This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Refuge in the Dharma

Welcome, welcome. I want to say good evening because it's evening for me, but whenever you're listening to this, whether it's the morning or the afternoon, and wherever you are right now, welcome.

This talk tonight will be the second in a series that I am doing on refuge, exploring this topic. I have to say, for me, it's turned out to be really tender, much more than I expected it to be. Maybe in some ways we think, "Oh, refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, that's old or tired, or I've heard that a bazillion times." For those of you who have done a lot of retreat practice, you know that it's the custom to do the refuges at the beginning of each retreat, and there is always a little talk. I want to keep it a little bit fresh and new, and explore this in a slightly different way than perhaps we've heard it before.

Last week was refuge in the Buddha, tonight will be refuge in the Dharma, and next week will be refuge in the Sangha. Each week I'll unpack a little bit more about what refuge means, as well as talk about the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Sangha.

Refuge as a Transformation

Last week, I talked about refuge as being an orientation—a turning towards a direction that we're going. Tonight, I'd like to talk more about refuge being a transformation.

One way to explore this is through the commentaries—texts that were written maybe 800 to a thousand years after the time of the Buddha. Some Buddhists hold the commentaries as authoritative, and other Buddhists not so much. However we hold them, they always have some interesting ideas for us to explore and investigate. They describe refuge as something that slays. It's the idea of slaying, like with a sword in some way: it slays fear, it slays affliction, and refuge slays dukkha^[1].

To unpack that a little bit, if refuge is something that slays fear, affliction, and dukkha, then we can imagine or consider that going for refuge is a process of putting an end to dukkha. How does that work? Going for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha puts our experience in perspective. Sometimes just simply saying, "Oh yes, this is dukkha," helps us not get swept away, lost in, or overwhelmed by the experience. Even if the experience is terribly difficult suffering, or if it is just mild stress—whatever it might be—sometimes just recognizing, "Okay, this is dukkha," helps put it in perspective.

In the same way, we can recognize that we're not the only ones who have this experience. Part of the Buddha's teachings is that there is dukkha, there is suffering in this world and in the human experience, and we're not the only ones. This helps put our experience in perspective, which can help slay some of the fear or affliction.

Going for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha also helps the fear of the future or bitterness of the past to be diminished, and eventually put to rest. With this practice, we recognize the role that conditions have. We can put conditions in place that make it more likely there will be some ease and happiness in our future. We begin to understand that behaving ethically, gaining clarity, and understanding ourselves better is a way we can create a future that has more well-being and ease. This is not only for us, but for those around us and those we care about.

Taking refuge is a way we can have less fear about the future. We can also start to understand the past: "Oh yes, those were the conditions that were in place, and of course things unfolded that way. I didn't understand things, or I felt overwhelmed by my experience, and I did the best that I could at the time." Or maybe that other person did the best that they could at the time, but they didn't understand or didn't have the capacity to hold things, so they acted out. In this way, we can let go of bitterness about the past, bringing more ease and less affliction.

If we go for refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, there can be a sense of direction, or maybe even a sense of purpose. For some people, their Buddhist practice or the Buddhist teachings become an organizing principle that helps them make sense of their life and prioritize how they will spend their energy, effort, and resources. Going for refuge can be a way to say, "Okay, this is important. This is what I'm going to do with my life. I'm going to support this." Having a direction or a purpose to find greater ease and freedom for ourselves and others can be a tremendous support. It can slay the affliction of constantly wondering, "What should I be doing?"

Taking refuge in the Dharma doesn't give us the exact particulars of what we should be doing with our life, this hour, this day, this era, or this season. But maybe it clarifies what we shouldn't be doing. It helps us get in contact with our inner life and our inner experience, which makes it more clear what we can and should be doing. In this way, we could say that the Dharma slays fear, slays affliction, and slays dukkha.

Dharma as the Law of Nature

But when we say "the Dharma," what do we mean? Tonight I want to talk about two ways we can talk about the Dharma. One is as the natural unfolding of experience—the natural laws. Sometimes when we talk about Dharma in this way, it's closely associated with words like truth, law, or nature. We can also talk about the Dharma as the teachings of the Buddha, and in this way, we can think of the Dharma as a support.

The word Dharma is derived from the Sanskrit root dhṛ^[2], which means to hold, to bear, or to support. The verb that comes from that root is dharati, often translated as to carry or to hold. I like this idea of the Dharma being able to hold everything. It's not a perfect analogy, but I like the idea that the Dharma can hold and support whatever is arising in our experience.

To begin with the idea of Dharma as the way things are—the truth, nature, or law of things—there is a quote in the suttas that says: "Whether there is an arising of a Tathāgata^[3] or no arising of a Tathāgata..." (A Tathāgata is the Buddha; this is how the Buddha often referred to himself when speaking.) "...that element still persists: the stableness of the Dharma, the fixed course of the Dharma. A Tathāgata awakens to this and breaks through to this."

In this way, the sutta is saying that the Dharma is something that the Buddha awakens to—these laws, truths, nature, or reality. The passage continues by saying: "Having done so, the Tathāgata explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyzes it, and elucidates it." So in this passage, the Dharma is clearly more than just the Buddha's teachings; it is the truth of reality itself.

The Four Summaries of the Dharma

I'll talk from another passage that elucidates and fleshes this out a little bit. There is a story about an elderly king. He looks out and sees a young monk, but he recognizes the person. He knows that this monk comes from a very wealthy and high-standing family. The king wonders why someone young, with all the comforts of life, enough wealth to have whatever is available, and from a well-respected family, would ordain and become a monk under the Buddha.

So the king goes to the monk and asks him. This monk, Raṭṭhapāla^[4], was pretty skilled in the way he responded. He spoke to the king using examples that a king could relate to. Raṭṭhapāla wasn't talking about renunciation—giving away everything—and he wasn't talking about esoteric meditative attainments. Instead, he used language and examples that the king could respond to.

Raṭṭhapāla says, "Great King, the Blessed One who knows and sees, the fully awakened Buddha, has taught these four summaries of the Dharma. It was after knowing, seeing, and hearing these that I went forth from the lay life to homelessness." ("Going from the lay life to homelessness" is the expression used when a monastic ordains.) Of course, the king then wants to know what these four summaries of the Dharma are that would cause this person to ordain and go forth.

I've playfully been batting these four summaries of the Dharma around in my mind as the "Four Laws of Dharma Dynamics." In some ways, you'll see they express empirical facts. Maybe it's not the exact same thing as the conservation of energy or entropy, but it's fun to think about them as the Four Laws of Dharma Dynamics.

The First Summary: The World is Unstable

The first summary of the Dharma that Raṭṭhapāla says to the king is: The world is unstable and swept away.

Naturally, the king asks for clarification: "What does this mean?"

Raṭṭhapāla responds, "What do you think, Great King? When you were 20 or 25 years of age, were you proficient riding elephants, horses, and chariots, and at archery? Were you strong and capable?"

The king responds, "I was, Master Raṭṭhapāla. Sometimes it seems as if I had superpowers then. I don't see anyone who could have equaled me in strength."

You can imagine an aged king looking back, and it feeling like superpowers—what we used to be able to do when we were 20 or 25.

Then Raṭṭhapāla asks the king, "What do you think these days? Are you just as strong and capable?"

The king responds, "No, now I am old, elderly, and senior. Sometimes I intend to step in one place, but my foot goes somewhere else."

It's true, right? We become less steady as we age. We can understand this first summary of the Dharma—that the world is unstable and swept away—as the truth that aging happens. No one gets younger as time passes; the passage of time is associated with aging. This is the first law of Dharma dynamics.

The Second Summary: The World Has No Shelter

The second summary that Raṭṭhapāla gave to the king is: The world has no shelter and no savior.

The king asks, "What does this mean? In my court, you can find divisions of elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry, and they will defend us from any threats. Yet you say that there is no shelter and no savior. How should I understand the meaning of this statement?"

Raṭṭhapāla replies, "Well, Great King, do you have any chronic ailments?"

The king says, "Yes, I do. Sometimes my friends, colleagues, relatives, and family members surround me thinking, 'The king will surely die now.'" (The king gets very sick at times.)

Raṭṭhapāla says to him, "Well, what do you think? Can you ask your friends, colleagues, relatives, and family members to share your pain so that you may feel less pain? Can others take away your physical pain, or must you alone feel it?"

The king responds, "I can't get my friends and family to share my pain. Rather, I alone must feel it."

"This is what the Buddha was referring to when he said the world has no shelter and no savior," Raṭṭhapāla explains. We can't transfer our physical pain to another. We can't give it to someone else, and they can't take it from us. Of course, we have medicine, and people are a support for us, but we can't just make it go away completely. We can diminish it or find ways to work with it, but having physical pain or chronic ailments is part of the human experience. This is the second law of Dharma dynamics.

The Third Summary: The World Has No Owner

The third summary that the Buddha gave was: The world has no owner; you must leave it all behind and pass on.

The king asks for clarification, saying, "In my court, you can find abundant gold that is stored in dungeons and towers. Yet you say the world has no owner and you must leave it all behind and pass on. How should I understand the meaning of this?"

Raṭṭhapāla says, "What do you think, Great King? These days you amuse yourself, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation—hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting. Is there any way to ensure that in the next life (whatever happens after death) that you will continue to amuse yourself in the same way? Or will others make use of this property while you pass on according to your deeds?" He is pointing here to the teaching on rebirth.

The king responds, "There's no way to ensure that I will continue to amuse myself in the same way after I die. Rather, others will take over this property, and I will pass on according to my deeds."

This is what the Buddha was referring to when he said the world has no owner; you must leave it all behind. It's the idea that we can't take it with us, pointing to the fact that ownership is really only a convenient social convention. We don't truly own things in the sense that we can't take them with us. This is the third law of Dharma dynamics.

The Fourth Summary: The World is Insatiable

The fourth summary that the Buddha gave is: The world is wanting, insatiable, the slave of craving.

The king asks for clarification: "What does this mean?"

Raṭṭhapāla asks him, "Well, do you dwell in this prosperous land of Kuru^[5]?"

The king says, "Yes, indeed I do."

Raṭṭhapāla says, "Suppose a trustworthy and reliable person were to come from the east, approach you, and say, 'Please sir, you should know that I'm coming from the east, and there I saw a large country that is successful, prosperous, and full of people. They have many divisions of elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry, and plenty of money and lots of grain. With your current forces, you can conquer it. Go conquer it, Great King!' What would you do if somebody came to you and said that?"

The king responds, "I would conquer it and dwell there."

Raṭṭhapāla continues, "Well, what do you think, Great King, if a trustworthy and reliable person were to come from the west, the north, or the south? What if people came from all directions saying, 'Just over there is this great country that has lots of people, money, grain, and everything we need, and you can conquer it!' Then what would you do?"

This is what the Buddha was referring to when he said the world is wanting, insatiable, the slave of craving.

The king responds, "It's incredible, Master Raṭṭhapāla. It's amazing how well said this was by the Buddha, for the world is indeed wanting, insatiable, a slave of craving." There is this continuous wanting, this lack of freedom in always trying to find more, more, more, trying to satisfy every single desire. This is the fourth law of Dharma dynamics.

Finding Safety in the Dharma

In these four summaries, there's also a pointing to Raṭṭhapāla and his wisdom in the way he's talking to the king. When he says that the world is unstable and swept away, he is saying that aging arises. When he says that the world has no shelter and no savior, he is saying that sickness arises. When he says that the world has no owner and you must leave it all behind and pass on, he is saying death arises. And when he says that the world is wanting, insatiable, a slave of craving, he is saying that there is dukkha. Old age, sickness, death, and dukkha.

Many of you will recognize this. The first three are certainly the Heavenly Messengers^[6]. (Often, the fourth Heavenly Messenger is a monastic mendicant, someone who is striving to find an end to dukkha.) Just as the four Heavenly Messengers were a support for the Buddha to go forth and find the Dharma, they were also a support for Raṭṭhapāla. Perhaps we can all find that in some way, we are like that king too.

Taking refuge in the Dharma is a way we recognize that there is old age, sickness, death, and dukkha. To take refuge in the Dharma is to not run away from this, pretend that it's otherwise, or think that somehow if we just finally get all our ducks in a row, these things will go away. Instead, taking refuge in the Dharma means recognizing, "Yes, this is the way things are." How can I create the conditions, live a life, and practice in a way that honors my experience? How can I find a way with less suffering, less dukkha, and less stress? We find a place of safety by aligning ourselves with nature, the natural way that things are—these laws of nature.

Maybe it's a little bit silly that I call these the laws of "Dharma dynamics." But just as the laws of thermodynamics make it abundantly clear that there can be no perpetual motion machine, what do the laws of the Dharma make clear for you? Can you take refuge in that? We all can use some refuge these days—a feeling of safety, a place where we feel supported. In whatever way makes sense for you, may you find refuge in the Dharma.

Thank you.