Verse 7: Take refuge in the Three Jewels
Verse 7 of Gyalse Tokme Zangpo’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, from the section “The preliminaries.” Below: the verse in three translations and what seven teachers say about it.
Open in the study browser →Who can worldly gods, themselves imprisoned in samsara, protect? Therefore, seek refuge in the Three Jewels, the undeceiving source of refuge. This is the way of a bodhisattva.
The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take refuge in the Three Jewels, Since they will never fail to provide protection for all who call upon them, For whom are the ordinary gods of this world ever capable of helping, As long as they themselves are trapped within saṃsāra's vicious cycle?
Locked up in the prison of their own patterning Whom can ordinary gods protect? Who can you count on for refuge? Go for refuge in the Three Jewels — this is the practice of a bodhisattva.
Two kinds of refuge, pure and impure. Worldly deities may grant temporary benefits but "are not able to give us the ultimate liberation and lasting benefits." And the pastoral note: when Tara or Chenrezig practitioners still get sick or meet obstacles, that's past karma ripening, not failed practice.
Worldly gods, imprisoned themselves, can't protect others. "Refuge is an important dividing line, it is this which makes a person a Buddhist or not" — heartfelt acceptance of the Triple Gem, not intellectual knowledge of Buddhism, is what distinguishes practice.
Renders refuge as "safe direction" — active, not passive: "we're doing something very active," putting a direction in our life. Precision about the Jewels: the Dharma Jewel is the actual true stoppings and pathway minds; the Sangha Jewel is the aryas with non-conceptual cognition of voidness — not just monastic communities. Part 2
"Genuine Dharma is the process of actualizing within our minds the wisdom that realizes emptiness and selflessness." Ultimate refuge is direct realization of emptiness, which self-liberates the afflictions. Brahma can't help; he's a prisoner too.
Buddha as teacher, Dharma as path, Sangha as companions — "only the Three Jewels possess the rare and supreme qualities of absolute wisdom and impartial compassion." Three progressive stages of faith: vivid (on encountering), eager (aspiring to embody), confident (from verified understanding). Refuge is conviction, not ritual.
"One drowning person trying to save another drowning person. It ain't going to work!" The actual refuge is the Dharma — practical teachings that transform suffering by changing the mind; meditating on the Buddha's qualities generates joy and trust. Verses 7–9 talk · Sangye Khadro
His rendering universalizes it: ordinary gods are "locked up in the prison of their own patterning" — refuge in anything still caught in patterns (people, systems, substances, ideologies) can't hold. Tricycle verse 7 · Talk 3 (2006)
the logic of the verse is identical everywhere — you can't be saved by what's still trapped — but "worldly gods" gets three readings: literal deities (GR, KTGR), the boundary-marker of Buddhist identity (HHDL), and modern refuges-that-fail — wealth, people, patterns (AB, KM). For a mixed group, KM's reading opens the discussion; HHDL's sharpens it. Ties directly to your Ngondro refuge practice. ---
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche — The Heart of Compassion (Shambhala). A purchased book — no text is reproduced here.