Lama TsongkhapaBy pacifying distractions to wrong objects
And correctly analyzing the meaning of reality,
Please bless me to generate quickly within my mind-stream
The unified path of calm abiding and special insight.
The rain is everywhere ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu SuzukiWhen my master and I were walking in the rain, he would say, “Do not walk so fast, the rain is everywhere.”
Forsaking all self-centeredness ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThere is a saying: ‘Wholesome deeds performed with selfish aims are just like poisoned food.’ Poisoned food might look delicious and even taste good, but it quickly leads to certain death.
Thinking of an enemy as someone to be hated, thinking of a friend as someone to be loved, being jealous of others’ happiness and good fortune: all this is rooted in ego clinging. And wholesome actions, infiltrated by a clinging to the ‘I’ conceived as something real and solid, turn to poison. We should try to forsake all self-centeredness.
Just fooling ourselves ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaIf we have listened to many learned masters and received deep instructions,
Have studied a few sutras and tantras,
Without ever applying them —‘Oh how pitiful!’—
we are just fooling ourselves.
No fear ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniThere is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.
Hope and fear package deal ~ Ponlop Rinpoche
Ponlop RinpocheWhenever we put hope in something, we get fear: it’s a package deal whether we like it or not!
Close as our breath ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahDeath is as close as our breath.
The mirror of crazy wisdom ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIn the scriptures, a crazy-wisdom person is described as “He who subdues whatever needs to be subdued and destroys whatever needs to be destroyed.” Whatever your neurosis demands, when you relate with a crazy-wisdom person, you get hit with that. Crazy wisdom presents you with a mirror reflection. A mirror will not compromise with you. If you don’t like what you see, there’s no point in blaming the mirror.
Benefiting animals ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa RinpocheIt’s not enough that you keep the animals and they give you comfort. You must do something of practical benefit for them. This is what you can do every day:
Take them around holy objects – circumambulate. Everyday you can put on a table many tsa-tsas and statues, and take the animal around chanting mantras at the same time. This way it also helps the person who carries the animal around.
Recite prayers in their ears, verbally, to plant the seed of all the realizations of the path to enlightenment.
This makes a huge difference. It has inconceivable result, unbelievable result. That makes them have a good rebirth next life, to be born as a human being and meet the dharma.
Importance of devotion ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche
Tai Situ RinpocheUntil we have true devotion nothing deep is going to happen, that is for sure.
Dawn of wisdom ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheTo “know” the emotion is to understand that, as it has no root, there is and never has been an emotion. Some people talk about emotion, particularly the negative emotions, as if they were some kind of hideous, demonic force that willfully invades your being, but they are not like that at all.
When you feel angry, just watch your anger. Not the cause of the anger or its result, just the emotion of anger. As you stare at your anger, you will discover there is nothing you can point to and say, “That is my anger.” And the understanding that there is absolutely nothing there is what is called the “dawn of wisdom.”
Inviting the bell ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhMay the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos.
In even the darkest spots, may living beings hear it clearly
so their suffering will cease,
understanding arise in their hearts,
and they can transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow.Namo Shakyamunaye Buddha.
Such is bodhicitta ~ Shantideva
ShantidevaThose who wish to crush the many sorrows of existence,
Who wish to quell the pain of living beings,
Who wish to have experience of a myriad joys
Should never turn away from bodhichitta.Should bodhichitta come to birth
In those who suffer, chained in prisons of samsara,
In that instant they are called the children of the Blissful One,
Revered by all the world, by gods and humankind.For like the supreme substance of the alchemists,
It takes our impure flesh and makes of it
The body of a Buddha, jewel beyond all price.
Such is bodhicitta. Let us grasp it firmly!
Healthy relationships ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaShifting your concern from your own well-being to include a genuine concern for the other person can transform your relationships, and it can also transform you as a person. You can become a person who provides well-being to others, and who shoulders the burden for others, too. This is a very uncomplicated shift in outlook that can completely reorient your relationships. I think this outlook might yield the healthiest relationships of all.
Just let it go and relax ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Tsoknyi RinpocheIf we look absentminded but are completely occupied by thoughts and don’t even know it, then we definitely need some shamatha in the sense of relaxing. Whatever we are sitting and thinking about, obsessing about, just let it go and relax.
Gain mastery over your mind! ~ Padmasambhava
PadmasambhavaYou may possess the power and might of a world ruler, but unless you gain mastery over your own mind, when the time of death arrives you still haven’t attained the power of freedom. So gain mastery over your mind!
Endless greed ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma GandhiThere is enough for everybody’s needs, but not for everybody’s greed.
Being aware of what’s going on ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheMeditation is so much easier than most people think: Whatever you experience, as long as you are aware of what’s going on, is meditation!
Methods to tame your own mind ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim RinpocheAll the teachings of the victorious ones, all the different kinds of teachings given by the Buddha – if we condense them into one point, it is that they are the methods to tame your own mind. They bring peace to a mind that is not peaceful. They clear away the confusion, or bewilderment, in your own mind.
Some time alone ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaSpend some time alone every day.