Rinpoche offered this teaching, recorded on June 11, 2022, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal for a group of students in China and Malaysia.

Numberless buddhas of the past, present, and future can see our suffering and that we need happiness, Rinpoche explains. They want to help, they want to guide us. However, from our side, if we don’t rely on them by going for refuge, all of their power together cannot guard us, cannot save us, cannot keep us from the lower realms. Therefore, take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha so we don’t cheat ourselves. The reason why we have been suffering in samsara from beginningless rebirths is because we haven’t followed the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Rinpoche discusses what to abandon and what to practice after having taken refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/having-taken-refuge-what-to-abandon-and-what-to-practice/