The Buddha Takes Refuge in Me

When we say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” we should also understand that “The Buddha takes refuge in me,” because without the second part the first part is not complete. The Buddha needs us for awakening, understanding, and love to be real things and not just concepts. They must be real things and have real effects on life. Whenever I say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” I hear “Buddha takes refuge in me.”

Being Peace

Thich Nhat Han

 If I have a concept of a Higher Power as something abstract and perfect as a crystalline pure energy, which God is, I am hard pressed to find comfort in it. I know that mine is not a “he” or a “she” but I am also acutely aware that mine is not an “it”. But because my relationship with the Heart of Compassion isn’t described by gender doesn’t take away that personal relationship that lifted my obsession to drink. God transcends gender and is equally called Our Father as well as Our Mother in some religious traditions. I take refuge in the Heart of Compassion because that describes my relationship with the sublime but doesn’t exclude the source of my salvation from calling Her or Him... or by names equally descriptive such as; Wonderful, Counselor, the Prince of Peace, Jeshua Elohim, Mother of God, or, if preferred; Tathagata, Maitreya, Kuan-Yin, Earth Mother, Gaia, Mut (Egyptian Sky), Isis and so on. In other words, a whole pantheon of the descriptions of attributes of what we call God.

Whatever I call God, it is all useless unless it is the living spirit that compels me from within. It is the holiest of communions and the words of the Carpenter apply here: “Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me and I in him…” I call God the Heart of Compassion because I need the Spirit of Compassion to dwell in me. I need that spirit because I don't normally see it there. It is a myth... a lie... that compassion is always something others have but I lack. I invite within that spirit when I call it thus. It  becomes the bread of life then that sustains me instead of an abstract concept I can never understand.

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