Love Yourself: Reflecting on Refuge

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche speaks in English to a group that has just asked about loving oneself. He starts from the daily recitation of the refuge verse and says it should be reflected on, not only chanted. His argument is that wishing yourself well is the ground of compassion for others, and that taking refuge means wanting to transform yourself, since a good job or relationship does not remove suffering for good.

He describes refuge in the Buddha as the wish to transform oneself, the Dharma as the work of training oneself and seeing clearly, and the Sangha as anyone sincerely practising, whatever they wear. He also discusses why the lives of past masters are told in terms of their qualities, how fixing on problems makes life miserable, and how to treat others as we wish to be treated.