We should think like this: ‘May all the torments destined for me in the future, the heat and cold of the hells and the hunger and thirst of the famished spirits, come to me now. And may all the karma, obscuration and defilement causing beings to fall into an infernal destiny sink into my heart so that I myself might go to hell instead of them. May the suffering of others, the fruit, as the teachings say, of their desire and ignorance, come to me.’ We should train ourselves like this again and again until we have such signs as that of Maitriyogin, who was wounded in the place where the stone had hit the dog.

Bodhichitta, the mind of enlightenment, is the heart of all the practices of the Sutra and Mantrayana, and it is easy to implement. If one has it, everything is complete, and nothing is complete without it. At this present time, you are receiving many teachings on mind—training from different teachers. Keep them in your hearts! When they are translated, I hope that you will understand and remember them. For this is indeed the Dharma.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the Seven-Point Mind Training

Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Further quotes from the book Enlightened Courage:

• Honest examination
• The degree of self-clinging
• Morning pledge
• The impurity of our perception
• Using illness on the path
• Antidote to our ego-clinging
• Taking advantage of suffering
• All Dharma has a single goal
• Always be sustained by cheerfulness
• Signs of realization
• Failing to use the instructions as an antidote
• Anger is an illusion
• The three essential factors on which the accomplishment of the Dharma depends
• The vows of the Mind Training
• Well rewarded
• Bodhicitta practice
• Give up hoping for results
• Delusion
• Forsaking all self-centeredness