Being A Buddhist: What is The Meaning of Taking Refuge in the Buddha.
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Taking Refuge in the Buddha: The Quest for Awakening
The Buddha as refuge can be considered first. On one level the word "Buddha" refers to a particular figure - the man Siddhattha Gotama who lived in India in the fifth century B.C. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we take refuge in this person, for he is the teacher of the Dhamma and the historical founder of Buddhism. However, in going to him for refuge, we do not take refuge in him merely in his concrete particularity. We rely upon him as the Buddha, the enlightened one, and this has a significance transcending the limits of what can be given by empirical, historical fact. What enables the Buddha to function as a refuge is his actualization of a supramundane attainment. This attainment is the state of Buddhahood or perfect enlightenment, a state which has been realized by other persons in the past and will be realized again in the future. Those who realize this state are Buddhas. When we take refuge in the Buddha we rely upon him as a refuge because he embodies this attainment in himself. It is his Buddhahood that makes the Buddha a refuge.
But what is the Buddhahood of the Buddha?
Chapter 1. The Life of Buddha.
Chapter 2. The Quest for Awakening.
These three similes-spontaneous, never before heard-appeared to me
Night of the Buddha's Enlightenment
Chapter 3. The Buddha’s Passing Away.