Finding and Being Refuge

03/31/2024, Shoho Kuebast, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Shoho Kuebast is reflecting on how taking refuge can be taken as a daily practice. It seems to go hand in hand with the understanding of all things as impermanent and that of our unchanging, ever-loving Buddha Nature. Since Dogen is referring to refuge as devotion, devotion is explored in calling upon the Bodhisattva Manjushri. This embodiment of the perfection of wisdom is closer to us than we can ever imagine. Building a relationship to Buddha and Bodhisattva images, like that of Manjushri can nurture the act of taking refuge as a lived experience throughout our days. It also brings us closer to who we are and encourages us to let go of those patterns that hinder us from seeing and being ourselves.