PadmasambhavaTo be diligent doesn’t mean to engage in various restless activities; it means to exert oneself in the means of leaving samsaric existence behind.
Abandon any hope of fruition ~ Pema Chödron
Pema Chödron“Fruition” implies that at some future time you will feel good. One of the most powerful Buddhist teachings is that as long as you are wishing for things to change, they never will. As long as you’re wanting yourself to get better, you won’t. As long as you are oriented toward the future, you can never just relax into what you already have or already are.
Reason based Path ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaReason well from the beginning and then there will never be any need to look back with confusion and doubt.
The void nature of thoughts ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheWhat we normally call the mind is the deluded mind, a turbulent vortex of thoughts whipped up by attachment, anger, and ignorance. This mind, unlike enlightened awareness, is always being carried away by one delusion after another. Thoughts of hatred or attachment suddenly arise without warning, triggered by such circumstances as an unexpected meeting with an enemy or a friend, and unless they are immediately overpowered with the proper antidote, they quickly take root and proliferate, reinforcing the habitual predominance of hatred or attachment in the mind and adding more an more karmic patterns.
Yet, however strong these thoughts may seem, they are just thoughts and will eventually dissolve back into emptiness. Once you recognize the intrinsic nature of the mind, these thoughts that seem to appear and disappear all the time can no longer fool you. Just as clouds form, last for a while, and then dissolve back into the empty sky, so deluded thoughts arise, remain for a while, and then vanish into the voidness of mind; in reality nothing at all has happened.
When sunlight falls on a crystal, lights of all colors of the rainbow appear; yet they have no substance that you can grasp. Likewise, all thoughts in their infinite variety – devotion, compassion, harmfulness, desire – are utterly without substance. There is no thought that is something other than voidness; if you recognize the void nature of thoughts at the very moment they arise, they will dissolve. Attachment and hatred will never be able to disturb the mind. Deluded emotions will collapse by themselves. No negative actions will be accumulated, so no suffering will follow.
All This ~ Yeshe Tsogyal
Yeshe TsogyalWhat we understand to be phenomena
Are but the magical projections of the mind.
The hollow vastness of the sky
I never saw to be afraid of anything.
All this is but the self-glowing light of clarity.
There is no other cause at all.
All that happens is but my adornment.
Better, then, to stay in silent meditation.
Taking to solitary places ~ Gyelse Tokme Zangpo
Gyelse Tokme ZangpoThe practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take to solitary places,
Avoiding the unwholesome, so that destructive emotions gradually fade away,
And, in the absence of distraction, virtuous practice naturally gains strength;
Whilst, with awareness clearly focused, we gain conviction in the teachings.
Those who are clever only with words ~ Jigme Lingpa
Jigme LingpaThose who dispute intellectually, who are eager to insult other doctrines, who are clever only with words, or who refrain from only a single false activity, such as keeping their celibacy mainly out of false pride, are only protecting their vows up to the first layer of foreskin. With their own words and the ego of moral superiority, they have misinterpreted the teachings of the great guides who see the true meaning of the uncontrived essential nature. They change the extraordinary, absolute teaching of supreme Vajradhara into their own ordinary, relative meaning. These intellectual philosophers cannot understand the essence beyond the limits of their own minds,
Becoming Dharma ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahFirst one learns Dharma, but does not yet understand it; Then one understands, but has not yet practiced. One practices, but has not seen the truth of Dharma; then one sees Dharma, but one’s being has not yet become Dharma.
Mundane action ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAre the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are they telling us to fight against that other ‘undesirable’ side, the bad and the black. That is a big question. If there is wisdom in the sacred teachings, there should not be any war. As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.
Sublime beings ~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Thinley Norbu RinpocheSublime beings can appear in the inexpressible qualities of the Buddha which are beyond the habit of substantial reality’s form. If we only accept the existence of what can be accommodated within our ordinary delusion, it is impossible to have faith in enlightenment, which is the infalliable, pure phenomena of any Buddha and is beyond our ordinary reality.
Holding all sentient beings dear ~ Geshe Langri Thangpa
Geshe Langri ThangpaWith a determination to achieve the highest aim
For the benefit of all sentient beings
Which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem,
May I hold them dear at all times.
Consecrate yourself wholly to each day ~ Taisen Deshimaru
Taisen DeshimaruYou must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.
The distinctive quality of the Zen attitude ~ Taisen Deshimaru
Taisen DeshimaruHarmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance.
Enjoying every minute of the day ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhI promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.
Just Love ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaI have observed a strange idea of love that many people seem to have: they see love as a kind of gift that has to be given back. Someone says, “I love you,” and if the other person does not reply with an “I love you, too,” the first person gets upset. But love doesn’t always have to be reciprocated. We can just love. If love doesn’t come back to you, it is still love that you give and that you feel. We do not always have to look to get something back for what we give, do we?
Meeting the needs of others ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Chagdud Tulku RinpocheA bodhisattva is someone who has taken on the sole task of meeting the needs of others, no matter how difficult that might be. His self-centeredness has been reduced to the point where wisdom, love, and compassion arise naturally, benefiting any situation. Motivated only by concern for others, he would offer his own life without regrets if he saw it would be of help. So the mind of a bodhisattva is heroic, vast, and of limitless benefit.
Sadness ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheThe most crucial prerequisite for the practise of dharma is complete isolation because when we are alone, we are subject to fewer distractions, creating the perfect conditions for sadness to grow in our minds.
For those who know how to use it, sadness is a fertile ground from which all kinds of beneficial thoughts can spring with very little effort.
Jigme Lingpa described sadness as one of the most invaluable kinds of noble wealth, and in the sutras Buddha hailed sadness as the trailblazer for all subsequent good qualities.
With sadness comes trust and devotion, which, once developed, mean the practises of shamatha and vipashyana require very little effort. Shamatha practise ensures that mind becomes malleable and workable, and a flexible mind makes vipashyana relatively easy to accomplish.
Contemplating the truth of not-self ~ Ajahn Anan
Ajahn AnanThe most obvious place we can observe and contemplate the truth of not-self, or anatta, is just with our own breath. Anytime we turn our attention to observe the breath, we can see that it is merely carrying on its function. The breath goes in and then it goes out. It arises, it passes away. And that whole process of the breathing is beyond our control, isn’t it?…Anytime we can observe something following its natural function, this is showing us the truth of not-self…if we keep investigating we will gradually come to see the truth.
To support mother and father ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniTo support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation — this is the greatest blessing.
Just appearances ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheThe problems we face with appearances and all of the suffering we experience as a result of appearances is not because of the appearances themselves but because of our fixation on them. It is our fixation upon appearances which turns appearances into enemies. Because these appearances are just appearances, they are just what appears to us; so if we have no fixation on them, they will not bring any suffering.