Gyaltsab RinpocheFormal meditation practice is important because our minds are constantly involved with any number of preoccupations, misconceptions and fixations. There is a sense of having spread ourselves too thin. But through the practice of meditation we can begin to experience a sense of groundedness and simplicity. We can begin to have some idea of who we are and what it is we are doing. Fundamental issues, which were previously sources of confusion for us, can begin to take on clarity and certainty. When we practice meditation, we think and analyze more clearly and effectively.
The dharmakāya’s very own face – Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö
Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi LodröPure awareness of the unborn dharmakāya
Is not created by cause or condition, but is naturally occurring.
Vividly alert, fresh and nakedly clear,
Unstained by thoughts of perceiver or perceived,
Unspoiled by presumptive understanding—
In this natural experience of concentration, remain.
‘Remain’, however, is but an expression —
In reality, there is no one that remains, nor any remaining as such.In this rigpa-emptiness — the dharmakāya’s very own face —
Abide at all times, in undistracted recognition.
Compassion that has power ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheOrdinary love and compassion are compared to a mother with no arms who sees her only child being carried away by a river and cannot do anything to save her child. But the compassion developed from directly seeing buddha nature is not this helpless kind of compassion; it is a compassion that has power. Therefore, when there is direct realization of buddha nature, there arises wisdom, compassion, and the power to end samsara.
Morning contemplation ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaAs soon as I wake up in the morning, I remind myself that nothing exists as it appears. Then I think about sentient beings who want happiness, but experience suffering. I generate compassion for them, determined to help them as much as I can to eliminate their negative emotions.
Unless mind is tamed within ~ Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro ThayeUnless mind is tamed within,
Outer enemies will be inexhaustible.
If you tame the anger within,
All enemies on earth will be pacified.
Developing clarity and the ability to help others ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniYou should inquire deeply and directly into the distress of the mind and find out what has been created and who is the self that is suffering. Without this understanding, you can’t develop clarity and the ability to help others. A person may be expert at undoing knots, but if he never sees that there is a knot in front of him, how will he undo it? Without clear and direct looking, you will be locked into time and space and unable to free yourself from the material world.
Like the events in a dream ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe various activities of ordinary life follow one after another like the waves of the ocean. The rich never feel they have enough money; the powerful never feel they have enough power. Think about it: the best way to satisfy all your desires and complete all your projects is to abandon them.
A realized being sees the preoccupations of ordinary people as being like the events in a dream, and watches them like an old man watching children play. Last night you dreamed, perhaps, of being a great king, but when you woke up, what was left? What you experience in the waking state has scarcely more reality than that.
Rather than pursuing these elusive dreams, let your mind rest in serene contemplation, free of mental agitation and distraction, until the realization of emptiness becomes an integral part of your experience.
The six perfections ~ Dezhung Rinpoche
Dezhung RinpocheNagarjuna summarizes the six perfections in a few short verses, to the effect that giving means to give freely your own possessions; morality consists of accomplishing the benefit of others; patience is giving up anger; vigor is the apprehension of virtue; meditation is the undefiled, single pointed state of mind; and wisdom is ascertainment of the ultimate nature of reality.
Also, each paramita has its particular benefit: giving begets prosperity; morality, well-being; patience, radiance; vigor, splendor; meditation, a tranquil mind; and with wisdom, liberation is gained.
The right moment is now ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheIf the thought of practicing the Dharma occurs to you, do not hesitate for a moment. Do not just put it off until tomorrow. The right moment is now. The farmer does not wait for frost to harden the ground before sowing his fields. He does it when the soil is moist. As soon as you have met a qualified spiritual teacher and have received the teacher’s instructions, you are ready to set out on the path of awakening.
The seventh paramita ~ Tenzin Palmo
Tenzin PalmoI say that a sense of humour is the seventh paramita or the seventh spiritual quality on the path, because one of the problems of newcomers on the spiritual path is that we tend to take ourselves too seriously. Then, it all becomes too intense, and we become all very critical of both ourselves and of others. So, therefore, it is important to laugh enough in life, to have a sense of humour about ourselves and about the whole situation. Don’t take it too seriously. That doesn’t mean that we are not sincere, but we shouldn’t be too serious about the whole thing. We should keep a sense of proportion because otherwise, the ego takes over. And the ego is a very stern task master. And it all becomes too intense, and just too heavy, too serious. So, laugh enough. Lamas love to laugh. I think this is the sign of a good guru. They love to laugh and are not too rigid.
The Poverty Approach ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThere are two somewhat romantic approaches to basic sanity. One is based on a sense of poverty. You feel you don’t have “it,” but the others do. You admire the richness of “that”: the goal, the guru, the teachings. This is a poverty approach — you feel that those other things are so beautiful because you don’t have what they have. It is a materialistic approach — that of spiritual materialism — and it is based on there not being enough sanity in the first place, not enough sense of confidence and richness.
Spiritual wealth ~ Jigme Lingpa
Jigme LingpaThe merit of being led by a sublime being is beyond comparison, far better than the merit of kings and queens. Even if you may not always practice, if you have a constant wish to practice and a constant concern about not being able to practice, you are far wealthier than the most materially successful person. If you put emphasis on generating the motivation to be kind and to enlighten all sentient beings, there is no comparison. You have surpassed what any other religion or spiritual system can do.
The Dawn of Enlightenment ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe dawn of enlightenment could be described as a form of absorption. But it is not a trancelike state in which one loses contact with the world around one. It is a sense of totality and a sense of openness which does not seem to have any beginning or end.
Get along in your family ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpochePeople often ask me, “What is the best way to make sure our children grow up to appreciate the Dharma and become Buddhists?” The advice I give is to get along in your family. If the members of a family all get along and are kind and loving, honest and straightforward, peaceful and affectionate with one another, the children will see it and say, “You know, Dharma practitioners must be all right.” They consequently develop an interest in the Dharma and eventually start to practice. This is why it is very important not to bicker or quarrel or fight.
A main condition for our selfishness ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaHowever autonomous we may feel ourselves to be, we could not even begin our lives without two specific people who therefore are not entirely distinct from or ‘other’ to us. Once born, we eat food from others, learn from others, and are clothed and cared for all our lives by others. Just a few steps of analysis show us how dependent we are upon many, many others for our basic existence. Who we are as individuals emerges as a result of those diverse causes and conditions. We can give a separate name to that result and use that name to identify ourselves throughout life, but that does not mean we are utterly separate or separable from those causes and conditions. It is completely valid to bear a name that distinguishes us, but we invest a reality in that name that goes far beyond its function. We slowly come to believe that what our name points to is wholly separable from everything else. This message is communicated to us in many ways — and we repeat it to ourselves — “You are unique in the world. You are special. There is no one else like you.” It is true we are unique, but to the extent that this discourse heightens our sense of ourselves as absolutely distinct and unrelated to others, this perception itself becomes a main condition for our selfishness.
Samsara and nirvana ~ Nagarjuna
NagarjunaThose who believe in existence are born in higher realms.
Those who believe that nothing exists are born in lower realms.
By completely understanding the truth as it is,
There is liberation without relying on the two extremes.
Oneness ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhThe moment I die,
I will try to come back to you
as quickly as possible.
I promise it will not take long.
Isn’t it true
I am already with you,
as I die each moment?
I come back to you
in every moment.
Just look,
feel my presence.
If you want to cry,
please cry.
And know
that I will cry with you.
The tears you shed
will heal us both.
Your tears are mine.
The earth I tread this morning
transcends history.
Spring and Winter are both present in the moment.
The young leaf and the dead leaf are really one.
My feet touch deathlessness,
and my feet are yours.
Walk with me now.
Let us enter the dimension of oneness
and see the cherry tree blossom in Winter.
Why should we talk about death?
I don’t need to die
to be back with you.
Our preoccupation with external concerns ~ Gyaltsab Rinpoche
Gyaltsab RinpocheMost of our confusion is caused by our assumption that the causes of liberation must come from somewhere or something outside of ourselves. We assume that only by accumulating this or that, or only through associating with someone or something else, can we gain the cause of happiness. Our preoccupation with external concerns causes a tremendous sense of impoverishment, as though we were devoid of the slightest possibility of enlightened intelligence. Our bewilderment derives from our failure to turn inward and really examine the workings of our own minds. It is only when we begin working with our minds through meditation practice that we become practical as far as the search for enlightenment is concerned.
Awareness without Concept ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaYou have to start with what you are, where you are now. You are aware of the present state. You are now, you are not past, you are not future, but you are now. In that state of awareness, you don’t need to cling to a concept about who you are and what you will be. Concept cannot exist in the present state, but awareness is very much there.
The great seal ~ Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
Traleg Kyabgon RinpocheThe Mahamudra Tradition encompasses many key Buddhist terms and presents them in a unique light. The Sanskrit word mahamudra literally translates as “great seal,” or “great symbol,” which suggests that all that exists in the conditioned world is stamped with the same seal – the seal of ultimate reality.
Ultimate reality is synonymous with the quintessential Buddhist term emptiness (shunyata), which describes the insubstantiality of all things – the underlying groundlessness, spaciousness, and indeterminacy that imbues all of our experiences of the subjective and objective world.
In the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the word mahamudra is also used to refer to the nature of the mind. The nature of the mind is a pivotal concept in this tradition. The essential quality of the mind is emptiness, but it is described as a luminous emptiness, for the mind has the inherent capacity to know, or to cognize.
When spiritual fulfillment is attained, this luminous emptiness is experienced as pervasively and profoundly blissful, and enlightenment is characterized as luminous bliss.