Essence Of Stura Tradition

Refuge: We live in an ocean of samsara whose depth and extent cannot be measured. We are troubled again and again by afflictions of lust and hatred. To what refuge should we go 
then? In our childhood when we are in trouble we seek the 
refuge of our parents. But our parents are themselves suffering 
and are the victims of lust, hatred and delusion. They cannot 
be the source of refuge. A source of refuge must completely 
overcome all the defects forever i.e. it must be free of all faults. 
Only the Buddha has extinguished all faults and gained all 
the qualities and attainments.
Thus we take refuge in the Buddha. Since Dharma is the 
unmistaken path leading to enlightenment, we take refuge 
in Dharma which eliminates all our causes of suffering. 
We take refuge in Sangha who supports and guides our 
dharma practice. All Buddha images are representatives of 
the Buddha, Scriptures are the representatives of Dharma, 
Bhikshus and Bodhisattvas are the representatives of Sangha. 
Taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is termed as 
outer refuge.
The objects of inner refuge are Gurus, Istadevas and 
Dakinis. And the secret refuge according to 
Vajrayana tradition is to realize Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya 
and Nirmanakaya.