Wisdom seeking wisdom ~ Shunryu Suzuki

It is wisdom which is seeking for wisdom.

Shunryu Suzuki

Observe yourself ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

Before talking to the teacher it is better to observe yourself a bit, in that way you might find the answer for yourself. It is better to be one’s own teacher or master rather than assigning this job to someone else. That is why the teacher, and above all a Dzogchen teacher, teaches us to observe ourselves and to discover our own condition, and always asks us all to become responsible for ourselves. Why do teachers ask these things? It is not because they are worried about being bothered, but because they know very well that always turning to one’s teacher is not a solution. The solution lies in observing ourselves and resolving our own problems by ourselves. Then, if we have no way of finding a solution, the teacher can certainly help us. If everyone did this it would be much easier.

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

Stop discriminating between good and evil ~ Dogen Zenji

To enter the Buddha Way is to stop discriminating between good and evil and to cast aside the mind that says this is good and that is bad.

Dogen Zenji

The unique uncreated ~ Longchenpa

Pure mind, uniquely uncreated, creates all;
everything made has the nature of pure mind
and the unique uncreated cannot be contrived.

Longchenpa

Let it be free ~ Ponlop Rinpoche

The nature of mind is free, yet we are binding it every minute. That is the problem: we want it to be free, but we won’t let it be free.

Ponlop Rinpoche

Taking delight in your inner nature ~ 17th Karmapa

The deepest reasons to love yourself have nothing to do with anything outside you — not with your body or with others’ expectations of you. If you ground yourself in your own goodness, nothing will be able to damage your self-esteem. Take delight in your inner nature, in your virtues, and in all your beautiful qualities.

17th Karmapa

Going beyond the realm of good and bad ~ Shunryu Suzuki

In our practice the most important thing is to realize that we have buddhanature. Intellectually we may know this, but it is rather difficult to accept. Our everyday life is in the realm of good and bad, the realm of duality, while buddhanature is found in the realm of the absolute where there is no good and no bad. There is a twofold reality. Our practice is to go beyond the realm of good and bad and to realize the absolute. It may be rather difficult to understand.

Shunryu Suzuki

The true hero ~ 14th Dalai Lama

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

14th Dalai Lama

Turning your mind away from the activities of this life ~ Tsongkhapa

Meditate again and again until you have turned your mind away from the activities of this life, which are like adorning yourself while being led to the execution ground.

Lama Tsongkhapa

Abandoning our views ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Emptiness ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche

Many people are confused about emptiness, but it is not such a difficult subject when seen from the point of view of figure and ground. Emptiness is the ground, and interdependent manifestation, samsara, is the figure imposed on the ground. In this way, emptiness becomes the reason why anything is possible. It is the ground or space on which anything might be created, and is created: it makes the existence of samsara possible, and the attainment of enlightenment possible. The improvement of sentient beings is possible because of emptiness, and so is the activity of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Because everything is interdependent, when all the conditions are correct, anything can happen. Emptiness makes it possible for a sentient being who is suffering in samsara to also be a Buddha by nature. When that being purifies the relative samsaric obscuration that binds it, then it is possible for it to become enlightened. None of this could be done without emptiness. If everything in existence were substantial and permanent, no one could grow old or learn anything; nothing could change, either for better or for worse; nothing could be improved, because there would be no room for it. This is common sense if you see emptiness simply. Emptiness provides the questions and the answers to all the questions, because it allows for movement and change. It allows for insight and realization.

Tai Situ Rinpoche

Stay Present, Without Security ~ Pema Chödron

Instead of asking ourselves, “How can I find security and happiness?” we could ask ourselves, “Can I touch the center of my pain? Can I sit with suffering, both yours and mine, without trying to make it go away? Can I stay present to the ache of loss or disgrace—disappointment in all its many forms—and let it open me?” This is the trick.

Pema Chödron

The bedrock of the Buddha’s first teachings ~ Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Some people think karma is fate. “It must be my karma,” they sigh, resigning themselves to some calamity. But karma doesn’t have to be bad. It can be good. And we make our own karma. Every thought, feeling, and deed sows a habitual karmic seed in our mind that ripens into a corresponding positive, negative, or neutral experience. Anger and jealousy manifest as painful, unhappy experiences. Selfless, joyful thoughts and feelings flower into wondrous, fulfilling experiences.
So we don’t have to resign ourselves to “our karma.” We control our karma. Every moment is a new juncture, a chance to improve our way of thinking and thus our circumstances. This principle of interdependent causation is the bedrock of the Buddha’s first teachings, the four noble truths.

Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

A dream unfolding ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Time is very precious. Do not wait until you are dying to understand your spiritual nature. If you do it now, you will discover resources of kindness and compassion you didn’t know you had. It is from this mind of intrinsic wisdom and compassion that you can truly benefit others…. Moment by moment, we should look at life as if it were a dream unfolding…. In this relaxed, more open state of being, we have the opportunity to gain the infallible means of dying well, which is recognition of our absolute nature.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

How to make the mind positive ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When the mind is positive, body and speech, the servants of the mind, will of course be positive also. But how are we to make the mind positive? At the moment, we cling to the notion that our minds are real entities. When someone helps us, we think, ‘That person has been so good to me. I must be kind to him in return and make him my friend for lives and lives to come.’ This only goes to show that we do not know about the empty nature of the mind. As for our enemies, we think of how to harm them as much as possible… We think like that simply because we think our anger is a true and permanent reality – while in fact it is nothing at all. We should therefore rest in the empty nature of the mind beyond all mental elaborations, in that state which is free from clinging, a clarity beyond concepts.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Not a religion in the usual sense ~ Lama Yeshe

When we study Buddhism, we are studying ourselves — the nature of our own minds. Instead of focusing on some supreme being, Buddhism emphasizes more practical matters, such as how to lead our lives, how to integrate our minds and how to keep our everyday lives peaceful and healthy. Buddhism accentuates experiential knowledge — in other words, wisdom rather than some dogmatic view. In fact, we don’t even consider Buddhism to be a religion in the usual sense of the term. From the lamas’ point of view, Buddhist teachings are more in the realm of philosophy, science or psychology.

Lama Yeshe

Abandoning misconception ~ Dharmakirti

Without disbelieving the object of this misconception it is impossible to abandon misconceiving it.

Dharmakirti

Conditioned by one’s ego ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

In general, many people have a strong ego. They think, “Oh I know everything”. Some people even qualify themselves. They feel, “Oh I am not normal, I am a special person, I am a daka, or dakini”. This means one is not daka or dakini, but is conditioned by one’s ego.