Refuge in three jewels and five precepts

Q & A
1

Hello everyone :anjal:

I would like to ask if a lay person should recite and go for refuge in three jewels daily at home (on my own) together with five precepts. Or laity should accept refuge only in front of bhikkhu, bhikkhunī and then, daily at home recite and accept (only) five precepts?

I already went to refuge in three jewels (in monastery) but I wonder if I should (and can) remind three jewels daily this way.

Thank you and have a nice day.
Mettā :anjal:

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2

Sure you can. Why not? :slightly_smiling_face: :anjal:

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3

Thank you very much,
I just wasn’t sure if refuge in three jewels is something, that should by recited only by venerable monks to lay person or if laity can themselfs in daily practise recite too.
Thank you again for your answer and help. :anjal:

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4

Yes, do It as much as you want! :slightly_smiling_face: :anjal:
It’s a powerful foundation or reference point to make part of our day the remembrance of our three refuges as Buddhists.
It’s a way of setting the foundations for faith and confidence in the Buddha, his teachings and the Sangha of awakened disciples.

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The bhikkhus usually recite the precepts and the devotees repeat after the bhikkhus. If it is Uposatha, it is the eight precepts and if it is something less significant then it is the five precepts. These customs vary from country to country.
Buddhists in Sri Lanka for example, offer flowers and incense and light candles etc., on the altar in the morning and the evening which again is very common. At the same time, they also recite stanzas starting with the homage to the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha and recite the five precepts.
If you are a practising buddhist, I think these are really helpful although for most people they are just rituals.
With Metta

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It’s only necessary to take refuge once. What’s more important is to cultivate understanding that refuge means abandoning reliance on conventional reality and placing full trust in the Dhamma particularly as the view of what is the goal of life, not material acquisition but self awakening. “A sense of the Dhamma” means knowing enough of the suttas to differentiate between the conventional path and the noble path.

The Buddha speaking to a layperson on the purpose of recollecting the Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha :

“And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed experiences ease. In one at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.”—AN 11.13

Instructions on how to practise recollection are in the present sutta.

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It’s up to you. I think that many people develop some sort of chanting/recitation routine.

Personally, my routine before most meditations is to chant and reflect upon:

  1. The qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha
  2. The 5 things that one should reflect upon often
  3. The 5 precepts
  4. “Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Sambudhassa” three times
  5. “Buddham Dhammam Sangham Namasami” once
  6. Then I bow three times.
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