Enter the Stream · 皈依
Take Refuge皈依真佛宗
Taking refuge is a commitment to spiritual cultivation — an aspiration to live a nobler and more meaningful life, to be free from suffering, to understand what life is about, and ultimately to be liberated from the bondage of samsara. Through refuge in the root guru, His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng, one enters the lineage and receives the empowerment that opens the gate of Vajrayana practice.
What refuge means
In the True Buddha School, taking refuge — saranagamana in Sanskrit — means entrusting oneself to the Triple Jewels — the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha — through the root guru who embodies them. It is the doorway to the school's practices, from the Fourfold Refuge onward, and the beginning of an actual path of cultivation rather than admiration from afar.
His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng, who holds the dharma title Great Blessing Vajra, is the Root Guru of the True Buddha School. In Vajrayana Buddhism the lineage transmission is indispensable: the blessing of the whole lineage flows through the root guru to the disciple, and without that connection the teachings cannot take root and practice does not bear fruit. Without the guru there is no lineage, and without the lineage there are no pith instructions — the essential guidance born of actual practice and attainment rather than theory alone. Taking refuge establishes precisely this connection — the guru becomes the wellspring from which every subsequent empowerment, teaching and blessing reaches you.
Refuge is open to everyone, without distinction of race, nationality, gender or former religion. It is conferred on a donation basis with no set fee, so that no one is ever turned away.
The Fourfold Refuge · 四皈依
南摩古魯貝 南摩不打耶
南摩達摩耶 南摩僧伽耶
Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ya,
Namo Dharma ya, Namo Sangha ya
I take refuge in the Guru, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
The merits of taking refuge 皈依的功德
Having taken refuge, the disciple begins the Root Guru Practice — the foundation of every other practice in the school. Those who cultivate it sincerely are said to receive both worldly and spiritual blessings.
Health and long life
Body and mind are steadied by the guru's blessing, and obstacles to wellbeing are cleared.
A harmonious family
Discord softens; the household becomes a place where cultivation is possible.
Fortune and wisdom
Sufficiency in worldly affairs, and the clear discernment that turns it toward the dharma.
Thirty-six guardians
The Sutra of Consecration teaches that thirty-six good spirits are appointed to guard one who takes refuge in the Triple Jewels.
Protection of the devas
As practice deepens, the protection extends further — the heavens and the dharma protectors keep watch over the practitioner.
The path to liberation
Beyond every blessing, refuge sets the direction: awakening in this life and buddhahood at its end.
The simple refuge rite
For refuge at a distance, perform this brief ceremony:
- Choose the day. At 7:00 a.m. local time on the first or fifteenth day of any lunar month.
- Face the rising sun. With palms joined, recite the Fourfold Refuge mantra three times: “Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ya, Namo Dharma ya, Namo Sangha ya. Seeking the guidance of Living Buddha Lian Sheng, I am taking refuge in the True Buddha.”
- Prostrate three times. The rite itself is complete — then register by one of the methods below, and His Holiness will perform the remote empowerment.
Three ways to register
Through the official form
Perform the rite above, then complete the refuge form on the True Buddha School administrative site. His Holiness performs the remote empowerment, and a refuge certificate with guidance for beginning practice follows by mail.
Open the refuge form →Write to the Foundation
After performing the rite, send your name, address and age — together with any offering you wish to make, entirely voluntary — to:
True Buddha Foundation17102 NE 40th Ct.
Redmond, WA 98052, USA
At a True Buddha temple
Attend the Saturday evening group practice at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in Redmond, Washington — the school's mother temple — or visit any True Buddha temple or chapter worldwide, where an authorised acharya can confer the refuge empowerment in person.
What follows 皈依之後
- The remote empowerment. Wherever you are in the world, His Holiness bestows the refuge empowerment — the moment the lineage connection is made.
- Your certificate and guidance. A refuge certificate arrives by mail, together with instructions for beginning daily practice.
- The Root Guru Practice. Begin with the Fourfold Refuge and the Root Guru Practice; from this foundation the higher yogas of the school open in turn, each with its own empowerment.
- A sangha to practise with. Local temples and chapters hold group practice and ceremonies, and teachings are streamed for those who live far from any temple.
Practices such as the Dragon King Treasure Vase Yoga require both refuge and the specific empowerment for that practice, which is requested from His Holiness or an authorised master after taking refuge.
Why we venerate the root guru 根本上師
All True Buddha School disciples venerate Living Buddha Lian Sheng as their lineage root guru. They place his image at the center of their shrine, worship him, and pray to him. Why?
In Tantrayana the root guru is revered as the embodiment of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and it is said that without his teaching, blessing, and empowerment, merely reading materials on tantric practices will not bring good results. Rather than treating people one hears speak or encounters online as one's “teacher”, it is important to follow the refuge requirement.
There is an analogy for what the Guru represents.
The Buddha is the sky
Vast, open, unmoved, and unchanged.
The Dharma is the clouds
Forming according to causes and conditions.
The Guru is the rain
A manifestation of the sky, yet tangible to us. You can see it, hear it, touch it, and be nourished by it directly.
Grandmaster Lu has also said that if a disciple views their root guru as a buddha, they will obtain the blessings of a buddha. However, if one views him as an ordinary human being, all the blessings one receives will be mere human actions. A tantric practitioner must therefore maintain pure reverence and devotion toward him in order to succeed. As Guru Rinpoche stated:
“Honor the guru, treasure the dharma, practice diligently!”
Guru Rinpoche
A true lineage guru has a very high level of realization and attainment. In such a case, he truly embodies all the buddhas, dharma, and sangha and their power. He has merged with cosmic space and can spontaneously perform the Buddha's work. He can continually stream blessings to his disciples, manifest multiple dharma bodies to carry out dharma work, liberate countless beings, living or deceased, and exercise the greatest self-mastery. As such, he can effortlessly take on the burdens and karma of many beings and liberate them. Such attainment is the culmination of arduous and sustained spiritual cultivation over a long period of time.
How is the bond with the Guru formed?
In the developmental stages of Tantrayana, one begins with the Four Preliminary Practices to build one's foundation. One then practices Guru Yoga before proceeding to the yidam (personal deity) practice. Once spiritual union with the Guru is attained, his blessings allow subsequent practices to proceed much more smoothly. Pure respect, complete devotion, and faith are crucial to establishing this spiritual connection. His blessings are like the sun, which is always shining. How much sunshine one receives depends on oneself: whether one is out in the sun, how sincere and receptive one is, and so on.
In Guru Yoga, to assist with visualization, one places the Guru's image at the center of the altar or carries it with oneself, such as in a bag, and imprints his image upon one's mindstream. Continual mindfulness of him sitting above one's head and radiating light, repeated chanting of his mantra, forming the mudra, and visualizing oneself merging with him are some of the methods used to achieve spiritual union. Thus, we have refuge tree mandalas with the lineage gurus at the center of devotion. Once this union is achieved, other attainments follow naturally.
What is samaya?
This bond between guru and disciple is called samaya. A true tantric practitioner is very careful not to break their samaya. Once samaya is broken, the practitioner is like a broken vessel: no matter how much pure dharma nectar is poured into it, the vessel cannot retain it. If samaya is broken, it is imperative to repent and seek guidance from the lineage guru on how to remedy the breach.
Why do we refer to our lineage root guru as a living buddha?
From all of this, one can see how important this role is to tantric practitioners. A guru needs to possess the appropriate merit and dharma power to serve as the center of devotion. The lineage root guru of True Buddha School has reached the highest attainment, and, as a skillful means, he has allowed practitioners to venerate him, personally bearing the karmic consequences. It is clear that he possesses the merit and dharma power to do so, continually performing deliverance and bestowing blessings for decades. True Buddha School disciples are very fortunate to have such a lineage root guru, and this is why we refer to him as a living buddha.
皈依之後，依法修行，福慧雙修。
After taking refuge, practice according to the dharma — cultivating merit and wisdom together.