From the viewpoint of Shakyamuni Buddha never having come and the ch never having been given, all is mere perception, existing only in the apparent sphere of suchness. As regards the practice of Refuge, the relative aspect is the object of Refuge to which you offer devotion and prostrations and so on. The absolute aspect is without effort. When you dissolve the visualization and remain in the natural effortless state of mind , the concept of Refuge no longer exists. It is of the utmost importance that we generate enlightened thought in order to free all beings from samsara.
Beings are as limitless as the sky.
They have all been our fathers and mothers. They have all suffered in this samsara that we all fabricate from the ground of being. So the thought of freeing them from this suffering really is very powerful. Without this, we have the deluded concept that we are separate from all sentient beings. So from the relative point of view, there are sentient beings to be liberated, there is compassion to be generated, and there is the 'I', the generator of compassion.