How To Practice ZenTaking Refuge
First Glimpse of the Ox
I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore -
Here no Ox can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head,
those majestic horns?
The third step on the path of awakening is depicted in the ox-herding pictures with the seeker seeing the rear end and tail of the ox as it goes around a corner, i.e., not seeing its head. That's what the old masters meant by calling this stage the First Glimpse of the Ox.
Only after we have developed a deep understanding of what it means to empty our cup and only after we have found the footprints by finding the precepts are we ready for a practice that seems at first glance to have religious overtones. However, nothing in Buddhism is religious because there is no Great Entity out there to which we must re-connect.
Religious people tell their god or savior that they are sorry for not believing in them earlier, or not following their teachings earlier.
Taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, on the other hand, recognizes that all is one, that there is no independent entity outside ourselves that we can say "I'm sorry" to.
To take refuge, we first admit that our inherent Buddha nature, eternal, joyous, selfless and pure, has been covered up and defiled with misdeeds and satanic mortal thoughts committed as a result of profound, long-abiding, unquestioned ignorance.
In most Buddhist lineages, including the Philip Kapleau lineage, which was derived from the teachings of his teachers Harada Roshi and Yasutani Roshi, the student is taught to repent by using the following words, often referred to as the repentance gatha (verse):
All evil actions committed by me since time immemorial, stemming from greed, anger, and ignorance, arising from body, speech and mind, I now repent having committed.
The term "greed" refers to pursuing things we like. The term "anger" refers to anger itself in a narrow sense but in a broader sense it refers to our rejection of things we don't like. In some formulations of the repentance gatha, the term "hatred" is used instead of "anger." The term "ignorance" in Buddhism refers to ignorance of the Four Noble Truths.
We root out ignorance by acquiring wisdom (Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths). We root out greed and anger (like and dislike) with Right Thought.
Thus, we repent of acts committed before we practiced Right Thought and before we developed Wisdom through understanding the Four Noble Truths.
Only after we have emptied our cup of superstitions and biases and opinions can we repent of our ignorance and wrong thought.
We must learn the repentance gatha by heart and repeat it each morning after emptying our cup and reciting the Precepts. If we challenge the need for daily recitation of the repentance gatha, we haven't emptied our cup.
Repentance means little without renunciation. Historians have noted that Nazi SS members repented of their mass murders once a week throughout the Holocaust, only to repeat the transgressions the following week. The priests who granted weekly absolution were criticized for doing so but such criticism came too late.
A beginner recites the repentance verse as a preparation for taking refuge, and also takes the step of renunciation. It is not so easy as it may seem. It is not just a flippant renunciation; it is a deep, abiding vow to make further repentance unnecessary.
A monk or nun who leaves home to enter a Buddhist order must renounce family ties and all other worldly ties. Such renunciation should take place, in my humble opinion, before marriage and children. However, the Buddha himself was married and had a child when he renounced all worldly interests.
This course is for those of us who have no intention to abandon our families and to enter into a Buddhist order as monks or nuns. We lay people can never renounce all worldly things to the same degree as does one who takes the vows of a renunciate for life.
But we need to associate with such people from time to time and to understand what renunciation really is.
We can renounce ill will, greed, meat-eating, drinking, desires for wealth and fame, etc., and any other activity that conflicts with the precepts.
Intermediate Zen
After reciting the repentance verse and sincerely renouncing, we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha by reciting the following:
I take refuge in the Buddha and resolve that with all beings I will understand the Great Way whereby the Buddha seed may forever thrive.
I take refuge in Dharma and resolve that with all beings I will enter deeply into the sutra treasure whereby my wisdom may grow as vast as the ocean.
I take refuge in Sangha, and in its wisdom, example, and never failing help, and resolve to live in harmony with all sentient beings.
It is customary in formal Taking Refuge ceremonies to precede each of the three above paragraphs with the expression: "For a first time, I take refuge in the Buddha...For a first time, I take refuge in the Dharma..." etc. for three rounds, changing "first" to "second" and "third" as appropriate. We can take refuge in the Triple Gem (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha) in that fashion each morning, too, if we have the time.
Such taking of refuge is not for beginners. Until one has practiced the dropping of opinions, the following of the precepts, repentance and renunciation, the act of taking refuge is meaningless.
Venerable Yin-Shun, a contemporary Chinese master (1905-2005), in The Way to Buddhahood, (Boston: Wisdom Publications) 1998, recommends taking refuge as the first step in practicing Buddhism. We have placed emptying the cup, studying if not perfectly following the precepts, repentance, and renunciation before taking refuge simply because the Master wrote in Chinese to Chinese audiences who were already quite aware of basic Buddhist principles.
Only after we have emptied the cup of opinions, studied the precepts, vowed to follow them, and repented, to our own Buddha nature, renounced our ignorance and attachments, and taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, can we say that we have had a First Glimpse of the Ox.
For the religious practitioner who feels that taking refuge in the Buddha is objectionable, just remember that the Buddha is your own inherent awakened nature. Taking refuge in the Buddha is not an act of worship of a man who lived twenty five hundred years ago. We take refuge in our inherent perfect nature, a nature obscured by greed, hatred, and ignorance.
Advanced Zen
The advanced student, after taking refuge, recalls The Five Hindrances in order to prepare for sitting meditation. Venerable Ajahn Brahm (Brahmavamso), who has read the Pali Canon in the original Pali, tells us that the Buddha said The Five Hindrances were the only obstacles that keep us from waking up.
That should get our attention.