Hi Steemians,
today I want to write about taking refuge (in the triple gem) (皈依三寶). If you want to become a Buddhist in China or Taiwan you first will study about Buddhism at a Chinese monastery. If you want to continue on the Buddhist path you can ask the abbot of the monastery you are staying if you can participate at the next refuge ceremony.
You first need to understand what the triple gem, 三寶 stands for.
- gem → Buddha, 佛
- gem → Dharma, 法
- gem → Sangha, 僧
Taking refuge in these three gems means that you will follow the Buddha, his teachings and thus becoming a member of the Sangha, the Buddhist community.
The first part of taking refuge is just the ceremony where you promise to follow the Buddhist path (basically follow the 4. noble truth, I will talk about it in another post).
After the ceremony you get the 皈依證, a document where you can find your Buddhist name (法名) and which provides you access to almost every monastery in China and Taiwan. You get discounts or can stay at a monastery (for free/donations) and can study with the monks as a layperson.
The next step, if you want to commit yourself even more, you can take the 5 precepts (五戒). These include:
- 不殺生, no killing which includes also animals, that's why Chinese Buddhists are vegetarian
- 不偷盜, no stealing, just don‘t take away stuff which doesn‘t belong to you
- 不邪淫, no sexual misconduct, so no cheating on your spouse
- 不亡語, no false speech which includes talking bad about others
- 不飲酒, no alcohol, Buddhists say it's the most important one..if you get drunk you will easily forget the other precepts. Buddhists also need to develop their mind with meditation so you need a stable mind.
You also can just take one precept if you feel you are not ready for the others :)
My Buddhist name is 惟禪，惟 is the generation name of the monastery where I took refuge and 禪 the actual name, meaning meditation.
My 皈依證 looks like this:
Have a nice weekend!