Ep. 222 - Going For Refuge with Gil Fronsdal

Reminding listeners that they can be fully supported and guided by the Dharma, Gil Fronsdal discusses the Buddhist concept of taking refuge.

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In this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil describes:

• The significance of going for refuge within the Buddhist tradition 
• How taking refuge can radically reshape your life and reorient your heart towards truth and freedom
• Analyzing our consciousness and what it is concerned with 
• Taking refuge in the right things (those which can be be depended on for safety, peace, support)
• Bringing 100% of yourself along to the refuge without holding back
• Why some people resist the concept of going for refuge
• Making the intentional, willful choice to live a life aligned with truth and awakening
• Trusting in the Dharma, surrendering, and knowing that it will always support you
• The wise story of a monk who always maintained an attitude of trust and positivity, to his own downfall 
• Taking refuge within ourselves and becoming independent within the Dharma rather than depending on other people 
• The essence of the Dharma: committing to a life that doesn’t cause harm 
• Taking refuge in the potential for awakening and freedom that we all have
• Finding refuge within the sangha, aka, our spiritual community 
• Offering refuge to others and ensuring that we are a source of peace for the world around us

“For me a very important aspect of this whole refuge thing is offering refuge to others, being someone that people can take refuge in, or being in the world in such a way that the world feels safe with you, supported by you, that the world has nothing to fear from you. Not just going for refuge or taking refuge, but offering refuge in return.” – Gil Fronsdal 

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

This recording was originally published on Dharmaseed.org

"To take refuge is to be interested in shaping consciousness in a very different way, shaping our heart in a very different way, so that our heart, our mind, is depending on something that is worth depending on. Depending on something which can provide a stable peace. Depending on something which is dependable. Depending on something that can protect us, support us, inspire us, and even liberate us.” – Gil Fronsdal

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