Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche: Explanation on Taking Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows

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Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche: Explanation on Taking Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

On the full moon day of Saga Dawa month which celebrates Buddha Shakyamuni's birth, enlightenment, and nirvana, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche gives refuge and Bodhisattva vows in Buddha Pada, a new Buddhist center located in Kalimpong, India. Rinpoche explains the meaning of refuge, why we take refuge and then leads us step by step to receive refuge and the Bodhisattva vows.

Taking refuge and Bodhisattva vows:

All you buddhas who dwell in the ten directions, all you great bodhisattvas on the ten levels, all you great teachers, the vajra-holders, turn your mind towards me, I pray!

Until I realize the essence of enlightenment,
I take refuge in the buddhas,
And likewise in the Dharma,
And the assembly of bodhisattvas.
(Three times)

Just as the sugatas of former times
Aroused the bodhicitta
And established themselves by stages
In the training of a bodhisattva,

Just so, for the benefit of beings
I will arouse bodhicitta
And likewise I will train
Progressively in those disciplines.
(Three times)

Today, my birth has been fruitful
I have well obtained a human existence.
Today I am born into the family of the buddhas:
I have become a son or daughter of the buddhas.

From now on, at all costs, I will perform
The actions befitting to my family.
I will not be a stain
On this faultless noble family.

Just like a blind person
Happening upon a priceless jewel in a heap of rubbish,
So, through some fortunate coincidence,
The bodhicitta has been born in me.

Today, in the presence of all the protectors,
I invite all beings to the state of sugata,
And, meanwhile, to happiness and bliss:
Gods, asuras and others—rejoice!

Citation

Khyentse, Dzongsar. "Explanation on Taking Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows." Recorded at Buddha Pada Buddhist Center, Kalimpong, India, June 14, 2022. Video, 27:12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDg2w-jC1Vs.

Interconnections

Works related to this item

Śaraṇagamana - The foundational act of entering the Buddhist path by formally seeking protection and guidance from the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. Skt शरणगमन  Tib སྐྱབས་འགྲོ་  Ch 皈依  

Go to the page with the definition of 'refuge'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Bodhisattva'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhisattvas'

Bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt बोधिचित्त  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས།  Ch 菩提心  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhicitta'

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

Go to the page with the definition of 'bodhisattva'