by Bandula Jayatilaka

When Western readers first encounter the Buddhist formula of refuge — "I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha" — the word "refuge" often misleads. It suggests flight, fear, or cowering. Bandula Jayatilaka, writing to soc.religion.eastern in March 1991, offers a careful correction: refuge in Buddhism is not escape from something threatening but orientation toward something beneficial. The Pali word is kalyana dhamma — beautiful or wholesome teaching.

This post arose in response to a question about what refuge means in Buddhism and whether suffering is really as total as the tradition seems to claim. Jayatilaka's answer draws on the Dhammapada, explains the meaning of dukkha as "unsatisfactoriness" rather than simple pain, and closes with a reflection on the Buddhist approach to wisdom — not blind faith, but honest, unbiased questioning of one's own responses. It is a clear, warm introduction to core Buddhist concepts from a practitioner who knew them from the inside.

"Refuge" in Buddhism is taken not as fleeing from something, but rather as seeking a betterment, benefit, or development — using some Pali terms, seeking kalyana dhamma.

A person seeking refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha does not do so out of fear. In the worldly sense the word refuge is used in different circumstances: people seeking refuge in fear of political prosecution, in fear of war, because of famine, and so on. In other religious senses it is not like going after a creator God either.

But the refuge in Buddhist teaching is going to these three — Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha — taking them as guidance. This is not done because Buddhists are afraid of Buddha, Dhamma, or Sangha, not because these three punish people who do not do so.

Why These Three?

Why seek the refuge of the Buddha? Buddha means the embodiment of enlightenment, of wisdom, of fearlessness. What is Dhamma? Dhamma shows the way to this enlightenment, wisdom, fearlessness. Who is Sangha? Sangha is the community of people who followed this Dhamma and attained enlightenment. These are a few statements of the qualities (out of many) of these three refuges.

One verse in the Dhammapada summarises these refuges:

Out of fear many people seek refuge of mountains, trees, buildings (religious — modern word) and so on. But these do not provide a fearless refuge, these do not provide the noblest refuge; by going after these refuges the unsatisfactoriness is not eliminated.

By seeking refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha; having developed a reflective insight into the Four Noble Truths — unsatisfactoriness, cause of unsatisfactoriness, enlightenment (or nirvana), and the Noble Eightfold Path — fearless refuge, the noble refuge is found.

On Questioning Suffering

The word "suffering" does not give the comprehensive meaning of dukkha. Whatever the word, the nature of the unsatisfactoriness is true. It does not matter whether it is perpetual or not, voluntary or involuntary — it affects everyone. The perception of this nature is the difficult thing.

As we are aware, there are people who like pain (sadists). Sometimes people develop cravings for pain itself. That is why some people get satisfaction from hurting others or themselves. On the other extreme, there are people so overwhelmed by the pleasures of life that they simply ignore the unsatisfactoriness. Similarly, there are people covered with views about life; because of this attachment to these views they ignore (voluntarily or involuntarily) the unsatisfactoriness. Some people, because of pride in themselves, try to cover up the unsatisfactoriness. Some, due to combinations of various reasons, try to deceive themselves regarding it.

So it is very hard for some people to look at their own lives honestly and reflect upon their true nature. However, the Buddhist teaching is to develop this impartiality and not get carried away by the earlier mentioned currents — views, pride, and so on. It is very essential to reflect upon our actions and our own lives so we know what we do and why we do things.

Even though the Buddhist idea is to understand this unsatisfactoriness, it is not meant for people to keep worrying about it, nor is it meant to hold on to another pessimistic view. It is a detached look at life with wisdom.

Wisdom, Not Blind Faith

Therefore, it is very useful to ask as we go along why we are responding in a given way. On the other hand, this questioning has to be done honestly, without being biased by views, other prejudices, or pleasures. There cannot be growth of wisdom with ignorance. One best way to eliminate ignorance within oneself is this question: "Why am I responding this way?" The Buddhist way of asking and answering this question is to live a life with consciousness, or awareness. This, accompanied with other qualities of the mind such as wisdom and compassion, becomes helpful.

There are many great benefits of wisdom. That is why Buddhist teachings encourage wisdom rather than following it with unquestioning belief or faith.

Colophon

Written by Bandula Jayatilaka, posted from the University of Houston (jetson.uh.edu) to soc.religion.eastern, 7 March 1991. A practitioner's response to questions about the nature of Buddhist refuge and dukkha, drawing on the Dhammapada.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].

🌲