other
protection;
remembrance dhamma lamp; light (or island) dhamma saranà anañña saranà” dhamma protection; remembrance no other protection; remembrance If you are
serious about understanding or even emulating the Tathagata’s pilgrimage to his
particular goal (i.e. the deathless), why not have a go at rendering the
above into readable English. You will then discover that there are two
fundamentally different ways of reading this saying but that the Christian
rendering seriously contradicts the fundamental assertion of The 3
Characteristics Sutta. The dying Tathagata prescribed 2 refuges, namely, trust in one’s own (= atta) ability - or the capacity of own-ness = atta (derived from atman) - to attain the supreme goal, and abiding in dhamma as road map. Note: If the bhikkhu accepts these two refuges, the most he can attain is freedom in the Tathagata’s dispensation ring-fenced by his dhamma. But the true bhikkhu, i.e. the one who seeks absolute homelessness, meaning, therefore, that he does not attach to any dhamma = sankhara (i.e. since all dhammas = sankharas are formed by conditions, hence uncertain effects rather than certain 1st causes), must drop the Tathagata’s dhamma and rely only on (him-?) self (own capacity ?), as Gautama had done. If this bhikkhu succeeds without support (of always conditioned) dhamma, he becomes free (to wit: goes beyond = gata) of supports as such (Pali: tatha), he becomes a Tathagata in his own right. Why, then, did the Tathagata
abolish the 3 refuges? The meanings of the name ‘Tathagata’ Views Index |