THE THREE REFUGES

• means entrance to the door to follow buddhism as the spiritual path
• three refuges are all forms of support, guidance and strength
• enlightenment - this is the ultimate aim when taking refuge - need reliance/ trust in themselves and not external things 
• most important commitment entailed by taking refuge is not to cause harm
• we can gain a clear understanding of the world around us and true nature of reality to overcome ignorance and find enlightenment
• there are two ways in which buddhists take refuge 1. refuge ceremony  2. reciting the refuge 
• Ti Samana Gamana (Pali), or "taking the three refuges' this is the cermony name
• "Buddha" also refers to "Buddha-nature," the absolute, unconditioned nature of all things. While "Buddha" may be a person who has awakened to enlightenment, "Buddha" might also refer to enlightenment itself (bodhi).
• most important commitment is do not harm - PRINCIPLE OF AHIMSA 

• theravardins take refuge in the buddha ~ the ultimate teacher and guide
• buddhists do not pray or worship the buddha
• buddhists honour the principle of wisdom/ enlightenment within each one of us 
• Mahayana - less emphasis on historical context because anyone can attain enlightenment
• Buddha is not a GOD, he is a reminder of the qualities, virtues of enlightenment, teachings and compassion 
• the buddha rediscovered the spiritual path for everyone ~ anyone can attain enlightenment and reach nirvana 
• the concept of the buddha refers to the historical buddha and buddhahood   
• in theravada there are ceremonies to consecrate important statues and infuse them with the buddha's power 

• dennotes the universal truth ~ an important path to follow
• refers to personal realisation of the truths of buddhism 
• buddha's teachings are to be heard, read and studied, to be understood and fully realised to embody them 
• personal commitment to understanding and practising them 
• path is an experience to how true the truths are 
• entails personal effort, discipline, willingness to learn and change - this is an active process - such not been seen as a way of AVOIDING RESPONSIBILITY 
• SCHOLAR MAYLED - Buddha seen as most important as he rediscovered the timeless truths' 
• dhamma/ dharma can be refered to as unmeditated truth 
• refers to the turning of the 1st wheel of the dharma - budhha put his realisation into words and commuicated it to others 
•  ‘learning to do good; ceasing to do evil; purifying the heart’ (as The Dhammapada says).
•  Dharma as a refuge-  these teachings as the best guide to reality/  committing yourself to practising them. The Triratna approach emphasises the central teachings that are common to all the main schools - teachings emphasize the development of mindfulness and kindness, examining our actions in the light of our ethical values, and seeing how our thoughts condition our lives.

• the monastic commnunity - established for the development of mankind
• follow the rules of 'do not tickle' 'do not steal' 'do not give a robe to a bhikkhu'
• the sangha fulfils the functions of presenting the buddha's teachings - these are known as the 4 requisites 1. robes 2. food 3. lodging 4. medicine 
• the sangha follow the patimokkha which is a set of 227 precepts 
• the future of buddhism depends on the future of the sangha - it is seen as the most important refuge 
• monks and the laity have a reciprocal relationship - both help and need each other 
• monks are depenedent on the laity community for their existence - vital respect and value 
• Buddhism is not an abstract philosophy or creed; it is a way of approaching life and therefore it only has any meaning when it is embodied in people. And in the broadest sense the Sangha means all of the Buddhists in the world, and all those of the past and of the future. 
• Bodhisattvas and the other Enlightened teachers are known as Arya Sangha - community of the noble ones 
• The Buddha once said that kalyana mitrata – spiritual friendship or ‘friendship with what is beautiful’ – is the whole of the spiritual life. 

• IGNORANCE {PIG} - a root poisons, seeking solutions in the wrong places, we need to find external solutions to our problems/ happiness, we have the wromg understanding on reality, refers to delusion - following the buddha, the dharma we can gain a clear understanding of the world around us, a true nature of reality to overcome ignorance + find enlightenment 
• HATRED {SNAKE} - we deny feelings of fear, hurt and loneliness, feelings of anger, hostility, dislike, wishing harm or suffering on others, instead we create conflict with others - following magga ~ the eightfold path will lead to us developing loving, kindness and compassion 
• GREED {BIRD} - craving does not bring happiness only further pain, desire and lust, we attach ourselves to things we want, patience and forgiveness - understanding the 3 lakshanas and following the sangha as a guide on how to act and behave - following the dharms encourages us not to crave - the 4 noble truths 
• IGNORANCE - MOHA 
• GREED - LOBHA 
• HATRED - DVESHA

• DASA SILA - THE THREE BASKETS - these are found in the Pali Canon
• 1. vinya pitaka - discipline section - splits into 3 sections
• a. 227 rules - suttavibhanga / patimokkha 
• b. - khandhaka - rules for the sangha ie robes, dress codes
• c. summary of all the rules for examination/ instruction purposes 
• 2. sutta pitaka - discourse section
• 3. abhidamma pitaka - philosophical techings
• the first 4 rules of the Patimokkha are serious and lead to explusion from order if they are broken - these are the 4 parajikas 'defeats'
• 1. no sexual intercourse, 2. theft 3. murder, 4. false claims to supernatural powers
• theravada accepts the pali canon as the only true buddhist text
• mahayana accepts the pali canon and includes hundreds of other teachings known as sutras as central texts
• 'without monastics, their religion would be reduced to a collection of words in books' john mayled 

THERAVADA AND THE BUDDHA REFUGE

• Acknowledge the historical role of the Buddha - he is seen as a teacher and a guide
• taking refuge is a way of honouring the principle/ wisdom of enlightenment
• accepts the Pali Canon as the only true Buddhists texts 

MAHAYANA AND THE BUDDHA REFUGE

• We already have the qualities and values to reach enlightenment - we just need to have a clear understanding of who we are in order to follow our own path of enlightenment
• accepts the pali canon and also includes hundreds of other sutras such as the pure land sutra and heart sutra 

• TATHAGATAGARBHA - principle that all sentiment beings in samsara -we have the potential to become fully enlightened if they can apply themselves to the spiritual path
• this potential is hidden from our delfilments - once these are removed we can reach it
• buddha nature can never be spoiled by our mental poisons/ harmful actions
• principle of buddha nature accounts for the possibility of sudden, instantaneous enlightenment experiences
• zen is a school of mahayana buddhism that emerged in china
• Zen is sometimes said to be "the face-to-face transmission of the dharma outside the sutras." Throughout the history of Zen, teachers have transmitted their realization of dharma to students by working with them face-to-face.

• DHARMA -Can have different meanings 'universal truth' 'teaching of the Buddha Shakaymuni' 'personal realisation of truths' 'path that a person follows'
• NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH - to overcome craving and desire, contains 8 different elements which symbolise the buddhist religion, all these elements work together to reinforce one another. Buddhists say the Buddha turned the wheel and then remained silent for 40 days , he taught the dharma to those that were able to understand - these are separated into 3 higher trainings - how to live in accordance witht the middle way
• THE FIVE MORAL PRECEPTS - known as pansil/ pancha sila . All buddhists live by the 5 moral precepts 1. refrain from harming living things 2. taking what is not given 3. sexual misconduct 4. lying/ gossiping 5. taking intoxicating substances
• THREE MARKS OF EXISTENCE/ LAKSHANAS - shows us what life is, universal truths 1. impermance - anicca - notion that everything changes 2. no self - anatta - notion that everything is interdependent, nothing has a fixed identity, all an illusion 3. suffering - dukkha - the notion that life is not satisfactory

• KARMA - good karma - punna, bad karma - a punna. This is action driven by intentions which leads to future consequences, we are only responsible for our intended actions
• kusala - skillful, akusala - unskillful
• THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS -these are the four principles the buddha came to understand during his meditation under the bodhi tree 1. the truth of suffering - dukkha 2. the truth of the origin of suffering - tanha 3. the truth of the cessation suffering - nirodha 4. the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering - magga
• DANA - Aim to become a person who is generous, not attactched to wordly possessions
• generosity/ giving can be time/ money - this is demonstrated by the monks
• one of the 3 skilful acts of punna - sila - morality/ moral conduct, bhavana - meditation, dana is giving - all of these are ways of accumilating virtue which is emphasised in every stage of the theravadin path - theravadins believe you can transfer the merits of your giving to someone else
• AHIMSA -1st precept is do not harm, if we remain in the illusion of anatta we see all beings become one - so happiness of all becomes important, this implifies a frame/ state of mind, peace comes from a peaceful mind 'life is dear to all' DHAMMAPADA 129

• the sangha is the ordained buddhists monks and nuns - bhikkhus/ bhikkhunis 
• the four fold sangha is used to describe the lay men and women 
• sangha was established for the development of mankind 
• the buddha wanted to use the sangha for the development of the good people to teach them 
• those who wish to practie the dharma must be free from restrictions/ responsibilites of the household
• sangha fulfils the function of preserving the buddhas original teachings and provide spiritual support for the buddhist lay community 
• the buddha obtained the four basic life requisites - robes, food, lodging and medicine - by offering food to the sangha the lay people can practise joyful giving and letting go of attatchments
• four fold sangha has an interdependent relationship as they all rely on one another - monastics collect food and supplies in a bowl which gives them a sense of humility - humble
• morality is the main prerequsite for spiritual progress - laity and sangha must practise generosity/ giving - dana = the more pure their minds become/ leads to good merit - punya 

• boys tend to become monks for life
• ordination requires head to be shaved and requires for 5 monks 
• acceptance is shown through the lack of objection 
• very strict and must folow 227 rules - patimokha 
• few personal possesions 
• no fully ordained nuns 
• there is two levels of ordination - 1. a samanera - novice 2. full ordination as a monk must be 20 years old 
• monk who has ordained for 10- years is given the title of thera - elder and 20 years - mahathera - senior elder 
• monks must remain celibate and free from family commitments 
• the organisation is demoncratic 
• there have been no fully ordained nuns in theravada buddhism - however women shave their heads and where robes and keep 10 precepts of a monk 

• boys usually ordained 12-18
• ordination ceremony is seen as a social occassion, lasts for days and takes place in june - monks perform a ceremony of chanting and sprinkling water 
• sangha is relevant to institutions of modern life ie some may teach and supervise projects 
• monks have greater knowledge of buddhism and pali 
• 150,000 monks - in the rainy season retreat - vassa - there is 300,000
• they practise mediation and preach in various ways to the dharma 
• there is a well developed system of education for monks too 

• convert buddhists -not cultural background
• heritge buddhists - cultural background
• asian - ethnic buddhists 
• western - convert buddhists
• ethnic buddhism functions to maintain a stable identity - maintainence of groups cohesive way of life and heritage 
• convert buddhism is transformatie, providng an alternative religious identity , use teachings as guides for buddhists paths 
• eddy - although asian beliefs are derived choice is shaped by western freedom and liberty to select what appeals - have own needs, tastes and sentiments 
• fronsdal - american buddhist approaches to meditation have reduced it down to a form of therapy rather than the true functions to heritage buddhists - seen as spiritual shopping created a 'religious supermarket' 

• buddhist movement founded in london by sangharashita 1967
• seeks to create all of the conditions needed for the effective practise of buddhism 
• draws inspiration from buddhists traditions but does not identify exclusively - considers the approach as simply 'buddhist' 
• have centres that teach meditation through retreats and classes
• triratna buddhist order has a community of men and women committing themselves to spiritual development and supporting of others - some do not make formal committment to the dharma 
• TBO is diverse organisations that live a wide range of lifestyles - practise does not require a monastic lifestyle 
• essence of membership is simply committment to put the buddhist principles into action in ones life 
• internet sangha - not everyone can join in a centre so there are growing numbers of dharma groups on the internet - devotion of the dharma can take place worldwide on the internet which makes the buddhist community wider