| Refuge | Objects | Tibetan | Explanation |
|---|
| Outer |
| Buddha | སངས་རྒྱས། | The supreme guide and historical teacher who demonstrated complete awakening. |
| Dharma | ཆོས། | The actual teachings, methods, and the truth of cessation from suffering. |
| Sangha | དགེ་དུན། | The spiritual community of realized practitioners who assist and accompany you on the path. |
| Inner |
| Guru | བླ་མ། | The root of blessing. Living embodiment of the Three Jewels who directly points out the nature of mind. |
| Yidam | ཡི་དམ། | The root of accomplishment (དངོས་གྲུབ།). Enlightened forms that the practitioners visualizes and identifies with to awaken their own inherent pure qualities. |
| Dakini | མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ། | The root of enlightened activity (འཕྲིན་ལས།). These protectors clear away inner and outer obstacles, creating conductive conditions for practice. |
| Secret |
| Channels | རྩ། | The paths through which energy flows. |
| Winds | རླུང་། | The kinetic force, breath, or intelligence moving through the channel. |
| Drops | ཐིག་ལེ། | Subtle liquid essence, physical-spiritual concentrates stored within the channels (white, red, ultimate essence [union of primordial purity དག་པ། and spontaneous presence ལྷུན་གྲུབ།]) |