Three Refuges (tisaraṇa)
Three Refuges
Part of key topic The Three Refuges
Subtags: Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha
42 excerpts, 3:29:59 total duration

All excerpts (44) Most relevant (23) Questions about (9) Answers involving (18) Stories (3) Quotes (5) Readings (3) Texts (2)

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“Does the concept of refuge in Buddhism contain an element of grace?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges ] [Theravāda] [Hinduism] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself] [Truth]

Quote: “Did you come here to die?” — Ajahn Chah’s greeting to newcomers. [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Liberation] [Self-identity view]

Quote: “If you really understood refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, there wouldn’t be a time when you bowed without bursting into tears of gratitude and devotion.” [Three Refuges ] [Bowing ] [Gratitude] [Ajahn Jayasaro]

Interreligious Retreat-Seminar on Dhamma and Non-duality (2023), Session 2, Excerpt 3


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 1 – Apr. 28, 2001

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[Session] Chanting: Salutation to the Triple Gem [Chanting] [Three Refuges]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 6 – Apr. 28, 2001

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2. Favorite verses of Ajahn Chah: “Buddhaṃ me jīvitaṃ yāva-nibbānaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.” Recounted by Ajahn Amaro. [Mantra] [Ajahn Chah] [Three Refuges] [Nibbāna] [Chanting] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Ajahn Sundarā]

Quote: “Nibbāna is complete normality.” — Ajahn Chah [Naturalness]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 7 – Apr. 28, 2001

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[Session] Chanting on Buddha, Dhamma and Saṇgha. Offered by Ajahn Sundarā. [Three Refuges] [Nibbāna]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 23 – Apr. 29, 2001

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1. Chanting: Morning Chanting offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Three Refuges]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 2


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 26 – Apr. 29, 2001

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7. Wat Pah Pong: A place of dignity and surrender. Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Wat Pah Pong] [Dignity] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] // [Cleanliness] [Conflict] [Military] [Suffering] [Respect] [Virtue] [Almsround] [Pain] [Chanting] [Monastic crafts] [Bowing]

Quote: “An island of sanity in a sea of madness.” [Three Refuges]

Quote: “Everything you do in your life in this monastery is a chance to awaken.” — Ajahn Chah [Liberation] [Continuity of mindfulness]


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25. Quote: “What is the Buddha?” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Jack Kornfield. [Ajahn Chah] [Buddha ] // [Three Refuges] [Knowledge and vision] [Unconditioned] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Liberation]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 35 – Apr. 29, 2001

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6. Recollection: The June 2000 Saṅgha Meeting concludes in harmony. Recounted by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Saṅgha decision making] [Communal harmony] [Ajahn Chah] // [Views] [Harsh speech] [Asking forgiveness ceremony] [Three Refuges] [Culture/West]

Quote: “Luang Por Chah wasn’t giving us views and opinions....[He gave] us all a confidence in the unspoken unity of our humanity.” [Faith] [Human]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 36 – Apr. 29, 2001

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3. Chanting: Paying respects to the shrine and Ajahn Chah. Offered by Ajahn Amaro. [Chanting] [Bowing] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Chah]


Metta Retreat, Session 4 – Sep. 12, 2008

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11. “It’s been so helpful to hear stories from your own experience. Could you talk about some of the more challenging moments in your practice and how you worked with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Doubt] [Patience]

Quote: “It’s not me resolving doubt, but it’s allowing the practice or the Dhamma to work.” [Self-identity view] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Faith] [Three Refuges]

Simile: “Getting in the vehicle and allowing it to carry you.” [Three Refuges] [Similes]


The Gradual Training, Session 2 – Oct. 20, 2012

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7. Comments about the role of heaven as a haven in the practice. [Deva] [Faith] [Three Refuges] [Four Noble Truths] [Gradual Teaching]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 8 – Nov. 30, 2013

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10. “In the ‘Supreme Praise of the Dhamma [and] the Sangha’ why are the Dhamma and Sangha referred to as ‘My Lord and guide?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] [Chanting]


Thai Forest Tradition, Session 3 – Jun. 14, 2014

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8. Story: Ajahn Toon tries to disrobe repeatedly, but Ajahn Chah won’t let him. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Toon] [Disrobing] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Patience] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Posture/Walking] [Gratitude] [Respect]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 6 – Nov. 27, 2014

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6. “I’m wondering why the chanting says, ‘for me there is no other refuge, the Buddha is my excellent refuge,’ and the same for the Dhamma and the Sangha when all three are refuges. Also, why are the Dhamma and the Sangha referred to as ‘Lord?’ Thank you.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Three Refuges]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 13: Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā [Volitional formations] [Impermanence]


Buddhist Identity in the Modern World – Aug. 15, 2015

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2. “What did the Buddha think following his teachings should mean or entail?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [History/Western Buddhism] [Buddhist identity] // [Virtue] [Lay life] [Faith] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Learning] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conceit]

Sutta: AN 8.26 Jīvaka Sutta [Three Refuges]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 7 – Nov. 27, 2015

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8. “When bowing three times, do you say something in your mind like taking refuge or anything else?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Bowing ] [Three Refuges] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mindfulness of body] [Buddho mantra]


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9. “Can you say more about trusting the seeds of meditation practice after Alzheimer’s/dementia kick in? What do you mean by going beyond liberation or consciousness? What do you mean by ‘many deeper layers’ are affected by the practice and the fruits of it will express naturally?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Consciousness] [Long-term practice] // [Happiness] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view]

Story: A monk with psychic abilities investigates Ajahn Chah’s mind after Ajahn Chah loses his mental faculties. [Ajahn Chah] [Psychic powers]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno brings the Wat Pah Nanachat community to Ajahn Chah’s nursing kuti to chant verses including Dependent Origination. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] [Dependent origination]

Quote: “The fruits of practice arise through the simple quality of being the one who knows, taking the Buddha as refuge.” [Knowing itself] [Buddha] [Three Refuges]


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11. “I am so grateful for the peace I am developing here and in my life. It feels like a refuge. Is it the fourth refuge?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Gratitude] [Three Refuges] // [Buddha images]

Quote: “That farang Buddha is really like a farang. He’s really tense and stressed.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West ] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Thai] [Restlessness and worry] [Humor]


Two Kinds of Thought and the Removal of Distracting Thoughts, Session 2 – Jun. 4, 2017

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7. Comment: One time I really to the edge of all kinds of sadness and my mind came up with [audio unclear] and Three Refuges in a way that seemed very useful for me. [Depression] [Three Refuges] // [Mantra] [Determination] [Suffering]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]


The New Ajahn Chah Biography, Session 2 – Apr. 21, 2018

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9. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 612-614 “Faith in the Triple Gem” Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Chah] // [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Truth] [Teaching Dhamma] [Lay life] [Recollection/Dhamma]

Simile: Digging a well — Ajahn Chah. [Right Effort] [Liberation]


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10. “Did you mention what the trancendent truth of the Saṅgha was?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Saṅgha] [Truth] [Three Refuges] // [Eightfold Path] [Stages of awakening] [Conventions] [Chanting] [Recollection/Saṅgha]


Chanting, Session 1 – Jun. 2, 2018

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6. Story: An elderly Sri Lankan monk chants to calm a wild elephant. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Animal] [Three Refuges] [Chanting]

Story: Chanting ‘Itipi so’ 108 times. [Abhayagiri] [Anandagiri]


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 19 – Jun. 14, 2021

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16. “Could you please explain why the ajahn holds a fan in front of himself during the taking of refuges?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] [Ceremony/ritual] // [Abhayagiri] [Kaṭhina] [Symbolism] [Dhamma]


Interreligious Retreat-Seminar on Dhamma and Non-duality, Session 2 – Nov. 25, 2023

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3. “Does the concept of refuge in Buddhism contain an element of grace?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges ] [Theravāda] [Hinduism] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself] [Truth]

Quote: “Did you come here to die?” — Ajahn Chah’s greeting to newcomers. [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Liberation] [Self-identity view]

Quote: “If you really understood refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, there wouldn’t be a time when you bowed without bursting into tears of gratitude and devotion.” [Three Refuges ] [Bowing ] [Gratitude] [Ajahn Jayasaro]