Before one begins to do practice or receive certain teachings, one must take the Refuge Vow. In this four page text David Karma Choephel who has been Thrangu Rinpoche's translator for the last decade, gives a description of what the Refuge Vow means and explains the brief ceremony involved.

Anyone who feels that the Buddhist path is the correct one can take this vow from any qualified Buddhist teacher. One typically takes refuge only once. The other major vow is the Bodhisattva vow and this vow one can take again and again.