How to Take Refuge in the Three Jewels

By Tim Yu · Updated 2026-06-04

To take refuge is to recite, with sincere intention, that you go to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha for refuge — traditionally three times, and often together with the five precepts. This simple act is the founding step of the Buddhist path: as Encyclopaedia Britannica notes, “one becomes a Buddhist by saying the words.” You can do it formally, in a ceremony with a teacher, or quietly on your own. This guide explains both.

For what the Three Jewels are and why one goes to them, see our full guide to the Three Jewels; here we focus on the practical act of taking refuge.

The Short Answer

Taking refuge is less a ritual than a reorientation. You are declaring the direction in which you will now travel: toward the awakened one, his teaching, and the community that carries it. The traditional way to express this is the refuge formula, recited in Pāli across the Buddhist world:

Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi — I go to the Buddha for refuge. Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi — I go to the Dharma for refuge. Saṅghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi — I go to the Sangha for refuge.

It is recited three times — a tradition often understood as deepening the commitment, the intention settling more fully with each round. Many recitations add a second and third cycle beginning Dutiyampi… (“for a second time…”) and Tatiyampi… (“for a third time…”). You may use the Pāli, the English, or both; sincerity matters more than language.

What “Refuge” Really Means

Before taking refuge, it helps to be clear about the word, because it is easily misread. Refuge (Pāli saraṇa) does not mean retreating from life into a spiritual hiding place, and it does not mean appealing to the Buddha as a god who will rescue you. The Dhammapada is blunt about refuges sought from fear: “Driven only by fear, do men go for refuge to many places… Such, indeed, is no safe refuge” (verses 188–189). The true refuge, it says, is turning to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and through them coming to understand the Four Noble Truths (verses 190–192).

So to take refuge is to turn toward what is genuinely reliable and make it the basis of your life. It is an orientation, not an evasion — and, as we’ll see, the opposite of outsourcing your salvation.

How to Take Refuge on Your Own

You do not need anyone’s permission to go for refuge. If your heart is ready, here is a simple, complete way to do it yourself:

1. Choose a quiet, unhurried time. Early morning is traditional, but any time you can be undistracted will do. Some people sit before a Buddha image or a simple candle; neither is required.
2. Settle the mind. Take a few slow breaths. Let the busyness subside. This is a meaningful act; meet it with attention rather than rushing.
3. Reflect on what you are doing. Briefly call to mind what each jewel means — the Buddha as awakened teacher, the Dharma as the path of truth, the Sangha as the community of practice. You are turning toward these as your refuge.
4. Recite the three refuges, three times, in Pāli or English, slowly and with real intention. Let the words be a genuine declaration, not a mere formula.
5. Optionally, undertake the five precepts. Refuge is traditionally paired with the five ethical training rules. Reciting them affirms the foundation of non-harm on which the path rests.
6. Sit for a moment afterward. Let the commitment settle. Then simply begin to live it.

That is a real going for refuge, in exactly the sense the tradition has always understood. The act is yours.

How a Formal Refuge Ceremony Works

Many people choose to take refuge formally, with a teacher and community — a way to mark the step publicly, to be witnessed and welcomed, and to begin a relationship with a lineage. The forms vary by tradition, and it is honest to say so rather than pretend there is one universal ceremony:

• Theravāda. Taking refuge and the five precepts is woven into countless occasions; a monk leads the recitation in Pāli, line by line, with the participants repeating each phrase. There is rarely elaborate ritual — the words and intention are the heart of it.
• Zen. The related ceremony, jukai (“receiving the precepts”), confers refuge and the precepts together. Recipients often receive a rakusu (a small sewn garment worn around the neck) and a dharma name, marking their formal entry into the practice.
• Tibetan (Vajrayāna). A lama gives refuge in a ceremony that may include a symbolic snipping of a few hairs (echoing the renunciant’s gesture) and the granting of a refuge name. In these traditions, refuge is also the gateway to further practice.

If you would like a formal ceremony, visit a local centre, attend for a while first, and ask. There is no obligation to rush; a good teacher will welcome the question and never pressure you. (Traditions and styles vary widely — our overview of the branches of Buddhism can help you find one that resonates.)

What Taking Refuge Does Not Require

It is worth saying plainly what refuge does not demand. It requires no payment, no signing of documents, no renouncing of your intelligence, and no unquestioning obedience to any person. The Buddha was emphatic on this last point. In the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16), near his death, he told his followers to “be islands unto yourselves, refuges unto yourselves… with the Dhamma as your refuge, seeking no other refuge.” The deepest refuge is not the Buddha-as-person but the Dharma realised in your own practice. Taking refuge, then, is not handing your life to an authority; it is taking responsibility for your own awakening, with the Three Jewels as your guide.

Living the Refuge

Going for refuge is not a one-time transaction so much as a practice you return to. Many Buddhists recite the three refuges daily — at the start of meditation, or each morning — because the words re-orient the heart, again and again, toward the awakened one, the truth, and the community. The first time you take refuge marks a beginning; repeating it keeps the commitment alive and fresh.

If you have not yet taken the broader step of becoming a Buddhist, this is its very core. And if you are still exploring and unsure whether to commit at all, that is entirely fine — you can practise without taking refuge for as long as you like. The door stays open.

To begin where the whole path begins, read the Three Jewels; to set this step in the wider journey, how to become a Buddhist; or return to the start with Buddhism for beginners.