Expert: Joe McSorley - 1/1/2004

Question
I would appreciate if you would elaborate on the 3 refuges: 1. I take refuge in the Buddha before all beings immersing body and mind awakening the true mind. 2.  I take refuge in the Dharma before all beings entering fully the merciful ocean of Buddha's way. 3.  I take refuge in the Sangha before all beings bringing harmony to everyone without hindrance.  It is particularly the "third" one that I need help to deepen and expand my understanding of it so I may practice it with aliveness.  In addition, kindly give me reference materials if possible specifically related to the practice of "bringing harmony to everyone without hindrance"  If you don't mind me asking, are there any koans that will directly or indirectly bring out this point?  I hope that this is not too broad a question/subject for you to deal with, but I trust that you will guide me through the process.  Thank you for your kind attention and I look forward to hearing from you when able.  May the Dharma flow through you and bless us all!  Happy and peaceful 2004!  In gassho, Vivian  

Answer
Dear Vivian,
  Thank you for your questions.  Being from the Zen school I take a more direct approach to dealing with the problem of human conscious than other schools do.  Although I understand the importance of the Three Refuges I become concerned that they are used to follow Buddhism, to be something to hold on to, rather than as a tool to overcome the self.  To take refuge itself is to remove yourself and one should not be doing that in Buddhism.  One should face who you are in the immediate, in stillness or chaos, no matter what.  If all is truly empty, as Buddhism teaches, then what is there to take refuge in?  Isn't refuge itself a concept of the mind, dualistic in its creation?
  You could interpret the first refuge as right thinking and right action in that one must fully commit one's energies towards seeking resolution, total immersion in the path to awaken to the true dharma.  The second refuge can easily be misread as escapism and detachment and I fear most do this.  What separates the Buddha's merciful ocean from you or any other way and how is it that you are not immersed in it already?  This would imply a separation of Buddha nature from everyday life.  How can the ocean be apart from any other reality?  To see something as the Buddha's merciful ocean is to create a problem in and of itself.  And again the third refuge has a similar problem in that who is it that takes refuge in the Sangha?  Who is it that even ponders these questions?  This is the natural koan that arises when one undertakes the Three Refuges for they are concepts that exist apart from the dharma.  To seek the Three Refuges is to create them and thus be separate from them. To bring harmony to others is to be a self that is divided from others so what is it that brings harmony?  What separates you from the others and what creates the hindrance?   What does it mean to bring harmony?  
I have a piece of calligraphy by Shin ichi Hismatsu that reads “between self and another there is no separation, not even at the smallest distance”.  What can stand between self and other as a hindrance to harmony?  It is your mind itself that creates all of this.
To really delve into this is to see the koan that all dualistic thinking brings about.  When you look at anything deeply enough you will come to this paradox that most be overcome.  To blindly follow the refuges like some dogma does nothing to face the dilemma of who it is that attempts to follow the refuges.  It is not my intention here to inundate you with questions but to drive you to face the depth of what you ask.  As I said, the koan will present itself when you do this you do not need to be presented with some contrived koan.  If you whole- heartedly immerse yourself in this you will set the conditions for awakening.  To grasp this with your whole being, mind and body fallen off is the way for you to go.
 
  I hope I have helped you in some way.  Take care and happy new year,
              Joe
p.s.- if self is ultimately empty what is it that the dharma flows through?