Next comes, ‘I put my faith in the true Tathagata of complete and perfect Enlightenment.’ The ‘True Tathagata of complete and perfect Enlightenment’ is not Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha), who has long since died. Rather, it is the Buddha-nature which is inborn in all of us and of which the Buddha himself said that he had only re-discovered an ancient path leading to an ancient city. It is the inalienable birthright of every human being. We are all endowed with the same insight and the same power that Tathagatas have. Only, the Buddha told us, because of our attachments, sadly we are not aware of it. So we just put our faith in the true Tathagata of complete and perfect Enlightenment. By getting out of the way, we give him room in a heart that has been emptied or ‘purified’.

 Throughout his Teaching, the Buddha set out the Way, patiently and compassionately, expounded it in parables, taught it in this and that version, but always the same Way.

Along this Way he set up signposts that we can follow. He reiterated the same points so as to really impress it on the clods that we are. That ‘true Tathagata of complete and perfect Enlightenment’ is familiar with our difficulties and our weaknesses and encourages us, saying, ‘Look! It is there in you, just get out of the way.’ Into him I put my faith, truly.

…Faith, if really whole-hearted , is of supreme help. For it, nothing is difficult. This faith, then, is my great master, the Tathagata. If I can put my faith in him, then following his teachings and his footsteps is not difficult. Taking the Three Refuges reminds us of that. And so what I call a difficult day ahead, or problems besetting me, all of this begins to lessen if faith is great enough. 

From that arises the next resolution, ‘I will rely on him as my teacher.’ The various schools, southern and northern, tell the Buddha’s life story. Although the descriptions differ slightly, the salient points are common to all. They indicate the stages on the Way, are signposts to follow, stages we have to pass.

What does ‘leaving home,’ mean? Leaving our well-established convictions, opinions, habits and being willing to open up and learn to look anew. In doing so we also find out where the limits of the body’s endurance are. This is the austerity phase. Although austerities alone will not produce anything, knowing that the limits are in fact much larger than I thought possible is important for the next stage. There, things that I thought were ‘me’ begin to fall off. As with the Buddha, born a prince leaving ‘home’ refusing to succeed the two greatest teachers, finally disowned by his last five disciples, he had nothing left. When there is nothing more to fall off, then the inner film begins to roll. So Mara appeared, with his daughters and his demons. But, with nothing left, the Three Fires (delusion, lust and fear/aversion) lack fuel and have died down. Where there is nothing, neither lust nor fear can have any inroad.

This is what the ‘Tathagata’ means, the strength not to be touched by any forces, outer or inner. That is our birthright, the inherent wisdom and power of the Tathagata.

(From the chapter ‘Going for Refuge’, The Daily Devotional Chants of the Zen Centre with comments by Ven. Myokyo-ni, pub. The Buddhist Society, London 2008)