Here comes an offering, its a song where we are singing the ”Refuge” – chant. The traditional meaning of this chant is:

”…We takes Refuge in the historical Buddha, the supreme Teacher who lived in India 2,500 years ago. Taking Refuge in the Buddha also means relying on our own innate potential to achieve the same state of enlightenment as the Buddha...” Dechen

A more contemporary meaning or way of putting it might be that we not only take refuge in our potential to achive the awakened state of the Buddha, but that our innate nature is one with the Buddha now and always ha been. That our True Nature is that awakened state and we just dont see it because of our delusions, projections, beliefs and ideas. Taking refuge then becomes something we do to that truth within us, which is one with all Buddhas of alla times that have been and will be.

Taking refuge in the dharma: ”The dharma is the Buddha’s teaching. Taking Refuge in the dharma means having confidence in your own experiences of the value and effectiveness of the dharma...” Dechen

I would say that we take refuge in the teachings of the dharma and the teachings handed down by thousands of years and that this gives us comfort in a longstanding tradition. The way that the buddhist teachings have become colored by different cultures cannot be denied and like with the times passing, different modes of thinking will affect the texts. Therefore I think we should be careful and not take any texts as absolute truths ever.

”The sangha is the Buddhist community, the spiritual companions with you practice the dharma. The sangha also represents beings who have achieved great realisation and spiritual understanding by following the Buddha’s teaching…” Dechen

Here I totally agree and only like to add that the Buddha is to have said that the sangha is the most important of these three. Therefore our friends of likeminded people are the vessel and give us the support that we need in order to travel on our spiritual journey. A teacher is important and the teachings are important but the friends on the road is the most important. From suffering to liberation.

Below you find a link to listen to the Refuge in a contemporary song under the beautiful blue Buddha of healing. May our world be healed.

https://soundcloud.com/kali-franciska-von-koch/refuge

Beyond beyond beyond the beyond – liberation – swaha!