When the Buddha was 80, one day he was very sick and he knew he wouldn’t live much longer. He was in the vicinity of Vaishali, a city north of the Ganges, and he spent his time visiting groups of his disciples around the cities, giving them short and easy Dharma talks recommending practices. He said: ‘We should not take refuge in anything except in ourselves. There is an island, very safe, very peaceful, within every one of us and we should go back to ourselves and take refuge on that island. Don’t take refuge in anyone, anything else but yourself, and take refuge on the island within yourself.’
The Buddha repeated that teaching in many short dharma talks. He knew that his disciples relied too much on him and there will be one day when his physical presence is no longer available and his disciples will feel lost if they count too much on him. So, he gave that teaching in order for his students to learn to rely on the Buddha, dharma, and the sangha in themselves and not in someone else.
So, the Buddha, dharma, and the sangha are available within, and you can get in touch with these three jewels if you go home to the island of self. You have the Buddha in you. It is your capacity to wake up, to understand, to love. If someone has plenty of these things, he is a Buddha, and we want to have as many Buddhas as possible. You have the dharma in you.
There must be a method to produce compassion, understanding, and freedom. That is the dharma. The dharma in you may be weak or strong, according to your practice. Then, in order to produce the powerful energy of enlightenment, compassion, understanding, you need a sangha, a community. You build a sangha and together you help each other nourish the Buddha and dharma in you.
The three jewels are very concrete. They are not objects of belief. They are not something outside of you. The Buddha is not on a cloud. The Buddha is awakening, understanding, and compassion, and you have ‘buddha nature’. Practice helps buddha nature grow and that protects you. That is your refuge.
If you know how to listen mindfully, the Buddha never stops teaching. The earth is a beautiful expression of his teachings. The wind, flowers, and trees continue to teach impermanence and no-self. If you have mindful eyes and ears, you continue to see the Buddha.
In our society today, it feels like everything’s speeding up and people are feeling overwhelmed. The problem is that people believe that happiness is in the future. But if you stop speeding and running, you can find happiness right in the here and now. There is no true happiness without peace. If you continue to run, how can you have peace? We are running away from ourselves, our families, and nature. We are afraid of going home and taking care of ourselves. We do not have the time to take care of our beloved ones. And we do not allow Mother Earth to heal us.
Buddhism is the teaching of waking up. Our society needs a collective awakening in order to save ourselves from our crises. So, the practice is that awakening should take place in every step, everywhere. If you have awakening, you know that you have a path of happiness. You stop suffering, and you can help many other people do the same. (Ahimsa Trust is offering a commemoration by senior teachers ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. Join the session on the Buddhapath -- Ahimsa Trust YouTube channel at 6.30 pm today. www.ahimsatrust.org)
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