Generosity here is not the conventional notion of being charitable. The idea is giving without demanding anything in return. You are willing to receive people into your territory, to offer hospitality and appreciate their existence and their presence – and then make no further demands. It could be very irritating and even terrifying to be […]
The process of freeing yourself from arrogance and cutting off your habitual tendencies is a very drastic measure, but it necessary in order to help others in this world. Chögyam Trungpa
Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs, hope and fear, but it is a good journey. The practice of meditation allows us to experience […]
The approach of the warrior in working with the setting-sun world is like an autumn leaf floating down a river. It goes along with it. Chögyam Trungpa
Sometimes people find that being tender and raw is threatening and seemingly exhausting. Openness seems demanding and energy consuming, so they prefer to cover up their tender heart. Vulnerability can sometimes make you nervous. It is uncomfortable to feel so real, so you want to numb yourself. You look for some kind of anaesthetic, anything […]
If you are completely confident in yourself, you don’t have to think about the audience at all. You just do your thing, you just do it properly. This means you become the audience. What you make is entertainment, but that needs a certain amount of wisdom. When an artist does a painting for commission, there […]
In the practice of yoga and also within the martial arts, one’s strength or power comes from the development of a balanced state of mind. One is going back or returning to the origin of the strength that exists within oneself. This kind of strength is known as strength in its own right, the strength […]
The ego feels rather lonely and, at the same time, keeps busy trying to defend itself. It finds that it consists of a collection of desires, expectations, ideas, conclusions, memories, and many other things. This collection is too complicated for the ego to grasp; therefore, it conveniently constructs “I am” or “I am the ego” […]
To work for others, you first have to develop composure. If you have no basic stability, when you try to help others, they will not benefit from your help. If you are trying to prevent someone from falling out of a window, you will both go out the window together. To prevent that, you have […]
We possess what is known as basic goodness. Then we develop an overlay of unnecessary tricks and occupations. We develop little tricks to shield ourselves from being embarrassed – or from feeling too painful or naked. Chögyam Trungpa
Basic goodness is based on your first mind, first thought. Before thought, you have a gasp, a sharp in-breath, Ah-ah! Whatever you think, even before you think before you gasp, there is space. There is purity. There is ah-ah! Sometimes you feel so dumb that you can’t think of anything. Sometimes you you think you’re […]
There is no such thing as an ideal state of meditation. Awareness allows us to relate to our mental processes and to see the fundamental expression of mind as it is, including our thoughts. The meditator may find that many thoughts recur during the meditative state. These thoughts could be seen as waves on the […]
In the mandala of mahamudra Shines moonlight, pure and all-pervading, All apparent phenomena are the play of the mind. All qualities are complete within the mind. Chögyam Trungpa
We cannot say that the phenomenal world we are living in — the traffic jams and the pollution and the inflation — is bad and devilish. We cannot condemn the world by putting it into those kinds of conceptual packages. That approach does not work, because it means that we are fighting with our own […]
Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart. You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others. Chögyam Trungpa
The next bodhisattva action is meditation. In this case, meditation is almost, we could say, aesthetic appreciation. this means awareness of body, awareness of colors, awareness of things around you, awareness of people’s different styles. There’s always room for everything that comes up. Everything is treated reverently, respectfully. Nothing is regarded as rubbish. Even the […]
Students might find sanity too spacious, too irritating. We would prefer a little claustrophobic insanity, snug and comforting insanity. Getting into that is like crawling back into a marsupial’s pouch. That’s the usual tendency, because acknowledging precision and sanity is too crispy, too cool, too cold. It’s too early to wake up, we’d rather go […]
Giving, in the sense of developing some real generosity, is not just a question of giving away objects and spending a large sum of money. You have to be wholly involved in the process of giving. You have to become one with what you are doing. No matter how small the thing is in terms […]
The point is not to want to benefit anyone or make them happy. There is no audience involved, no ‘me’ and ‘them.’ It is a matter of an open gift, complete generosity without the relative notions of giving and receiving. That is the basic openness of compassion: opening without demand. Simply be what you are, […]
There is a kind of nondual state of confusion that goes on throughout all life. Experience comes out of that and dissipates back into it. Energies arise and emotions appear. It all takes place within this one all-pervasive state of confused being. It is very important for us to realize this background as the basic […]
