Gyelse Tokme ZangpoThe practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cherish spiritual friends,
By regarding them as even more precious than one’s own body,
Since they are the ones who will help to rid us of all our faults,
And make our virtues grow ever greater just like the waxing moon.
A feeling of positive disgust ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Dzigar Kongtrul RinpocheZopa is translated as patience, tolerance, or endurance. Inherent in zopa is a feeling of positive disgust, or renunciation, that comes from knowing the negative results of anger.
A Serene Encounter With Reality ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhIn mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.
Going beyond our prisons ~ Tenzin Palmo
Tenzin PalmoEverything which we see and everyone we relate to, we relate to from this tight box of our very limited judgements, prejudices, ideas, conceptions. It’s like we’re in a very small prison cell, dungeon really. And so we begin to start a new kind of direction in our lives … but the important thing is not to end up going from one prison cell into another prison cell. Even if the new prison cell has nice decoration on the wall and burns incense. It’s still a prison cell. And always the question is how to go beyond the prison, how to get out, how to be liberated.
The immutable truth ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu SuzukiIf enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing in nothing, believing in something which has no form or no color, which is ready to take form or color. This enlightenment is the immutable truth. It is on this original truth that our activity, our thinking, and our practice should be based.
Getting lost in good things ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche
Tai Situ RinpocheWe shouldn’t get carried away. We shouldn’t get lost when things happen to us. Getting lost in good things is as bad as getting lost in bad things. We should not get lost in anything. We should always be aware and mindful.
May all beings have happy minds ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniWhatever living beings there may be — feeble or strong, long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large, those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born as well as those yet to be born — may all beings have happy minds.
Actions are irreversible ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaCountless rebirths lie ahead, both good and bad. The effects of karma (actions) are inevitable, and in previous lifetimes we have accumulated negative karma which will inevitably have its fruition in this or future lives. Just as someone witnessed by police in a criminal act will eventually be caught and punished, so we too must face the consequences of faulty actions we have committed in the past, there is no way to be at ease; those actions are irreversible; we must eventually undergo their effects.
Our mind letting go ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahIf we look according to reality, without trying to sugar things over, we’ll see that it’s really pitiful and wearisome. Dispassion will arise. This feeling of ‘disinterest’ is not that we feel aversion for the world or anything; it’s simply our mind clearing up, our mind letting go. We see things as not substantial or dependable, but that all things are naturally established just as they are. However we want them to be, they just go their own way regardless. Whether we laugh or cry, they simply are the way they are. Things which are unstable are unstable; things which are not beautiful are not beautiful.
So the Buddha said that when we experience sights, sounds, tastes, smells, bodily feelings or mental states, we should release them. When the ear hears sounds, let them go. When the nose smells an odour, let it go…just leave it at the nose! When bodily feelings arise, let go of the like or dislike that follow, let them go back to their birth-place. The same for mental states. All these things, just let them go their way. This is knowing. Whether it’s happiness or unhappiness, it’s all the same. This is called meditation.
Scattering this life’s aims to the wind ~ Milarepa
MilarepaTo attain buddhahood we must scatter this life’s aims and objects to the wind.
Expanding our compassion ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaIf we allow our compassion to remain only inside of ourselves, our compassion will become powerless, without a function. It would become like a vase that despite having the ability to carry water had been placed high upon a shelf and never used.
To expand our compassion we can apply our imagination to everyday’s situations. Sometimes when the wind blows I imagine that my compassion mixes with the wind and is carried in every direction to touch all sentient beings. Sometimes when I see beautiful clouds in the sky I imagine that they carry my compassion and that all beings over whom the clouds hover also experience the feeling of compassion. We can also do contemplation involving our five sense faculties. For example, we continually have objects in our visual field. Having first giving rise to compassion mentally we can then spread that compassion to any sentient being who appears before our eyes and imagine that they experience all of our compassion, love and joy.
Inner authentic presence ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaInner authentic presence comes from exchanging yourself with others, from being able to regard other people as yourself, generously and without fixation. So the inner merit that brings inner authentic presence is the experience of nonfixed mind, mind without fixation. When you meet a person with authentic presence, you find he has an overwhelming genuineness, which might be somewhat frightening because it is so true and honest and real. You experience a sense of command radiating from the person of inner authentic presence. Although that person might be a garbage collector or a taxi driver, still he or she has an uplifted quality, which magnetizes you and commands your attention. This is not just charisma. The person with inner authentic presence has worked on himself and made a thorough and proper journey. He has earned authentic presence by letting go, and by giving up personal comfort and fixed mind.
The dark clouds of ego ~ Lama Yeshe
Lama YesheWhen a strong wind blows, the clouds vanish and blue sky appears. Similarly, when the powerful wisdom that understand the nature of the mind arises, the dark clouds of ego disappear.
Taking life on the path ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheLooking at the way we look is the essence of taking life on the path.
Drink the cup of sky-nectar ~ Saraha
SarahaFools attempt to avoid their suffering,
The wise enact their pain.
Drink the cup of sky-nectar
While others hunger for outward appearances.
Watch your mind ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaTo amass a multitude of profound texts
Such as scriptures, commentaries and oral instructions,
Without practicing them, will be of no benefit at the time of death.
‘To watch your mind’ is my heart advice.
Unstained by any Grasping ~ Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom RinpocheWhatever perceptions arise, you should be like a little child going into a beautifully decorated temple; he looks, but grasping does not enter into his perception at all. You leave everything fresh, natural, vivid and unspoiled. When you leave each thing in its own state, then its shape doesn’t change, its color doesn’t fade and its glow does not disappear. Whatever appears is unstained by any grasping, so then all that you perceive arises as the naked wisdom of Rigpa, which is the indivisibility of luminosity and emptiness.
Our true nature ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronOur true nature is like a precious jewel: although it may be temporarily buried in mud, it remains completely brilliant and unaffected. We simply have to uncover it.
Like a child at the cinema ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheLike a child at the cinema, we get caught up in the illusion. From this comes all of our vanity, ambition, and insecurity. We fall in love with the illusions we have created and develop excessive pride in our appearance, our possessions, and our accomplishments. It’s like wearing a mask and proudly thinking that the mask is really you.
Free of all authority ~ Krishnamurti
KrishnamurtiTo be free of all authority, of your own and that of another, is to die to everything of yesterday, so that your mind is always fresh, always young, innocent, full of vigour and passion. It is only in that state that one learns and observes. And for this, a great deal of awareness is required, actual awareness of what is going on inside yourself, without correcting it or telling it what it should or should not be, because the moment you correct it you have established another authority, a censor.