Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his teachings on refuge from Kopan Monastery in Nepal. In this video Rinpoche reminds us that understanding the topic of refuge is so important because it can take a whole life of studying or even many lifetimes to understand it. Rinpoche offers commentary on Phabongkha Rinpoche’s teachings on refuge from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand as discussed in “Day Twelve” of this famous twenty-four day teaching on the lamrim. 

Rinpoche emphasizes that the more you think about other religions, the more you become devoted to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; and if you have two refuges, you lose your refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Rinpoche discusses the disadvantages of the Bön religion in detail and warns that “taking refuge is not only reciting words.” Read more about his teaching here.