Refuge to the Noble Triple Gem

They go to many a refuge,

to mountains, forests,

parks, trees, and shrines:

people threatened with danger.

That's not the secure refuge,

that's not the highest refuge,

that's not the refuge,

having gone to which,

you gain release

from all suffering and stress.


But when, having gone for refuge

to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha,

you see with right discernment

the four Noble Truths —

stress,

the cause of stress,

the transcending of stress,

and the Noble Eightfold Path,

the way to the stilling of stress:

That's the secure refuge,

that, the highest refuge,

that is the refuge,

having gone to which,

you gain release

from all suffering and stress.

— Dhammapada, 188-192


Adepted from an Introduction to the Buddha, Dhamma, &
Sangha by Thanissaro Bhikkhu Metta Forest Monastery,
Valley Center, CA 92082-1409, U.S.A.