The Refuge Tree and its Future Growth

In the course of this series of books we have opened the treasury of the Buddhist tradition and encountered the immense riches of its symbolism. It is now time to bring together all the figures we have encountered into one unifying symbol, and to contemplate the totality of the facets of the jewel of Enlightenment. Tibetan Buddhism has such a unifying symbol, known variously as a Refuge assembly, Field of Merit, or Refuge Tree. It is known as a Refuge assembly because it is a visualized gathering of figures representing the three Refuges. It is known as a Field of Merit because by visualizing a great array of Enlightened figures and then making offerings to them, and by performing other skilful actions, such as committing oneself to the Bodhisattva path in their presence, one gains for oneself a great deal of positive benefit. For Buddhism, thought and imagination are forms of action, and will have positive or negative consequences depending on their motivation. The Tantra takes this to its logical conclusion. When performed with faith and devotion, it sees no inherent difference between making offerings to a hundred Buddhas visualized in meditation and doing so in the outer world. It is known as a Refuge Tree because the assembly is often visualized seated upon a vast lotus flower, with many branches at different levels.

It is possible to visualize a Refuge Tree with any yidam at its centre. Whichever yidam you are concentrating on, you can build up a visualization of all the Refuges with that figure as the central focus. It is even possible to perform a condensed version of the meditation by visualizing just the central figure while maintaining the firm conviction that it is the embodiment of all the Refuges. This figure is sometimes called the samgrahakaya or 'comprehensive body', as it is the synthesis of all objects of Refuge.

The general appearance of the Refuge Tree is similar for all schools of Tibetan Buddhism - all the Refuges, exoteric and esoteric, are ranged in the sky around a central figure who is understood to embody them all. However, each school has one or more forms of Refuge Tree, each of which synthesizes all their main teachers and lineages of meditation practice. It is as though each school had gone to its treasury of spiritual practice and laid out its finest jewels on display in the sky: as well as embodiments of the exoteric Refuges, there are its greatest scholars and yogins, the yidams whose meditations are most central to it, and the dakinis and dharmapalas with whom it has a special connection.

To visualize such an assembly, perhaps including hundreds of figures (if one has the skill to produce such a masterpiece in one's mind's eye), or even to see a well-executed thangka of it, can be quite breathtaking. The sheer number of figures, their richness and variety, and the feeling of the different aspects of the Dharma they embody and express, can have a profound effect on the mind.

Each Refuge assembly is both individual and universal. It is a vehicle through which a Tibetan Buddhist can develop faith and appreciation for the particular school of practice that he or she has joined, and its distinctive traditions of spiritual practice. At the same time, each assembly includes figures representing all the Refuges, both exoteric and esoteric. Thus, although they may depict different figures, each Refuge Tree is a complete symbol of all the aspects of the human psyche raised to the highest pitch of perfection. Within each assembly all our energies are illuminated by the golden rays of Enlightenment, and find themselves included in one great harmony. As a paradigm for the Refuge Tree we shall look at the Nyingma version, and then go on to consider the differences in emphasis in some of the other schools. We shall also consider the meditational contexts in which these vast assemblies are visualized and, finally, reflect on how they may develop further in the West.