The vow of refuge opens the door to all buddhadharma, but it is faith that opens the door to the vow of refuge. And by faith we mean three things: Awe or wonderment; desire or aspiration; and trust or belief. The need for this type of threefold faith is great. It is said, “Just as the seed that has been burnt in a fire cannot possibly grow into a sprout, a person without faith cannot possibly develop any virtue.” Especially if one is going to generate bodhichitta and practice the vajrayana, we need the vow of refuge that comes from the inspiration of threefold faith.
The teachings of the Barom Kagyu, like the teachings of all four primary and eight secondary divisions of the Kagyu, are the teachings of mahamudra given by Lord Gampopa. All of these teachings originally come from Lord Gampopa, we can therefore regard the four primary and eight secondary divisions as being like the four children and eight grandchildren of one family. Each of these lineages has continued down to the present day and many of them are very well known. The Barom Kagyu still exists; all four of the primary subdivisions still exist; and the eight subdivisions do as well. Among these, many are well known to you. The Karma Kagyu is one of the four primary divisions; the Drikung Kagyu and Drukpa Kagyu are the two of the eight secondary divisions that are best known worldwide. All of them are fundamentally the same in that what they are focused on, what they transmit, is the mahamudra of Lord Gampopa.
