Taking Refuge: A Teaching on Entering the Buddhist Path

by Khenpo Karthar

Taking refuge is the first formal step on the Buddhist path. This concise text explains that what is meant by refuge is protection and eventual freedom from the confusion and suffering of cyclic existence (samsara). Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche describes the genuine sources of spiritual refuge, which are called the Three the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. He explains the importance of receiving refuge from an authentic and unbroken lineage of transmission, the role of faith and trust, and how to relate to the refuge ceremony itself. Rinpoche emphasizes the importance of taking refuge with the motivation to practice the path until we reach full spiritual awakening”and to do so not just for ourselves, but for the benefit and enlightenment of all beings.

Genres: Buddhism

64 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2013

About the author

The Venerable Khenpo Karma Tharchin Rinpoche, published as Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, was a senior lama and ordained monk of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As a Khenpo—which is loosely equivalent to a Western D.Div. degree—he served as abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, NY, where he hosted Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje on several occasions. He spent the last several years of his life teaching extensively on the works of Karma Chagmé.