Monday, 04/20/2026
The Second Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Triratna of 2015
Update: 27/07/2015
Every four months, Hoang Phap pagoda holds the ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Triratna for good men and believing women everywhere. This is a important and sacred ritual that marks a major turning point in the spiritual life of each person, the one who takes refuge in the Triratna officially becomes a disciple of Buddha.
The ceremony took place in one day. In the morning, good men and believing women gathered in the halls to listen to Jun. Venerable Thich Tam Dao, deputy abbot of Hoang Phap pagoda, explain the basic concepts such as: three refuges, five precepts, laymen, laywomen, master, master of new monks, religious name, ect. The Venerable also gave specific instruction about necessary rituals for Buddhists such as: holding palms, saluting with a bow, bowing to pray and the ritual of making offerings.
In the afternoon, the ceremony officially took place under the witness of Sen. Venerable Thich Chan Tinh, abbot of Hoang Phap pagoda, and the monks.
During the ceremony, the Sen. Venerable praised the men and women for taking refuge in the Triratna, heading towards the noble path. Not any religion is a good one, there are religions that lead people into sins and bring turbulence to the world. Thus, when taking refuge in the Triratna, these Buddhists are heading towards light and towards the spiritual homeland of the nation and avoid love and money losing their noble life.
After the repentence ritual, in the calm and solemn atmosphere, Venerable Thich Chan Tinh officially passed the Three refuges, Five precepts to them. At the end of the ritual, Venerable stated the meaning and benefits of taking refuge and retaining Buddha’s teachings. Additionally, Venerable reminded Buddhists to regularly visit the pagoda to cultivate Buddhist dharma, at least once per month on a Buddhist cultivation day. If Buddhists live in faraway provinces, they can come to the pagoda during the major holidays of the year such as death anniversary ceremony, Ullambana, flower lantern festival in celebration of Amitabha Buddha. At the same time, each person, according to their family conditions, should set up a Buddhist altar at home to make offerings and bow.
The ceremony ended. Buddhists were given certificates which bear their religious names. Female names start with Lien and male names start with Tinh. Moreover, each person also received a present including a “Taking Refuge in the Triratna†DVD and a Sakyamuni story book.
Below are the pictures taken from the ceremony:
Translated into English by Doan Thanh Truc.