Bahiya Sutta in Chinese, and Taking Refuge
Thanks Sonam Norbu
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Soh Wei Yu问:什么叫做皈依?慧律法师答:皈依分两个角度:一是事相皈依;二是理体皈依。首先讲事相皈依:皈依释迦牟尼佛还有十方三世佛叫做皈依佛;皈依三藏十二部经典,依法不依人,叫做皈依法;皈依受过三坛大戒正规的僧,叫做皈依僧。其次是理体皈依:就是回归到清净的自性。我们内在的觉性、自性就是佛;开采了内在的觉性和智慧以后,所反射出来的全部都是无上的真理,心中本来就具足三藏十二部经典的法;我们内心里面具大慈悲、和合,人与人之间相处和睦、和谐,内心里面没有情绪、没有乱、没有生灭,完全是和谐,这个叫做自性的僧。自性的觉悟叫做皈依佛宝;自性的真理就是皈依法宝;自性的和谐无争就是皈依僧宝。理三宝和事三宝两种统统要具足。。。。。皈依三宝的利益慧律法师皈依三宝的功德利益,可以说在人生中,所得利益总加起来,也不及皈依三宝的功德之大之多。《佛说希有校量功德经》说:皈依三宝所得的功德之大,若具足四事供养,乃至建七宝塔供养舍利的功德,尚不及皈依三宝所获得的功德之百分之一。 “夫三宝者,千生难遇,万劫难逢,皈依者,福增无量;礼念者,罪灭河沙。譬如灵丹之妙药,疗百病而蠲除。冥冥黑夜中,三宝为灯烛;滔滔苦海内,三宝为舟航;焰焰火宅中,三宝为雨泽。”由此可知三宝的功德。没有皈依三宝,即使拜佛烧香,也只能算是佛教的尊敬者,不能算做佛教徒,如果是佛教徒,第一具备的条件就是皈依三宝。皈依三宝究竟有什么功德利益呢?总结经典中的功德利益有下列十点:第一、找到了宇宙间第一伟大的圣者释迦牟尼佛作为老师,成为正式的佛弟子。第二、经云: “皈依佛,不堕地狱;皈依法,不堕畜生;皈依僧,不堕饿鬼。”故一旦皈依三宝以后,立刻可以恶道除名,人天有份。第三、如顶戴宝冠,身著华服,人身立刻庄严;而皈依三宝,则道德、人格、信仰因而提升。第四、能积集广大福德,得大富贵,如为人生前途造了平坦的道路,如苦海茫茫中有了舟航。第五、佛陀指示护法龙天、一切善神,在末法时代,要保护、加被所有皈依的三宝弟子。第六、能够获得世间大众的尊敬,并以为模范。第七、消灾免难,平安吉祥,一切好事,都会成就。第八、减少烦恼,得遇善人为友,到处都能得方便。第九、有受戒的资格。皈依三宝的人可以受持五戒,参加八关斋戒等。第十、终有一天,必定得度。即使没有修行,只要皈依三宝,将来弥勒菩萨龙华三会的时候,也能得度。
Soh Wei Yu(Although, unless we are someone like Bahiya who can get into the essence of refuge in the most direct manner, I still recommend people start by going for refuge in a proper ceremony with a proper dharma teacher or monk or nun giving the refuge vows, just as John Tan and I did (received refuge vows) multiple times. For those who wish to follow the Buddha's teachings, of course. I generally avoid trying to convert or convince people 'into my religion'. There is no need to hard sell something valuable like true diamond. You can share about it (after all the Buddha did tell his awakened students to go in different directions to spread the dharma), and those with clear eyes and good karma will be able to see it for themselves, but it is up to each individual to choose their own path.Acarya Malcolm Smith just posted recently:Malcolm wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 10:50 pmAnyone who has has Mahayana refuge vows, and understands the procedure for bestowing refuge vows, can bestow refuge vows. There is no special qualification needed other than that one’s own refuge is intact.The question is, does one really wish to be granting such vows?.....One has to know how to properly conduct the rite. If one bestows refuge vows and bodhisattva vows there is no particular responsibility, but I think it can become kind of an ego trip. Even some Tibetan Lamas will incorrectly claim that having bestowed refuge, now the student has samaya with that teacher and so on. I just think it is better to encourage people to receive refuge and bodhisattva vows from qualified lamas, preferably lineage heads, and among those, bhikṣus like HH Dalai Lama are preferable to upasākas. One should recall that among vajramasters, a bhiḳsu with intact vows is supreme, according to Kalacakra. On the other hand, though this is ideal, life is short, and if one does not want to use the rite of administering refuge and bodhisattva vows to oneself, then any qualified teacher who is willing to give them will do.")
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Mr. LZGSoh Wei Yu Should have laid out the context of my answer earlier for clarity.As Buddhist meditation of various forms has reached the world populace at large,there is a trend of a more secular form of 'Buddhist' meditation,and it also attracts a crowd that is purportedly non-Buddhist(or claim to be so).Most salient example would be Zen meditation,but also most Theravada meditation schools(Goenka's 10-days retreat comes to mind). Even Sam Harris had had experienced in Dzogchen.So upon reading Bahiya Sutta,what piques my curiosity is if there is any so-called non-Buddhist/ practitioner has attained any level of awakening,from anatta onwards. Considering Bahiya had attained full arhatship despite while technically not being a Buddhist.And if Pern Chong had attained anatta despite not having taken refuge.Funnily ChNNR's exposition of refuge is close to Pern Chong' and Kyle Dixon's,so initially I was fumbling over where was "Namo Buddhya,Namo Dharmaya,Namo Sanghaya" in ChNNR's practice lol. I recall Theravada sutta mentioned smth similar but can't remember the name of the said sutta.The other thought is if non-Buddhist meditation would be beneficial as precursor to Buddhist meditation. Inferring from your 7 Stages of Enlightenment and Bahiya's speculated background as follower of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. So the corollary is that it does,depending on stage of awakening.Hence I agree that "Buddha had the wisdom and omniscience to discern that Bahiya had the capacity and potential to wake up right there to be giving such a short and pithy instruction to him",Bahiya was not attaining arhatship via sudden path as he likely had extensive ascetic training beforehand. As were the first five Buddha's disciples in Sarnath.And yes,taking refuge without understanding does not clear one of delusion and kleshas,though it doesnt plant a seed for the future.Mr. LZGCant go wrong with Piya Tan's scholarship.
Arhatship(or stages of awakening for that matter) was disputed even in the early Buddhism schools,such as if arhats could regress. And some schools even mentioned layman arhats(also quoted in sutta according to Piya Tan's work).So the one-day ultimatum for layperson to be a monk/nun upon reaching arhatship is likely modern Theravada's(actually descended from Vibhājyavāda,an offshoot of original Theravada school) interpretation based on Nagasena's work.Soh Wei YuThe intention is more important than the formality or ceremony.Bahiya had very strong intention to rely on Buddha’s teachings to attain liberation. In a sense that is the key of refuge. It is not just a formality but a very strong genuine intention to rely on the triple gems to attain liberation. That is the kind of “taking refuge” one must awaken in oneself. That paves the way to liberation. If one simply attends a refuge ceremony half heartedly, like going through the motions, it is still a positive act that creates a good karmic connection with the triple gems for this life and the next, but may not be as effective as the earnest desire of Bahiya to take refuge in Buddha and his instructions to attain liberation as soon as possible.Soh Wei Yu"The other thought is if non-Buddhist meditation would be beneficial as precursor to Buddhist meditation. Inferring from your 7 Stages of Enlightenment and Bahiya's speculated background as follower of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. So the corollary is that it does,depending on stage of awakening."Non-Buddhist traditions can lead to shamatha and awakening the clarity aspect of mind/consciousness. But all these still belong to the shamatha aspect, not Buddhist vipashyana which concerns the insight into cittata (non-arising, anatman, shunyata nature of consciousness/mind):Kyle: "We don’t have any misunderstanding. Again this is rhetoric versus reality, up until the third vision, “emptiness” is obscured and therefore at the time of direct introduction it is merely rhetorical. The nature of mind, as non-dual clarity and emptiness is not truly known until the third vision, again per Longchenpa, per Khenpo Ngachung, etc., not something I have made up. What do we generally recognize in direct introduction? We recognize clarity [gsal ba], and the aspect of vidyā that is concomitant with that clarity. Vidyā is then what carries our practice, but vidyā is not the citta dharmatā, the nature of mind.This is why the first two visions are likened to śamatha, and the last two are likened to vipaśyanā."
The Degrees of RigpaAWAKENINGTOREALITY.COMThe Degrees of RigpaMr. LZGSoh Wei Yu Yes,this explanation wrt Triple Gem refuge makes sense,and amen that vipassana/vipashyana is unique to Buddhism.






