“When I forget who I am, I return to the Buddha. When I’m lost in confusion, I return to the Dharma. When I feel alone, I return to the Sangha.”

In this tender and luminous talk, Chodo Sensei reflects on the Three Refuges of Buddhism—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—through the lens of impermanence, community, and compassion.

With stories of accompanying his dear friend Rande in her final days, and reflections on awakening amid global unrest, Chodo reminds us that refuge is not found in escape, but in presence.

To take refuge, he says, is to return, again and again, to what is real:

the Buddha within each of us, the Dharma revealed in every moment, and the Sangha that holds us when life unravels.

This talk invites us to wake up to grief, to change, to each other, and to remember that the path of practice is nothing less than the ongoing act of returning home.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji – Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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• Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
• Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL

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