Meeting Again, After Love Had Ended ~ Tonna

It makes no sense!
– to get entangled again
after so much time!
In the air,
the dangling end
of a broken
spider’s thread.

Tonna

The best opportunity to put the teachings into practice ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If someone defames and disgraces you, that is simply the result of having criticized and dishonored others in the past, especially bodhisattvas. Instead of feeling angry with such people, you should feel grateful to them for giving you the opportunity to purify your past misdeeds.
In all circumstances, it is important to act in accordance with the teachings – but especially at such moments. What is the point of having received teachings if you do not apply them? Unfavorable circumstances are the best opportunity you will have to put the teachings into practice.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Such a chance again ~ Shantideva

This free and well-favoured human form is difficult to obtain.
Now that we have the chance to realise the full human potential,
If we don’t make good use of this opportunity,
How could we possibly expect to have such a chance again?

Shantideva

The Sky Dragon’s Profound Roar ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

Up in the sky’s expanse, true being, unborn, forever pure
Beautiful is the world below me — how many colors do I see
But when I look I can’t find anything that’s born or has a root
So the time has come to meditate on true reality, of ego-clinging free
All my possessions, all that I enjoy, are like rainbows in the sky
Even their smallest parts have no essence — they don’t exist at all
So when I enjoy illusory pleasures, empty-appearing tea and beer
It’s time to rest in mind’s full moon — empty awareness, radiant clarity
The stages of practice of the Tathagata’s view and meditation
Are skillful methods that clear away ordinary thoughts
So I train in appearance and mind being without base or root —
When sickness and death suddenly strike, I’ll be ready, without regret
In the pattern that the world and life’s appearances weave
Visions of parents, relatives and friends are like illusions and dreams
Like morning mist, they are fleeting, and at the time they dissolve
That’s the time to search for unborn confused mind’s basic reality
In the baseless, rootless and empty confused appearances of life
We suffer from heat and from cold and from so many other things
But diligence in Secret Yana’s practices, so powerful
Makes fox-like cowardice be free all by itself — the time has come!
To what we beautify with hats and clothes — to this heap of elements
We offer tasty food and many other things — whatever we may find pleasing
But the carelessness and craziness of this life will end one day
So be ready to be fearless of the judgment of the mighty Lord of Death
From the country of great snow mountains — a realm of Dharma
Having crossed many hills and valleys and now flying through the sky
I purify illusory flesh and blood into empty-appearing deity
Paths and bhumis’ realizations self liberated — in this I train
Ha Ha! Dechen Rangdrol’s conduct that’s attachment-free
A Ho! It’s time to fly in the expanse of sky of spacious Mother

Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

Nowhere else ~ Ikkyu

mirror facing mirror
nowhere else

Ikkyu

The guru is the display of our buddhanature ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

There are many different methods for recognizing the Buddha within. Of these, the quickest and easiest is to receive the blessings of the guru. This is why guru devotion is necessary.
For example, you may be having a nightmare about monsters. But then suddenly, somebody throws a bucket of cold water over you and you wake up. The cold water doesn’t really make the monsters disappear, because there were no monsters in the first place. It was just a dream. But on the other hand, when you are having a nightmare, your sufferings are real, and the person who throws the bucket of water over you is indeed very kind and special. If you have a lot of merit you are able to meet such a person, a person who can throw the water. On the other hand, if you don’t have merit, you may never wake up from the nightmare.
The guru lineage originates with someone called Vajradhara or Samantabhadra. Our masters tell us that he is our own mind, the nature of our own mind. This means that when we trace back through the lineage, we actually end up with our own minds, the essence of ourselves. The guru is not some kind of almighty sponsor that we have to worship or obey. The most important thing to understand is that the guru is the display of our buddhanature.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Practicing love and compassion in an impartial way ~ 17th Karmapa

The practices of loving kindness and compassion are incredibly relevant for everyone. Moreover, training in these qualities provides a common bridge between all different religions and areas of our world society. No matter whether we are people who teach a spiritual path or someone else, everybody can practice love and compassion, but it is important that we do so in an impartial way.

17th Karmapa

Right here is the place to meditate ~ Ajahn Chah

The Buddha told us to meditate. This practice of meditation is very important. Merely to know with the intellect is not enough. The knowledge which arises from practice with a peaceful mind and the knowledge which comes from study are really far apart. The knowledge which comes from study is not real knowledge of our mind. The mind tries to hold onto and keep this knowledge. Why do we try to keep it? Just to lose it! And then when it’s lost we cry.
If we really know, then there’s letting go, leaving things be. We know how things are and don’t forget ourselves. If it happens that we are sick we don’t get lost in that. Some people think, ‘This year I was sick the whole time, I couldn’t meditate at all.’ These are the words of a really foolish person. Someone who’s sick or dying should really be diligent in his practice. One may say he doesn’t have time to meditate. He’s sick, he’s suffering, he doesn’t trust his body, and so he feels that he can’t meditate. If we think like this then things are difficult. The Buddha didn’t teach like that. He said that right here is the place to meditate. When we’re sick or almost dying that’s when we can really know and see reality.

Ajahn Chah

Remain undistracted ~ Longchenpa

When conceptual thoughts arise, the direct view is crucial;
Having examined the mind, to settle it is crucial;
Even as there is nothing to meditate on, to meditate is crucial.
‘To remain undistracted’ is my heart advice.

Longchenpa

However ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Our mind and our delusions are formless and colorless. However, our ignorance believing in true existence is harder than a rocky mountain. Our delusions are harder than steel.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

A profound wish ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

When we recognize that others experience pain and unhappiness because they don’t recognize their real nature, we’re spontaneously moved by a profound wish for them to experience the same sense of peace and clarity that we’ve begun to know.

Mingyur Rinpoche

With bodhicitta ~ Lama Yeshe

Many people who have spent years alone in meditation have finished up the worse for it. Coming back into society, they have freaked out. They haven’t been able to take contact with other people again, because the peaceful environment they created was an artificial condition, still a relative phenomenon without solidity. With bodhicitta, no matter where you go, you will never freak out.

Lama Yeshe

The real source of blessings ~ 14th Dalai Lama

I believe the ultimate source of blessings is within us. A good motivation and honesty bring self-confidence, which attracts the trust and respect of others. Therefore the real source of blessings is in our own mind.

14th Dalai Lama

The fruit of ultimate perfection ~ Ling Rinpoche

You should try to meditate regularly on death and impermanence and thus become a spiritual practitioner of initial scope. Then you should develop the meditations on the unsatisfactory nature of samsara and the three higher trainings [ethics, concentration and wisdom] and thus become a practitioner of medium scope. Finally, you should give birth to love, compassion, universal responsibility and bodhicitta and thus enter the path of the practitioner of great scope, the Mahayana, which has full buddhahood as its goal. Relying on the guidance of a spiritual master, you should cultivate the seeds of bodhicitta in connection with the wisdom of emptiness and, for the sake of all that lives, quickly actualize buddhahood. This may not be an easy task, but it has ultimate perfection as its fruit.

Ling Rinpoche

Life preferences ~ Pema Chödron

Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?

Pema Chödron

The purpose of studying buddhism ~ Shunryu Suzuki

The purpose of studying buddhism is not to study buddhism but to study ourselves. It is impossible to study ourselves without some teaching… We need some teaching, but just by studying the teaching alone, it is impossible to know what ‘I’ in myself am. Through the teaching we may understand our human nature. But the teaching is not we ourselves; it is some explanation of ourselves. So if you are attached to the teaching, or to the teacher, you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. You need a teacher so that you can become independent. If you are not attached to him[her], the teacher will show you the way to yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki

Whatever is dependently arisen ~ Nagarjuna

Whatever is dependently arisen,
That is explained to be emptiness,
That, being a dependent designation
Is itself the middle way.
Something that is not dependently arisen,
Such a thing does not exist.
Therefore a nonempty thing
does not exist.

Nagarjuna

One after the other ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Like waves, all the activities of this life have rolled endlessly on, one after the other, yet they have left us feeling empty-handed. Myriads of thoughts have run through our mind, each one giving birth to many more, but what they have done is to increase our confusion and dissatisfaction.