Revering the Buddha – Has the Airplane of Your Soul Taken Flight Yet?

Long ago, a poor couple happened to meet an Arhat. Seeing his dignified appearance and radiant presence, they felt inspired to make an offering of a piece of cloth. The wife simply tied her wish to the offering: "May I one day share in the fruit of realization that you have attained." The Arhat smiled and gave his assurance. Many years later, it was precisely through that small but heartfelt aspiration, born of reverence, that the couple met the Buddha and attained realization.

Do you see the wonder in this? One small act of making offerings, done with reverence toward a Noble One, became a seed of liberation spanning many lifetimes. This shows that reverence for the Buddha is an immensely important form of merit – indeed, the very foundation of all virtue.

Revering the Buddha – The Most Fundamental Merit

In his dharma talk, Thầy Thích Chân Quang emphasized that reverence for the Buddha is the most fundamental virtuous state of mind, the wholesome root of all other merit. Without reverence for the Buddha, it is difficult to build anything on the path of practice. Why is that? Because all Buddhas are the embodiment of compassion, wisdom and non-self (anatta). When we revere an absolutely Noble One, we are opening our hearts to those very qualities.

"Reverence for the Buddha is a very important virtuous state of mind, the wholesome root of all other merit. If we lack reverence for the Buddha, we cannot build anything at all."

Every practitioner longs for compassion, joy, equanimity and patience. But why is it so hard to practice? Because we lack the energy to nourish those virtuous states of mind. Reverence for the Buddha is precisely the wondrous source of energy that helps us transcend the limits of our ego.

Why Is It So Hard to Cultivate Compassion and Patience?

Everyone wants to love all sentient beings, yet in daily life we still find ourselves loving some and disliking others. We want to be patient in the face of insults, but the slightest adversity makes us irritated and hot-tempered. Thầy Thích Chân Quang points to the deep root of the problem: it is all because we lack the merit of revering the Buddha. Without this foundation, every effort at practice becomes fragile and easily broken.

Consider this: you try to suppress your anger, but it keeps gnawing at you. You try to love someone you find difficult, only to sink back into your selfish ego. This is because you have not yet accumulated enough blessings from merit through revering the Buddha. But once this merit is established, every effort becomes surprisingly light and effective.

Taking Refuge in the Buddha – Not Simply "Returning for Shelter"

Many Vietnamese people are used to understanding "taking refuge in the Buddha" as turning back to the Buddha for shelter. But Thầy Thích Chân Quang points out sternly that this understanding weakens the sacred meaning of the act of taking refuge. In fact, the original meaning of "taking refuge" carries the sense of worship and reverence – acknowledging the Buddha as one's teacher and becoming a disciple for life, without betrayal.

"The ancients used the word 'refuge' with the meaning of reverence and worship. When we take refuge in the Buddha, it means we worship the Buddha, we accept the Buddha as our teacher, we are the Buddha's disciples. The word 'refuge' is powerful – its meaning is so strong that it does not allow for betrayal."

With the correct understanding, a Buddhist will be deeply conscious of this lifelong commitment to the Three Jewels. They will not be easily swayed by other religions or grow lax in their practice. Precisely because of misunderstanding, many people remain indifferent after taking refuge, and some even abandon the path. This is an important lesson for monks and nuns when teaching the Dharma.

Be Careful with the Notion of "Taking Refuge in One's Own Nature"

Another subtle trap is the idea held by some that taking refuge in the Buddha means taking refuge in one's own nature. Thầy Thích Chân Quang warns strongly against this. Since we have not yet attained enlightenment, we cannot truly see our own nature. If we hastily point inward and say "that is my true nature," we may well be worshipping our own ego in disguise.

"Never understand taking refuge in the Buddha as taking refuge in your own nature. I say this seriously. I say this with utmost earnestness. Because none of us knows what our true nature is. We have not attained enlightenment, yet we have the feeling that our true nature resides within us... Unknowingly, we end up worshipping our own ego."

This is a profound wake-up call. When we assume we have awakened and understood our true nature, we easily become arrogant and look down on others. Blessings from merit accumulated over years of practice can vanish in a single moment of self-satisfaction. That is why we need a true object of worship outside ourselves – the Buddha – an absolutely perfect Noble One. Revering Him keeps us humble and helps us build a solid store of merit.

The Power of Revering the Buddha: An Airplane Taking Flight

Thầy Thích Chân Quang uses the image of an airplane to describe the process of practice. As it begins rolling down the runway, the plane slowly gains speed. In the same way, reverence for the Buddha and altruistic love may be small at first, but if we persistently accumulate them, they build into a powerful momentum. Once that momentum is sufficient, the plane takes off and can never return to the ground. At that moment, we attain the fruit of Stream-Entry, enter the stream of the Noble Ones, and will never again fall into the lower realms.

"When we revere the Buddha and live a life of altruism, loving everyone, at first it is only a little, gradually bit by bit, until it becomes a momentum so strong that it takes flight and can never come back down. That is the moment we are said to have attained the fruit of Stream-Entry."

Conversely, those who live in pure evil also build a momentum of evil karma. They will sink deep into the realms of hell, hungry ghosts and animals, and it becomes very difficult for them to be reborn as humans. For this reason, each day let us carefully nurture our reverence for the Buddha and our altruistic love. Every time we bow to the Buddha, every time we chant the sutras, every time we think of the Buddha, we add a little more momentum for the soul's takeoff.

The Buddha is the most perfect teacher, without a single flaw. Revering Him does not diminish us – it lifts us up toward His stature. Let us begin today: bow to the Buddha with a sincere heart, understand the true meaning of taking refuge, and never rush to claim that we have attained anything. It is this reverence for the Buddha that will carry us farther than we can imagine, until one day we take flight, rising above all suffering (dukkha) and afflictions (kleshas).