Enter the Stream · 皈依
Take Refuge皈依真佛宗
Taking refuge is a commitment to spiritual cultivation and an aspiration to live a nobler, more meaningful life. It is a step towards understanding the true nature of existence, overcoming suffering and ultimately attaining liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.
By taking refuge in the Root Guru, His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng, one enters the True Buddha School lineage and receives the empowerment that opens the door to spiritual practice.
What refuge means
In the True Buddha School, taking refuge — saranagamana in Sanskrit — means entrusting oneself to the Guru, the Buddha, the Dharma [the Buddhist teachings] and the Sangha [the community of Buddhist practitioners]. It is the opening of the door to the path of spiritual cultivation and liberation from suffering.
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 this connection and the guru becomes the wellspring from which all blessings, teachings, empowerments, and attainments arise.
Refuge is open to everyone, regardless of race, nationality, gender or religion. There is no fixed fee, and any offering is entirely voluntary.
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
After taking refuge, disciples may begin by chanting the Guru Mantra — Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hum — and learn the Four Preliminary Practices: Great Prostration, Mandala Offering, Fourfold Refuge and Repentance (the Hundred-Syllable Mantra).
Those who practice sincerely and wholeheartedly will receive both worldly and transcendental blessings.
Health and long life
The guru’s blessings bring stability to body and mind, removing obstacles to good health and wellbeing.
A harmonious family
Conflicts diminish, creating a peaceful home environment that supports spiritual cultivation.
Fortune and wisdom
Material needs are met, while wisdom grows, seeing the transient and illusory nature of life, guiding one towards the dharma.
Thirty-six guardians
The Sutra of Consecration teaches that thirty-six guardian spirits are appointed to protect those who take refuge in the Three Jewels.
Protection of the devas
As spiritual practice deepens, the protection of heavenly beings and dharma protectors grows stronger.
The path to liberation
Taking refuge sets one on the path to awakening, with the possibility of attaining buddhahood in this very lifetime and in this very body.
The refuge ritual
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
After performing the refuge ritual, complete the registration form on the official True Buddha School website.
His Holiness will bestow the remote refuge empowerment, and you will receive a refuge certificate by post, together with guidance on beginning your practice.
Open the refuge form →Write to the Foundation
After performing the ceremony, send your name, address and age to the True Buddha Foundation, enclosing a voluntary offering:
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, establishing your connection to the lineage.
- Your certificate and guidance. You will receive a refuge certificate by post, along with instructions on how to begin your daily practice.
- A sangha to practise with. Local temples and chapters offer group practices and ceremonies, while online teachings allow you to participate wherever you live.
Practices such as the Dragon King Treasure Vase Yoga require both refuge and the specific empowerment for that practice, which must be 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. Without his teaching, blessing, and empowerment, simply reading about tantric practices will not bring good results. It is therefore essential to establish a proper lineage connection through refuge, rather than relying solely on teachings encountered through books or online.
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
Arising from the sky, yet tangible to us. You can see it, hear it, touch it, and be nourished by it directly.
Grandmaster Lu has taught that if a disciple views their root guru as a buddha, they will receive the blessings of a buddha. However, if they regard him merely as an ordinary person, the blessings they receive will be no more than ordinary 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!”
A genuine lineage guru possesses profound spiritual realisation and attainment. Such a guru embodies the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and their spiritual power.
Having merged with cosmic space, the guru can spontaneously perform the Buddha's work. He can continually bestow blessings upon his disciples, manifest countless dharma bodies to carry out dharma activities, liberate numerous beings, both living and deceased, and exercise the greatest self-mastery.
As such, he can effortlessly bear the burdens and karma of many beings and help liberate them from suffering. 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, practitioners begin with the Four Preliminary Practices to establish a solid foundation.
They then move on to Guru Yoga before progressing to yidam practice, the cultivation of a personal deity, with whom one has a close affinity.
Once spiritual union with the Guru is attained, his blessings allow subsequent practices to progress much more smoothly.
Pure respect, complete devotion and faith are essential to establishing this spiritual connection.
The Guru's blessings are like sunlight, always shining. How much light we receive depends on our own sincerity, openness and receptiveness, just as we must step into the sunshine to benefit from its warmth.
In Guru Yoga, practitioners place the Guru's image at the centre of their altar or carry it with them to assist with visualisation and keep his image firmly imprinted upon their mindstream.
The practice includes visualising the Guru seated above one's head, radiating light; reciting his mantra; forming his mudra; and visualising oneself merging with him.
These methods help establish spiritual union with the Guru. This is also why refuge tree mandalas place the lineage gurus at the centre of devotion.
Once this union is achieved, further spiritual attainments can follow naturally.
What is samaya?
The sacred 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 sincerely repent and seek guidance from the lineage guru on how to restore the bond.
Why do we refer to our lineage root guru as a living buddha?
From all of this, we can see how important the role of the Root Guru is to tantric practice. To serve as an object of devotion, a genuine lineage guru must possess the necessary spiritual merit, realisation and dharma power.
The Root Guru of the True Buddha School has attained the highest level of spiritual realisation.
As a skilful means to guide practitioners, he has allowed disciples to venerate him, personally accepting the karmic consequences of doing so.
His ability to bear this responsibility is demonstrated through decades of bestowing blessings, performing deliverance ceremonies and guiding countless beings towards liberation.
True Buddha School disciples are therefore fortunate to have such an accomplished lineage Root Guru. It is for these reasons that 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.