大乘莊嚴經論 歸依品

Taking refuge is not only bowing your head to beg for shelter — it is lifting your head to recognize your home

A traveler caught in wind and rain runs to the eaves of a house to take cover — this is refuge as most people know it: seeking something to lean on. But the refuge of the great vehicle, even while sheltering from the rain, makes a vow: I too will become a house, so that every traveler under heaven has a place to take cover. So it is not merely "finding something to lean on" — it is "vowing to become, oneself, the refuge for all sentient beings." And this is to become a Buddha.

What this chapter tells is precisely why this "refuge of the great vehicle" is the most supreme. Its heart's reach is the widest (what it would deliver is all sentient beings); its vow and practice are the most robust; the fruit it attains is the most vast — a thing the other paths cannot catch up to. Hard to arouse, hard to accomplish: precisely because its weight is the heaviest. The harder it is, the greater the resolve one should set.

The treatise adds a fitting comparison: a bodhisattva who has taken refuge in the Great Vehicle is like a prince born into the royal house — though not yet enthroned, the seed of becoming a buddha is not cut off. This is the chapter's simile for one who has aroused the mind and taken refuge, not a declaration that every reader is predestined for buddhahood.

Lift your head, then, and recognize this home.

As before, the great vehicle (大乘, mahāyāna) has now been established (the chapter Establishing the Teaching has set it up). Next, relying on the great vehicle, the text takes up "the most supreme refuge."

If a person takes refuge in the Three Jewels, to take refuge in the great vehicle is the first; all-pervading and valiant, [yet] in the fruit attained none can match it.

Among all refuges in the Three Jewels, know that taking refuge in the great vehicle is the very first. Why? Because its own nature is supreme through fourfold "great" meaning. Which four meanings? First, the meaning of being all-pervading; second, the meaning of valor; third, the meaning of the fruit attained; fourth, the meaning of being beyond reach. These four meanings will be explained one by one below. Precisely because it holds these four meanings, there are many hindrances of every kind; of those who would take this refuge, some are able and some are not — those who are able are the supreme ones.

Having spoken of the supremacy of this refuge, the text next exhorts one to make this supreme refuge.

Hard to arouse and hard to accomplish, it calls for great resolve; to accomplish the benefit of self and others, one should make the supreme refuge.

Hard to arouse refers to the supreme vow — for it is a vast pledge (and so hard to give rise to). Hard to accomplish refers to the supreme practice — for it must pass through immeasurable eons (and so is hard to bring to completion). Precisely because of such difficulty, one should all the more arouse a great and vast resolve. Why? Because it is in order to accomplish the benefit of others and the benefit of self. Benefit of others refers to the vow-and-practice — for vow-and-practice is the cause of good renown (a fine name spreading far). Benefit of self refers to the great purpose — for the great purpose is the fruit attained as one's own substance (the substance of one's own Buddha-fruit).

The four meanings were named above; now the text first speaks of the meaning of being all-pervading.

Beings all-pervading, the vehicles all-pervading, wisdom all-pervading, quiescence all-pervading — this is called the one of wisdom's fourfold all-pervading.

The one who takes refuge in the great vehicle has four kinds of "all-pervading": first, beings all-pervading — because one would deliver all sentient beings without exception. Second, the vehicles all-pervading — because one skillfully comprehends the dharma of the three vehicles (the listeners [śrāvaka], the solitary awakeners [pratyekabuddha], and the bodhisattvas). Third, wisdom all-pervading — because one penetrates the twofold no-self (the no-self of persons and the no-self of dharmas). Fourth, quiescence all-pervading — because one knows that saṃsāra [birth-and-death] and nirvāṇa are one in substance, of a single flavor (identical, not two), and does not falsely discriminate between "faults" (the faults of saṃsāra) and "qualities" (the qualities of nirvāṇa).

Having spoken of the meaning of being all-pervading, the text next speaks of the meaning of valor.

Aspiring to the Buddha's awakening, unretreating in practice hard to practice, the equal awakening of all Buddhas — valor supreme is threefold.

The refuge in the great vehicle has three kinds of supreme valor: first, valor supreme in vow — when taking refuge in the Buddha, one aspires to great awakening (大菩提, bodhi) and gives rise again and again to gladness, because one knows deeply its supreme qualities. Second, valor supreme in practice — when one rises up and cultivates practice, one does not retreat and does not bend, because what one practices is practice hard to practice. Third, valor supreme in fruit — when one reaches Buddhahood, one is awakened equal to all Buddhas. Further, by such valor, those children of the Buddhas (the bodhisattvas) constantly attain "the good birth" (a supreme birth).

Arousing the mind and the perfection of wisdom, the fullness of the stores and great compassion — as seed and as birth-mother, as womb and nurse, [these are] supreme.

The bodhisattva's "good birth" has four meanings: first, supremacy of seed — the mind of awakening (菩提心, bodhicitta) is the seed. Second, supremacy of birth-mother — the perfection of wisdom (般若波羅蜜, prajñā-pāramitā) is the birth-mother. Third, supremacy of womb — the upholding of the two stores of merit and wisdom is the womb. Fourth, supremacy of nurse — the nurturing of great compassion is the nurse. Further, this one of "good birth," by reason of valor, constantly attains "the supreme body" (a supreme body).

Wondrous marks, accomplishment, birth, and power, great bliss and great skillful means — these four accomplishments are what is called the supreme body.

The bodhisattva's "supremacy of body" is of four kinds: first, supremacy of form — one attains the wondrous marks that adorn the body, surpassing the marks of a wheel-turning king and the like. Second, supremacy of power — one attains the sovereign power to "ripen sentient beings." Third, supremacy of bliss — one attains the boundless bliss of the highest quiescence, the bliss of the Buddha-ground. Fourth, supremacy of wisdom — one attains the great skillful means to rescue and deliver all sentient beings. These four accomplishments are what is called the Buddha-child's "good birth" — namely, accomplishment of form, accomplishment of power, accomplishment of bliss, and accomplishment of wisdom. Further, by reason of such valor, one comes to resemble a "prince."

Radiance conferred, mastery of the dharma, skillful in speech and good at governing and gathering — by these four causes the Buddha-lineage is then unbroken.

By four causes the royal lineage of the world is kept unbroken: first, entering the [heir's] position and receiving investiture (entering the position of crown prince, receiving the office of consecration); second, being pre-eminent and unopposed (high in position, with none able to oppose); third, being skilled at deciding and judging (skilled in adjudicating affairs of state); fourth, being clear in reward and punishment (reward and punishment made plain). The Buddha-child of "good birth" is just so (by four causes the Buddha-lineage is kept unbroken): first, receiving the conferred radiance — namely, all the Buddhas send forth great radiance and grant him the office of consecration. Second, mastery of the dharma — namely, within all dharmas his wisdom is sovereign, and no other can oppose it. Third, skill in speech — namely, within the assembly of Buddhas, he is skilled at proclaiming the true dharma. Fourth, good at governing and gathering [善治罰；the verse reads 善治攝] — namely, toward those who uphold the training-precepts, he can govern their faults and gather in their qualities. Further, by reason of such valor, one comes to resemble a "great minister."

Entering the perfections, seeing the factors of awakening, upholding the secrets, benefiting beings — by these four causes one comes to resemble a great minister.

There are four causes that are the qualities of a great minister: first, entering the king's forbidden palace; second, seeing the king's wondrous treasures; third, keeping secret the king's confidential words; fourth, bestowing gifts at will. The valiant bodhisattva is just so: first, one is ever able to enter well into the perfections [波羅蜜, pāramitā] (as entering the forbidden palace). Second, because one does not forget the dharma, one ever sees, throughout the scriptures everywhere, the treasure of "the great factors of awakening" (as seeing the wondrous treasures). Third, one ever upholds the three secrets of the Tathāgata — of body, speech, and mind (as keeping secret the confidential words). Fourth, one is ever able to benefit boundless sentient beings (as bestowing gifts at will).

Having spoken of the meaning of valor, the text next speaks of the meaning of the fruit attained.

Merit and honor, existence-bliss and also the cessation of suffering, realized bliss and the realized store of dharmas, the exhaustion of perfuming, and the relinquishing of both existence and cessation.

The one who takes refuge in the great vehicle attains these eight fruits: first, at the time of confident understanding, one attains the great store of merit. Second, at the time of arousing the mind, one attains honor within the three existences [the birth-and-death of the three realms]. Third, at the time of deliberately taking birth (for the sake of delivering beings), one attains bliss within the three existences. Fourth, at the time of understanding the equality of self and other, one attains the "cessation of the great mass of suffering" (the stilling of one's own great mass of suffering), and also attains the power to "extinguish the suffering of all sentient beings." Fifth, at the time of entering the forbearance of the non-arising [of dharmas], one awakens to and realizes the highest bliss. Sixth, at the time of attaining awakening, one realizes the "great store of dharmas" (法陰 [the dharma-body / the dharma-mass]). This store of dharmas is the dharma-body. Such a dharma-body is called "great," called "supreme," called "constant," and called "the good aggregation": because it is the ground of the treasury of dharmas — boundless sūtras and the rest — it is called great; because it is the highest among all dharmas, it is called supreme; because it is forever without end, it is called constant; because it is the aggregation of wholesome dharmas such as the powers and the fearlessnesses, it is called the good aggregation. Seventh, one attains "the exhaustion of the aggregation of perfuming" — the perfumed aggregation [the store of latent impressions] is forever extinguished without remainder. Eighth, one attains "the relinquishing of both existence and cessation" — "relinquishing existence" is not abiding in saṃsāra; "relinquishing cessation" is not abiding in nirvāṇa.

Having spoken of the meaning of the fruit attained, the text next speaks of the meaning of being beyond reach.

Great substance and great purpose, boundless and inexhaustible, through the wholesome, worldly and world-transcending, and through ripening and supernormal power.

The wholesome roots possessed by the one who takes refuge in the great vehicle, by four causes, no listener or solitary Buddha [pratyekabuddha] can match: first, great substance; second, great purpose; third, boundless; fourth, inexhaustible. 〔Question〕 How is this so? 〔Answer〕 Great substance refers to the worldly wholesome roots, which already come to surpass those of the two vehicles. Great purpose refers to the world-transcending wholesome roots — for the world-transcendence of the two vehicles is merely for their own benefit (whereas these wholesome roots can benefit others). Boundless refers to the wholesome roots of "ripening," which can ripen boundless sentient beings. Inexhaustible refers to the wholesome roots of "supernormal power," which do not run dry even up to the nirvāṇa without remainder.

Having spoken of the supreme meaning of the refuge, the text next speaks of the divisions of the refuge.

Aspiration and great compassion, all-kinds-of-knowledge and non-retreat, the threefold going-forth and the twofold attainment — the divisions are of six kinds.

The refuge has six divisions: first, its own nature; second, its cause; third, its fruit; fourth, its work; fifth, its concomitance; sixth, its class. It takes aspiration [悕望] as its own nature — because with whole-hearted mind one seeks the Buddha-substance (the substance of the Buddha-fruit). It takes great compassion as its cause — because it is for the sake of all sentient beings. It takes all-kinds-of-knowledge (種智, sarvajñatā, the knowledge of all modes) as its fruit — because one would attain unsurpassed awakening. It takes non-retreat as its work — because in practicing the hard-to-practice practice of benefiting others one does not retreat and does not bend. It takes the threefold going-forth as its concomitance — because one is complete in the going-forth practice of the three vehicles. It takes the twofold attainment as its class — "conventional attainment" and "dharma-nature attainment," which are the difference between coarse and subtle.

Having spoken of the divisions of the qualities, the text next speaks of the divisions of practice.

Taking refuge holds a great purpose: the store of qualities grows and increases; with intention and compassion pervading the world, one broadly spreads the great and holy dharma.

The "great purpose" is the practice of benefiting self and other. The practice of benefiting self refers to the growth of qualities. This growth is again of many kinds: whether by "reckoning" (measuring), by "counting" (numbering), or by "time-span" (duration), it is without any limit — because it cannot be reckoned and cannot be known by counting, and because it is practiced constantly to the very end, its time without any bound. The practice of benefiting others refers to pervading all sentient beings with intention and compassion, and to spreading, broadly and diligently and by skillful means, the "great and holy dharma." The "great and holy dharma" is the dharma of the great vehicle.

Here the chapter on Taking Refuge reaches its consummation (comes to its complete fulfillment).

The Chapter on Establishing the Teaching established the great vehicle; and now that the student can trust it, the very first thing to be done is to "take refuge." But what this chapter treats is not refuge in the ordinary sense — it is the "refuge of the great vehicle," which differs from ordinary refuge at one root point.

Here is a comparison. Ordinary refuge is like a traveler caught in wind and rain who runs to shelter under some eaves — what he seeks is "a support for himself." The refuge of the great vehicle, however, is a traveler who, even as he shelters from the rain, sets up a resolve: I too will become a house, so that every traveler under heaven may have a place to shelter. So the great vehicle's refuge is not merely "finding a support"; it is "vowing to make oneself the support of all sentient beings" (which is just becoming a buddha). This chapter first tells why it is the most supreme of refuges, and then goes on, step by step, to how the one who takes refuge is born and grows up like a prince, and at last attains the buddha-fruit.

I. Why the great vehicle's refuge is the most supreme: the four marks

If a person takes refuge in the Three Jewels, the great vehicle's refuge is the first; for it is all-pervading and valorous, and in its fruit attained none can match it.

Among all refuges in the Three Jewels, the treatise says the great vehicle's refuge is the very first, and this rests on four kinds of "greatness": all-pervading (a boundless breadth of mind), valorous (vow and practice both robust), fruit attained (what is gained is vast), and unmatched (the other vehicles cannot catch up). And precisely because it stands so high, it is hard both to arouse and to carry through, and those able to take it are few; precisely because it is so hard, its supremacy shows.

II. Hard to arouse and hard to accomplish — all the more should one set up a great resolve

Hard to arouse and hard to accomplish; one must have a great resolve of mind; in order to accomplish the benefit of self and others, one should make the supreme refuge.

The treatise states plainly how hard this road is: the "vow" is hard to arouse (for the great vow runs deep and wide), and the "practice" is hard to bring to fullness (for it must pass through measureless eons). Yet its point is not that one should draw back, but that precisely because it is hard, all the more should one set up a great resolve. Why is it worth it? Because this one refuge accomplishes "the twofold benefit of self and others" — outwardly, the vow-and-practice of benefiting others (vow-and-practice is the cause of good renown); inwardly, the great meaning realized for oneself (the great meaning is the fruit of one's own substance). Its very difficulty is proof of how much it weighs.

III. The all-pervading: how far the breadth of mind reaches

Pervading beings, pervading the vehicles, pervading in wisdom, pervading in the quelling, this is called, of the one of wisdom, the fourfold all-pervading.

The first "greatness" of the great vehicle's refuge is the "pervasion" of the breadth of mind, pervading to four places: pervading beings (what one would deliver is "all" sentient beings, with no picking of near from far), pervading the vehicles (one is versed in the dharmas of all three vehicles, the better to meet every kind of capacity), pervading in wisdom (one has penetrated both kinds of no-self — of persons and of dharmas — leaving no dead corner), and pervading in the quelling (one knows that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are "one taste in substance," and no longer falsely parcels out fault on the one side and merit on the other).

This fourth, "pervading in the quelling," is the deepest. The treatise's wording is that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are "one taste in substance" and that fault and merit are not discriminated between them. This exposition reports that account of "pervading in the quelling" without adding that they are one identical substance bearing two names according to delusion and awakening.

IV. The valorous and the good birth: the birth of a child of the Buddha

Longing for the buddha-awakening, the arduous practice never turning back, the awakening equal with all the buddhas — the valorous supremacy has three.

The second "greatness" is the valorous, in three parts: supreme vow (when taking refuge in the Buddha one seeks the great awakening and is filled with joy, for one knows well the surpassing virtue of that awakening), supreme practice (once on the road one neither turns back nor bends, but singly practices the arduous practices), and supreme fruit (in becoming a buddha, one is awakened equal with all the buddhas — not an awakening a rank lower). By this valor, the child of the Buddha "ever attains a good birth" — again and again receiving an excellent birth.

This "good birth" the treatise sets out through a set of four womb-similes, telling the road to buddhahood as a most natural "bearing and rearing":

Arousing the mind and the perfection of wisdom, the store filled to fullness, and great loving-kindness — the seed and the birth-mother, the womb and the nurse, are excellent.

The mind of awakening is the seed, the perfection of wisdom is the birth-mother, the two stores of merit and wisdom are the womb, and great compassion is the nurse — faith and vow are sown, wisdom conceives, merit-and-wisdom nourishes the womb, great compassion gives suck; and just so is an awakened one borne and reared. (These four similes accord with what the Chapter on Arousing the Mind says; only in the one item "womb" do they differ — the Chapter on Arousing the Mind takes "the great bliss of meditative concentration," this chapter takes "the two stores of merit and wisdom" — the figure taken differing a little, the sense running through as one.)

The excellent marks accomplish the power of birth, great bliss and great skillful means: these four accomplishments — this is called the excellent body.

Having been well born, one gains the four accomplishments of the "excellent body": supremacy of form (the body adorned with excellent marks, surpassing that of a wheel-turning king), supremacy of power (the sovereign power to bring sentient beings to maturity), supremacy of bliss (the boundless bliss of quelling at the buddha-ground, of the highest kind), and supremacy of wisdom (the great skillful means to save sentient beings). Form, power, bliss, and wisdom all complete — this is the mark of the Buddha's child being well born.

V. The child of the Buddha as prince and as great minister: the buddha-lineage unbroken

Light and installation, sovereignty in the Dharma, skill in teaching, good governance and gathering: by these four causes, the buddha-lineage is not cut off.

The treatise next draws an apt comparison: the child of the Buddha is like a "prince." In the world, the royal lineage is unbroken because of four things — receiving the office and ascending the throne, an ascendancy that none can defy, skill in judging and deciding, and clear reward and punishment. The child of the Buddha has four corresponding causes that keep "the buddha-lineage unbroken": receiving light and being installed (all the buddhas send forth a great light and, consecrating him, install him in his office, as the crown prince receives his investiture), sovereignty in the Dharma (in all dharmas his wisdom is sovereign and none can defy him), skill in teaching (amid the assembly of buddhas he skillfully expounds the Dharma, as a prince decides affairs before the court), and good governance and gathering (toward those who keep the precepts, he can govern their faults and gather in their merits, as reward and punishment are made clear).

The scene of this "receiving light and being installed" is set out most plainly in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter on the Ten Grounds: the crown prince born of the chief queen of a wheel-turning sacred king is set by the king's command upon a white-elephant throne; "one takes the water of the four great oceans and puts it in a golden vase, and the king takes this vase and pours it over the crown prince's head," and the moment the water is poured over his head, he is at once said to "receive the royal office," and is counted among the anointed kṣatriya kings — "the bodhisattva's receiving of office is likewise: because the buddhas' water of wisdom is poured over his head, it is called receiving office," and he falls thereby into the number of the buddhas.〔exposition-borrowed simile · Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter on the Ten Grounds (the Dharma-Cloud ground)〕The world, by the water of the four great oceans poured over the head, sets up a king; the house of the Buddha, by the buddhas' water of wisdom poured over the head, confers the office of awakening — "receiving light and being installed" is just this pouring.

The deep sense of this comparison is: though the child of the Buddha has not yet become a buddha, he is already born into the house of the Buddha and destined to ascend the seat of awakening. To take refuge in the great vehicle is to "recognize that one is born into the house of the Buddha, a prince who succeeds to the buddha-throne" — not a shelter-seeker lodging under another's roof.

Entering the perfections, seeing the factors of awakening, holding the secrets, benefiting sentient beings: by these four causes, he comes to resemble a great minister.

Not only like a prince, but also like a "great minister" — one who can take part in the vital business and get great things done. A great minister has four capacities: to enter the king's forbidden palace, to behold the royal house's wondrous treasures, to be privy to the king's secret words, and to bestow rewards at will. The valorous bodhisattva has four capacities too: ever entering well the perfections (as one enters the forbidden palace), ever beholding, in scripture after scripture, the treasure of the factors of the great awakening (because he does not forget the Dharma, as one beholds the wondrous treasures), ever holding the three secrets of the Tathāgata's body, speech, and mind (as one is privy to the secret words), and ever benefiting boundless sentient beings (as one bestows rewards at will). Both a prince who succeeds to the throne and a minister who handles affairs — such is the standing, in the house of the Buddha, of one who takes refuge in the great vehicle.

VI. The fruit gained by taking refuge: the eight fruits and the dharma-body

Merit and honor, the bliss of existence and the ending of suffering, the realized bliss and the realized dharma-mass, the perfuming exhausted, existence-relinquished and cessation-relinquished.

The treatise counts out the eight fruits of the great vehicle's refuge, from shallow to deep, like a set of milestones on the road to buddhahood: at the time of resolute faith one gains a great store of merit → at the time of arousing the mind one gains honor within the three realms → when (for the sake of delivering beings) one takes birth, one gains bliss within the three modes of existence → when one understands the equality of self and others one gains the ending of the great mass of suffering, and gains too the power to "end the suffering of all sentient beings" → when one enters the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas one realizes the highest bliss → when one attains awakening one realizes the dharma-body → the perfuming one has undergone, being defiled, is forever ended without remainder → and at last one gains the relinquishing of existence and of cessation.

Of these, the sixth, the "dharma-body," the treatise especially praises with four names: great (for it is the ground on which the boundless treasury of scriptural dharma rests, as the great ocean takes in the hundred rivers), supreme (the highest among all dharmas), constant (never coming to an end), and the store of the good (the amassing of all good dharmas — the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the rest). And the last, "existence-relinquished and cessation-relinquished," is most worth pondering: "relinquishing existence" is not abiding in saṃsāra, "relinquishing cessation" is not abiding in nirvāṇa — one halts at neither side. This is precisely the resting-place of the greatly compassionate one: able to abide in nirvāṇa yet unwilling to abide there alone, he stays long in saṃsāra for the sake of sentient beings — the fruit of refuge comes to rest on this compassion-and-wisdom of "not abiding at either side."

VII. The other vehicles cannot match it, the sixfold distinction, the practice of self and others

Great in substance and great in meaning, boundless and inexhaustible, by the good, mundane and supramundane, by maturing and by supernormal powers.

The fourth "greatness" is "unmatched": the roots of good of one who takes refuge in the great vehicle are such that the two vehicles cannot catch up — his mundane roots of good already surpass those of the two vehicles (great in substance), his supramundane roots of good can benefit others and not only himself (great in meaning), his maturing roots of good can bring boundless sentient beings to maturity (boundless), and his supernormal-power roots of good are inexhaustible even up to the nirvāṇa without remainder (inexhaustible).

Longing and great compassion, all-kinds-of-knowledge and non-retrogression, the threefold going-forth and the twofold attainment: the distinction has six kinds.

The treatise then distinguishes refuge from six angles: with longing as its own nature (seeking buddhahood with the whole heart), with great compassion as its cause (for the sake of all sentient beings), with all-kinds-of-knowledge (種智, the omniscient knowledge of the buddha-fruit) as its fruit (attaining the unsurpassed awakening), with non-retrogression as its function (never bending in the arduous, others-benefiting practice), with the threefold going-forth as its correspondence (complete in the going-forth of all three vehicles), and with the twofold attainment as its class (the mundane attainment and the dharma-nature attainment, coarse and fine). One "refuge," it turns out, has this many layers.

Refuge holds a great meaning, the store of merit grows and increases, with mind and compassion pervading the world, broadly spreading the great sacred Dharma.

Finally he points out that the "great meaning" of refuge is just the practice of benefiting self and others: inwardly, the merit grows without ceasing, measureless and boundless (however one ponders it, counts it, or reckons its span of time, it cannot be measured out, for it runs on to the very end); outwardly, with an intending mind and with compassion it pervades all sentient beings, broadly raising up skillful means and spreading abroad the "great sacred Dharma" (which is the great vehicle). That refuge is "great" comes at last to rest on this actual practice of "compassion pervading the world, broadly spreading the true Dharma."

Conclusion: taking refuge is lifting one's head and recognizing one's home

Read whole, the Chapter on Taking Refuge tells why the "refuge of the great vehicle" is great: it pervades (the breadth of mind pervading beings, the vehicles, wisdom, and the quelling), it is valorous (supreme in vow, practice, and fruit), it gains a great fruit (the eight fruits ending in the dharma-body, abiding at neither side), and the other vehicles cannot match it (four kinds of surpassing); and in between, through the four womb-similes and the figures of the prince and the great minister, it shows that the one who takes refuge is a child of the Buddha, "born into the house of the Buddha and succeeding to the buddha-throne."

To close in one line: the refuge of the great vehicle is not merely bowing the head to beg a shelter, but lifting the head to recognize that one is born into the house of the Buddha, and resolving to become oneself the support of all sentient beings. With a refuge like this, all that follows below — arousing the mind, the twofold benefit, and the whole of the bodhisattva path — finds the ground on which to stand.