Refuge in the Buddha, the Two-Legged Honored One — The Deeper Meaning of Compassion and Wisdom

Refuge: Inner Cultivation and Outer Cultivation, Great Compassion of One Body

The Buddha himself spoke the vow-verse of refuge in the Three Jewels, shared by both the Great and Lesser Vehicles: "I take refuge in the Buddha, the Two-Legged Honored One; I take refuge in the Dharma, the Honored One Free from Desire; I take refuge in the Saṅgha, the Honored One Among the Many." What does "Two-Legged Honored One" mean?It carries a very deep meaning.Offering has outer offering and inner offering; practice has outer practice and inner practice.Exoteric is outer, Tantra is inner.The outer is the Two-Legged Honored One; the inner is the dual cultivation of compassion and wisdom — union.

The Diamond Sūtra speaks of both the surface aspect and the inner aspect.The inner aspect is what Śākyamuni Buddha is pointing to when he is teaching: he is telling you everything he sees — I am teaching the Dharma to you right now; that is the state the Diamond Sūtra points to.That is the inner.The outer is what the exoteric still gives you — "like dew, like lightning, so should one view it" — however you contemplate, it is still outer.When you turn back and contemplate the inner, then the state of the Diamond Sūtra appears.That is the difference between inner practice and outer practice.

Is "Two-Legged Honored One" simply compassion and wisdom?"Compassion" (悲, bēi) does not stand for ordinary kindness.It is not what everyone talks about — bodhicitta, kind-heartedness, compassion, calling out to others "have compassion" — that is far too shallow.What does 悲 bēi mean?It is 非心 — "not-mind," not an ordinary person's mind, not the fleshly mind of worldly people and the things they think about.It is what exists simultaneously throughout the universe — great compassion of one body."Great compassion of one body" means: I and all the myriad things of the universe are fused as one body; everyone is equal.That feeling — that is where you have a cosmic macro-view, where you have the perspective of the entire galaxy.The animals you see, the lives you see, you can meet them all with this attitude as equals.Then you merge into the universe.No discriminating mind — this is also what is being spoken of here.So what is compassion-and-wisdom (悲智)?It is no discriminating mind, not the hair-splitting, calculating lump-of-flesh mind of worldly people.That awareness surpasses the twelve kinds of awareness.If you are going to listen to the Dharma, listen to this kind of Dharma — the kind that penetrates straight to the depth of your heart and awakens you.Only that is of use.

Practice Instruction:

When we practice and feel heat in the body, first draw it down into the dāntián.After continued consolidation, heat turns into light.Only with light can you carry it with you — heat alone is not enough."Lower the head and lightly gaze at the heaven within" means the eyes drop slightly to a small opening and look at your dāntián, which is called "the heaven of the signal." Zen calls it "contemplating the mind-field." We train the central channel: the energy of the dāntián must be sufficient, so contemplate the dāntián.When light appears at the dāntián, then you can lead it to walk the central channel.

Excerpted from a teaching by Master Urgyen Topden Rinpoche on 2018-01-13