Does Jukai imply a student commitment to the preceptor?

Upvote:1

Who can actually give Jukai? Who is entitled to?

Anyone can give, but you will receive more benefit if you get it from a realized master you have a feeling of connection with / admiration for. Realized masters transmit Sat-Dharma in their every move and having a sense of connection and admiration makes you more receptive to that subtle teaching.

What is the dogmatic consequence, exactly (link is sufficient)?

To quote Chogyam Trungpa:

By taking refuge, in some sense we become homeless refugees. The point of becoming a refugee is to give up our attachment to basic security. We have to give up our sense of home ground, which is illusory anyway. We are suspended in a no-man's land in which the only thing to do is to relate with the teachings and with ourselves.

The refuge ceremony represents a final decision. The ceremony cuts the line that connects the ship to the anchor; it marks the beginning of an odyssey of loneliness. Still, it also includes the inspiration of the preceptor and the lineage. Acknowledging that the only real working basis is oneself and that there is no way around that, one takes refuge in the Buddha as an example, in the dharma as the path, and in the sangha as companionship.

At that particular point, the energy, the power, and the blessing of basic sanity that has existed in the lineage for twenty-five hundred years, in an unbroken tradition and discipline from the time of Buddha, enters your system, and you finally become a full-fledged follower of buddhadharma. You are a living future buddha at that point.

How deep are the bonds between the one giving Jukai and the one receiving it?

It is not like that, it is between you and Dharma:

The refuge ceremony is a formal acknowledgement that you have become a Buddhist. This is not a matter of institutional affiliation, or of belonging to a group. Refuge means that you have recognized the fundamental principles of Buddhism as an accurate reflection of reality and that you intend to live according to them. Refuge is only meaningful if you understand those principles and have experienced their application in your life.

One takes refuge in Buddhism, not in a particular school, lineage, or teacher. Taking refuge at [particular temple/school/teacher] does not imply any continuing commitment to [that temple/school/teacher], only to Dharma at large.

Upvote:1

Jukai doesn't create any commitments between you and the preceptor (unlike monastic ordination which initiates a master/disciple relationship).

Anyone's entitled to it, only an osho (I think) can perform the ceremony.

The main preparation is to sew a rakusu.

More post

Search Posts

Related post