What is your own practice? Your own practice is recognizing the ultimate truth, understanding what is reality. And training your mind to be a good person. That is your practice. Your achievement is whenever you change yourself, whenever you are trying to be a better person, changing your behavior. For example, in earlier times you were someone who hated everybody and now you don’t do it, and that’s your achievement, right?
And then there are higher levels of achievement with practice. Those practices will save you. The point of taking refuge in the Three Jewels is that your practice will save you. Your behavior will save you. You change your own mind, instead of hoping for everything from outside. That, I think, is the central meaning of the practice of taking refuge in the Three Jewels.
So even though you may consider yourself Buddhist, if you don’t believe in those things, if you believe there is someone behind always watching and making you do this and that, then you are not taking the refuge practice seriously. That’s what I think. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels should be more scientific and reasonable.
If you take refuge in the Three Jewels properly you become more realistic. You become more sort-of scientific. I don’t mean scientific as in believing everything in science. I mean, scientific in the sense of accepting reality and being able to understand how to change your mind – after you see a reason, after you see research and results.
Don’t be stubborn. Be more reasonable. That means you can express your view and are also able to listen to others’ view. You don’t have to follow their view. It’s more like you have your own standpoint based on your knowledge, not based on your strong belief system.
Am I Buddhist or Not? (Demo Rinpoche – Ancient Wisdom. Modern Times. #228 Part 4 – January 12, 2025)
