I was poking in the Pali-English dictionary yesterday to prepare for a dhamma talk on taking refuge in the Buddha. The Pali term sarana is usually translated as refuge, but also may be translated as house, protection, and shelter.
This morning I am contemplating taking refuge in the Buddha, taking refuge in the potential of awakening, as a process of going home after wandering the world for a long long time. Taking refuge, or going home, may indeed bring us face to face with both the fact of suffering and potential to end suffering—an intimate experience of the truth of things.