How Do You Become a Buddhist?

Taking Refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha

More and more people in the West are being exposed to the teachings of the Buddha through books, Internet sites, and even the news about the Dalai Lama and the monks in Burma. Buddhism is an ancient, gentle path that has much to appeal to modern people, looking for answers and looking for peace.

There are perhaps as many reasons to become a Buddhist as there are people, so for now, let's assume that you yourself have decided for your own reasons that you would like to make a commitment to become a Buddhist. How do you begin?

To become a Buddhist, you "take refuge" in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Notice that we refer to "the Buddha," because the word Buddha is not his name. His name was Siddhartha Gautama, and during his lifetime, centuries before Christ, he became the Buddha, the enlightened one. He is not the one and only Buddha, just the latest in a series of Buddhas. Nor is Siddhartha Gautama the last of the Buddhas. Buddhists already teach about Maitreya, who will be the next Buddha.

Think about the president of the United States. If I ask you who the president of the United States is, you know the answer. But, there was a different answer (because there was a different president) twenty years ago, just as there will be a different answer twenty years from now.

The Dharma (or the Dhamma) is the teaching of the Buddha. Most of the original Buddhist texts are written in either Sanscrit or Pali, two languages that are related to each other. For instance, in Pali, the word is Dhamma, in Sanscrit, Dharma, just as the word Sanscrit word karma (which names a very important, but frequently misunderstood concept in Buddhism) is kamma in Pali.