Taking Refuge: Where Practice Begins

This free online meditation program, offered through Drala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, looks at what it means to take refuge, the place where Buddhist practice begins. Led by Theravada teacher Barry Gillespie, it is a 90-minute live session open to beginners and experienced practitioners alike, and it is part of the Drala Mountain Online Practice Series.

What to Expect

Every Buddhist tradition has some formal way for people practicing together to take refuge. A refuge is a place where you can feel safe and protected. In the Theravada tradition, the refuge chant is recited before teaching or practice, and it connects everyone present and helps create a shared, protected space.

This evening session asks what we actually take refuge in, and what it means to be in refuge. Barry Gillespie guides the group through the significance of entering and claiming these protective spaces, and through the elements that make up refuge: space, sangha, and self. The session runs from 6:00 to 7:30 pm Mountain Time.

The program is held online, so you can take part from wherever you are. It belongs to a series of tuition-free offerings that take place on select Tuesday evenings at the same hour.

About Barry Gillespie

Barry Gillespie was introduced to formal meditation in 1978 through the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram. After a combined Ashtanga Yoga and Vipassana retreat in 1999, he began exploring Theravaden Buddhist practice. He has sat many long retreats at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and at Spirit Rock in Woodacre, California. He also teaches on the land at Drala Mountain Center, including a five-day offering called Mindfulness On and Off the Cushion: Your Life as Practice.

About the Series and Drala Mountain Center

Drala Mountain Center sits in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. The Online Practice Series is offered free of charge in the spirit of dāna, the Buddhist practice of generosity, where giving comes from the heart as an expression of appreciation and support for the teachings. Registration includes the option to make a tax-deductible donation of any amount, though none is required.

Before You Go

No prior Buddhist practice is needed. The program works as an introduction to the foundational idea of refuge, and it remains useful for people with years of practice behind them. It is taught in English.

Your participation includes:

- The 90-minute live online instruction
- A guided exploration of refuge in Buddhist practice
- Access to the Drala Mountain online practice community