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The Japanese term kie-ei means “to unreservedly throw oneself into” and “to rely upon” and it’s used in part of the liturgy for the jukai ceremony in which a student formally takes what are called the Sixteen Precepts of the Buddha Way. These guidelines include taking refuge in the Three Treasures, the Three Pure Precepts, and the Ten Grave Precepts.
We could say that the Three Pure Precepts are the cardinal directions on the map of our life. They give clear—albeit broad—instructions on how to life your life as a buddha: first, refrain from harm; second, practice good; third, actualize good for others (the original wording in the Pali Canon lists this precept as “master the mind”). We don’t have to think long and hard to know this is sensible advice. First, just don’t harm. Don’t harm yourself, don’t harm others. If you can’t act in a skillful, life affirming way, then do nothing. Simply refrain. Next, take another step and actually practice what is good and generous and kind. Finally, knowing that the good effects of your actions cannot be bound, cannot be limited, extend that goodness to others. Make sure that they’re able to feel the effect of your good actions.
The Ten Grave Precepts are essentially the roads and trails on the map. They’re the many paths that show us more specifically—although still quite open-endedly—how to help and not harm.
But the Three Treasures—they’re what makes the whole endeavor possible. The Three Treasures are the ground. They are the basis for our actions—the landscape upon which the map is based.
Kie-ei, therefore, is the expression of our “taking refuge” in the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Note how the Japanese term points to both our reliance on these treasures, and also to the act of “unreservedly throwing ourselves into” them. To me, this entails maintaining a radical level of openness, a necessary nakedness and vulnerability as we walk the path. But that’s not the way we usually think about refuge, right? We think of it as shelter, as protection. Yet, in taking refuge we put ourselves out there completely and in that find our protection.
One way to think of this openness is as vulnerability, but we can also see it as tenderness. When we recognize that the universe is an infinitely fragile place—that we are infinitely fragile beings—some of us respond with hubris, with bravado. Some of us retreat and shut down. But some of us recognize that the only way to deal with this fragility is to face it; it’s to hold it with a great deal of respect and wonder.
And so, recognizing our fragility, we take refuge in that which is not fragile. We take refuge in that which is, in fact, unbreakable: The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
The Buddha Treasure is the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, but it’s also annutara-samyaksambodhi, supreme enlightenment. This is our nature. We may not feel like it most of the time, but this doesn’t make it any less true. Buddha is also the realization of that nature. And it’s the infinite manifestations of buddhas present through all of space and time or, as one of my friends suggested, through all spacetime.
The Dharma Treasure is the Buddha’s teachings, but it’s also undefiled purity. The reason it’s undefiled is because it reaches everywhere—which means you can’t miss it, you can’t stain it, you can’t offend. Let me say that more clearly: you cannot offend the Dharma Treasure. It reaches everywhere, it embraces everything, it accepts everything. It’s our job, then, to let it reflect the bright light that is its nature. The dharma is also the teachings that have been handed down generation after generation; the countless sutras, the commentaries, the oral teachings—all the words that give expression to the profound truth that the Buddha realized. It contains the wisdom of those who’ve walked the path before us and said: “This is what it’s like to be human. This is what you can expect.” And so we learn from their teachings.
The Sangha Treasure is the community of practitioners. It’s also the virtue of harmony. It takes work to maintain this harmony, but this is exactly what sangha does. A sangha is not just a crowd, a random gathering of people or even an intentional gathering of people. Sangha is the virtue of harmony. Without harmony there is no Sangha. We call it a jewel—rough at first—but through careful and deliberate polishing, it becomes more and more brilliant. Recall that the late teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said that the next Buddha will be the Sangha. This is where and how we’ll be free. Sangha is also the abode of the Buddha and the Dharma, and the practice of the Buddha’s dharma. It’s the embodiment of the Buddha’s teachings in our own lives.
When we lose the ground under our feet, we can turn toward each other and be each other’s ground. Having taken refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, we realize that we are never alone. We are not bereft. Moment after moment, we have everything that we’ll ever need. We just have to realize it.
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