Lama YesheEnlightenment is not just chocolate at the end, in a lump. It is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate all the way!
Beyond time and space ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaIn any of the four times and ten directions
Enlightenment will not be found
Except in the mind, which is the fully enlightened state.
Do not seek the Buddha in any other source.
(Otherwise) even if the Buddha (himself) searches, it will not be found.
Blooming garden of awakening ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhMay our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.
A pioneer of honest beings ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Dzigar Kongtrul RinpocheThe Buddha realized the absolute nature because he could really look at things without any deception — without deceiving anyone, and without deceiving himself. It is very clear that we don’t want to be deceived. We want to see the truth, but most of the time it’s just a weak intention. When it really comes to not acting deceptively or not being deceived oneself, so many insecurities of ego arise. When we cannot separate ourselves from our ego desires then we are vulnerable to being deceived and being caught up in our own self-deception. We believe in impermanent things as if they were permanent, or believe that things which do not make us happy are actually a source of our happiness. We deceive ourselves constantly in these ways. Where does all of this come from? When we cannot separate ourselves from our own ego’s insecurities, when we believe so much in the existence of our own ego, then we are vulnerable. We simply become vulnerable to believing in illusory things, while insisting that they are something other than an illusion. We exist in the relative world, holding on to the relativity as an absolute thing, and holding onto our ego—something that actually doesn’t exist — as something that is very much part of who we are. In that fundamental way we lose our honesty, we become caught in self-deception, not realizing the truth of our situation. We should contemplate the courage of the Buddha, who became a pioneer of honest beings, someone who traveled on the path of truth by not believing in his own ego, and the emotions of self-clinging, as real. He discovered this truth and has shown us that path. In so doing, he offered such a great service to mankind. This is why we respect and emulate him, and should attempt to follow his example of becoming honest, by genuinely examining our mind and our interactions with the world.
The mind neither waxes nor wanes ~ Bodhidharma
BodhidharmaBut while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.
The best way of fulfilling your own interest ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaThe best way of fulfilling your own interest is to take care of others.
Mindfulness and awareness ~ Ponlop Rinpoche
Ponlop RinpocheWhatever sensory experiences we go through, if we go through them with mindfulness and awareness, there is no limit to how far we can go. The limit is mindfulness and awareness. Even if we don’t enjoy the experience, that itself becomes a trip. The nonenjoyment becomes a cause of suffering. That’s why, if we don’t practice mindfulness and awareness, asceticism just becomes pain rather than a cause for liberation. That’s why Buddha said to forget about asceticism. That’s what Buddha did.
Be unshakable ~ Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom RinpocheWhatever good or bad things people might say, don’t take them as true; have no hope or doubt, acceptance or rejection. Let them say whatever they will, as though they were talking about someone already dead and buried. No one but a qualified guru – not even your own father or mother – can give direct advice. Therefore, keeping control over your own actions, do not hand your nose-rope to others. Outwardly good-natured, you should know how to get along harmoniously with all without ‘burning their noses.’ But in fact, if anyone – superior or inferior – comes to hinder your practice, you should be unshakable, like an iron boulder pulled by a silk scarf. It won’t do to be a weak character whose head bends in whichever direction the wind blows, like grass on a mountain pass.
How do I do that? ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaIn essence all of us want to be good people and accomplish the benefit of others. But the trick is to ask ourselves the question, “How do I do that?”
Realizing what, who and why we are not ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe basics teachings of Buddha are about understanding what we are, who we are, why we are. When we begin to realize what we are, who we are, why we are, then we begin to realize what we are not, who we are not, why we are not. We begin to realize that we don’t have basic, substantial, solid, fundamental ground that we can exert anymore. We begin to realize that our ideas of security and our concept of freedom have been purely phantom experiences.
Dedication ~ Shantideva
ShantidevaMay all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits.May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.May the blind see forms,
And the deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the forlorn find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests;
May all medicine be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.May all who are sick and ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world,
May they never occur again.May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefiting each other.
Samsara is an expression of nirvana ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheSamsara is an expression of nirvana, just as relative reality is an expression of absolute reality.
What exactly is feeling hurt ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim RinpocheWhen looking for the self it is very important to remember it is an emotional response that one is examining. When one responds to an event as if one had a self, for example when one feels very hurt or offended, one should ask oneself who or what exactly is feeling hurt or offended.
Simply arising ~ Ajahn Anan
Ajahn AnanSince everything in the world simply arises, remains, and then passes away, how could it bring us any lasting happiness? We have to ask ourself, ‘Have we ever experienced happiness in the past? Have we ever experienced pleasure? Pain? Suffering?’ We can see that these feelings simply arise, remain, and then pass away. There is no permanent core to any of it, no real, abiding self.
Renouncing one thing ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronFor one day (or one day a week), refrain from something you habitually do to run away, to escape. Pick something concrete, such as overeating or excessive sleeping or overworking or spending too much time texting or checking e-mails. Make a commitment to yourself to gently and compassionately work with refraining from this habit for this one day. Really commit to it. Do this with the intention that it will put you in touch with the underlying anxiety or uncertainty that you’ve been avoiding. Do it and see what you discover.
An art of listening ~ Krishnamurti
KrishnamurtiThere is an art of listening. To be able really to listen, one should abandon or put aside all prejudices, preformulations and daily activities. When you are in a receptive state of mind, things can be easily understood; you are listening when your real attention is given to something. But unfortunately most of us listen through a screen of resistance. We are screened with prejudices, whether religious or spiritual, psychological or scientific; or with our daily worries, desires and fears. And with these for a screen, we listen. Therefore, we listen really to our own noise, to our own sound, not to what is being said. It is extremely difficult to put aside our training, our prejudices, our inclination, our resistance, and, reaching beyond the verbal expression, to listen so that we understand instantaneously. That is going to be one of our difficulties.
Opening your heart and mind ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Tsoknyi RinpocheYou don’t have to say anything.
You don’t have to teach anything.
You just have to be who you are:
a bright flame shining in the darkness of despair,
a shining example of a person able to cross bridges
by opening your heart and mind.
The practitioner of self-liberation ~ Patrul Rinpoche
Patrul RinpocheThe practitioner of self-liberation is like an ordinary person as far as the way in which the thoughts of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, manifest themselves as creative energy. However, the ordinary person, taking these really seriously and judging them as acceptable or rejecting them, continues to get caught up in situations and becomes conditioned by attachment and aversion.
Not doing this, a practitioner, when such thoughts arise, experiences freedom: initially, by recognizing the thought for what it is, it is freed just like meeting a previous acquaintance; then it is freed in and of itself, like a snake shedding its skin; and finally, thought is freed in being unable to be of benefit or harm, like a thief entering an empty house.
Renouncing samsara ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa RinpocheBy renouncing samsara, we renounce our habitual grasping, unhappy minds. And by renouncing samsara, we embrace our potential for enlightenment.
The impurity of our perception ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheWhen we see defects in others, people in general but particularly those who have entered the Dharma, who are the banner of the monastic robes, are the support for the offerings of gods and men alike, we should understand that it is the impurity of our perception which is at fault. When we look into a mirror, we see a dirty face because our own face is dirty. In the same way, the defects of others are nothing but our impure way of seeing them.
By thinking this way, we should try to rid ourselves of this perception of the faults of other, and cultivate the attitude whereby the whole of existence, all appearances, are experienced as pure.