When about to settle in the natural way of mind-essence, some people merely try to stay conscious and aware. Then they rest in this state of mental consciousness with the feeling: “Ah, how clear!” Other people fixate on a state of utter void as if their mind had gone blank. Both of these cases, however, […]
You can pile up grass to the height of a mountain, but if you take each blade of grass one by one, you will end up with nothing, with no such thing as a “mountain” entity. In the same way, with many stones we can make a solid wall. But if we then remove the […]
The presence of space makes it possible for the whole universe to be set out within it, and yet this does not alter or condition space in any way. Although rainbows appear in the sky, they do not make any difference to the sky; it is simply that the sky makes the appearance of rainbows […]
With ignorance comes attachment to all that is pleasant to the ego as well as hatred and repulsion for all that is unpleasant. In that way the three poisons — ignorance, attachment, and hatred — come into being. Under the influence of these three poisons, the mind becomes like a servant running here and there. […]
The guru is the nature of our mind. Once we have realized the nature of our mind, it is no longer necessary to search for the guru outside. If the view of the mind is maintained beyond meditation and postmeditation, the guru is present beyond meeting and parting. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
We are naturally attached to comfort and pleasure and bothered by physical and mental suffering. These innate tendencies lead us to seek out, maintain and try to increase whatever gives us pleasure comfortable clothing, delicious food, agreeable places, sensual pleasure – and to avoid or destroy whatever we find unpleasant or painful. Constantly changing and […]
There is no certainty that we will not fall victim to disease, evil forces and so on. If we are afflicted by serious illness, we should think, “There are countless beings in this world suffering in the same way as I.” In this way we should generate strong feelings of compassion. If, for example, we […]
Mindfulness should guide all your actions and your spiritual endeavors. Whatever you do, always apply three essential points: undertake the action with the intention of doing so for the good of all beings; execute it with perfect concentration, free of attachment to concepts of subject, object, and action; and, finally, dedicate the merit you have […]
In the morning, on awaking, we should make the following pledge: ‘Throughout the whole of today, I will remember Bodhichitta. Eating, dressing, meditating, wherever I go, I will practice it constantly. Should it slip my mind, I will remind myself. Mindful of it, I will not allow myself to wander into states of anger, desire […]
We know that smoke indicates the presence of fire but is not the fire itself; nevertheless, by following the smoke we can find the fire. Likewise, it is important to understand that the view of voidness is not the same as the actual experience of voidness; but by following the view and becoming familiar with […]
Once one has found emptiness, it is like the summertime, when the earth becomes warm and all the orchards and forests start to grow naturally without effort. When the nature of awareness has been identified, there is no longer any difference between meditation and the postmeditation experience. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Awareness will become clearer and clearer of its own accord; we don’t have to force it to become so. In the practice of the Great Perfection, we first recognize the primordial nature of mind, and then become more and more experienced in recognizing it, eventually achieving complete stability in its realization. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Our endless wandering in samsara is the result of our negative emotions. But take the trouble to examine the nature of these emotions with which we are so obsessed and which are the very cause of the round of existence, and you will find that they do not have the least trace of reality. You […]
In short, all the infinite phenomena of samsara and nirvana are nothing else than the projection of one’s own mind and are therefore an illusion. Nothing is truly existent and permanent. When you understand this, you will realize that everything is unborn like space, that its nature is emptiness. It is with this realization — […]
The mind inhabits the body like a visitor in a house. Whatever the body encounters, it is the mind that sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels it. Once the mind has gone, the body is just a corpse. It doesn’t care whether what is placed in front of it is beautiful or ugly. It doesn’t […]
Those who seek happiness in pleasure, wealth, glory, power, and heroics are as naive as the child who tries to catch a rainbow and wear it as a coat. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
When we speak of the “mind,” it is important to know whether we are talking about the ordinary mind, referring to the innumerable chains of thoughts that create and maintain our state of delusion, or, as here, about the nature of mind at the source of all those thoughts—the clear, void state of awareness completely […]
Effortlessly, the inconceivable qualities are naturally perfect. The only difference between buddhas and sentient beings is whether these qualities are realized or not. In terms of how things are, there is no difference between buddhas and sentient beings. However, in terms of how things appear, sentient beings are confused and buddhas are not. So confusion […]
In order to cut the root of basic confusion, one should rest in the natural state without altering it. Once one is resting in the genuine natural state, one should neither follow one’s thoughts nor search for an antidote for them. If the intrinsic nature is left in its natural state, as it is said, […]
Within our own buddha nature we naturally have all the qualities of nirvana, so we do not need to look for them and take possession of them outside. Neither do we need to get rid of anything, because the obscurations that are temporarily veiling our realization of the absolute nature are not inherent to that […]
