Liberation ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The only position from which you can never fall is the awakened state.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Awareness itself ~ Dudjom Rinpoche

Although hundreds or thousands of explanations are given,
There is only one thing to be understood –
Know the one thing that liberates everything –
Awareness itself, your true nature.

Dudjom Rinpoche

Letting the Sun Shine ~ 17th Karmapa

Even though buddha nature is not the least affected by our delusions or incidental stains, our ignorance arises like clouds and temporarily blocks the light of the sun, our buddha nature. The light of the sun will shine when the clouds are swept away. This happens when we begin with developing a positive motivation and, not stinting in our efforts, we practice the quintessence of the oral instructions.

17th Karmapa

Hidden Faults ~ Atisha

The best spiritual friend is one who attacks yours hidden faults.
The best instructions are the ones that hit those faults.
The best friends are mindfulness and vigilance.
The best incentives are enemies, obstacles, and sufferings of illness.
The best method is not to fabricate anything.

Atisha

Be frugal ~ Longchenpa

To carry whatever we think necessary to the cave,
Statues, offerings, texts, cooking utensils and the like,
All hastily gathered together, leads to suffering and dispute.
‘To be frugal’ is my heart advice.

Longchenpa

Both happiness and unhappiness are unsatisfactory ~ Ajahn Chah

The Buddha knew that because both happiness and unhappiness are unsatisfactory, they have the same value. When happiness arose he let it go. He had right practice, seeing that both these things have equal values and drawbacks. They come under the Law of Dhamma, that is, they are unstable and unsatisfactory. Once born, they die. When he saw this, right view arose, the right way of practice became clear. No matter what sort of feeling or thinking arose in his mind, he knew it as simply the continuous play of happiness and unhappiness. He didn’t cling to them.

Ajahn Chah

Handling conflicts more effectively ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

If we take a deep breath and listen with an open heart, we’ll find ourselves able to handle the conflict more effectively – to calm the waters, so to speak, and resolve our differences in such a manner that everyone is satisfied, and no one ends up as the winner or the loser.

Mingyur Rinpoche

Investigate the root of mind! ~ Padmasambhava

Don’t investigate the root of things,
Investigate the root of mind!
Once the mind’s root has been found,
You’ll know one thing, yet all is thereby freed.
But if the root of mind you fail to find,
You will know everything but nothing understand.

Padmasambhava

Naturally cultivating renunciation ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

As we get older, we naturally cultivate renunciation. We can nurture this quality by reflecting on the variety of experiences we’ve already had. This automatically diminishes our craving to repeat similar experiences. We find ourselves no longer so driven to crank up our life in an attempt to have more and to accomplish more, since we’ve already tasted that fruit, with all the accompanying emotions. We can begin to relax a little, being content with all that we’ve experienced already in our life. This process of awareness and appreciation naturally generates a fuller sense of renunciation. It is not something that needs to be very deliberate, but rather it occurs more and more as our life unfolds, unless we try holding onto things too tightly. This natural renunciation is happening all the time. If we can just allow that process, and foster an attitude of “practice mind” to go with it, then there will be an increasing amount of renunciation occurring every year.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

Belief and faith ~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

The ideas presented in some favorite Western Dharma books, such as ‘Buddhism without Beliefs’ and ‘The Faith To Doubt’, are in disagreement with Buddhist views about belief and faith. These ideas do not exist in any kind of Buddhism, and they are unbelievably dangerous because they prevent faith and spirituality with ideas that are one-sidedly materialistic. What can replace faith and belief? If people have something better, they should explain it. It is not necessary to teach others not to have faith but to have doubt, because sentient beings already believe in doubt even though they don’t say so, and that is why they are wandering in samsara. The faith to doubt is everywhere; it is not an exotic or valuable teaching, and it does not need to be emphasized. Even when human beings do not know anything about Buddhism, they have doubt.

Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

When ego breaks down ~ Chögyam Trungpa

Ignorance is the binding factor in the development of ego, but it also has a subtle relationship with the basic intelligence of buddha nature. Ignorance is not solid but is based on sparks or flashes of ignorance operating on some ground. Between two sparks of ignorance is the ground of intelligence on which this process of ignorance is operating. Sometimes, ignorance forgets for a moment to maintain itself, so that the awakened state comes through. So a meditative state of mind occurs spontaneously when, occasionally, the efficiency of ego’s administration breaks down.

Chögyam Trungpa

Knowing how to love ourselves ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The real object of our love is not outside of us, the real object of our love is ourselves. We have to know how to love ourselves, know how to return to our true nature, to see the wholesome, the good, the true and the beautiful within us. Then we will be able to see that in others.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Rip that ego apart ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

The whole purpose of the dharma is to dismantle the protective system we have created for ourselves that we call “ego.” The purpose behind each syllable of the dharma and every one of its methods is to contradict, disrupt and rip that ego apart until the goal of complete liberation from it has finally been achieved.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Experience your enlightened essence ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

In this present life, you can experience your enlightened essence, and if you do that, you can, before passing away, attain the perfectly and fully awakened state of a buddha.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Immune to any extreme view ~ Lama Tsongkhapa

When you know that appearances dispel the extreme of existence,
While the extreme of nothingness is eliminated by emptiness,
And you also come to know how emptiness arises as cause and effect,
Then you will be immune to any view entailing clinging to extremes.

Lama Tsongkhapa

Exchanging oneself and others ~ Shantideva

If I do not actually exchange my happiness
For the sufferings of others,
I shall not attain the state of buddhahood
And even in cyclic existence I shall have no joy.

Shantideva

Mind filled with faith ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If you waste your life now on endless minor tasks, you can be sure that at the time of death you will weep with regret and be stricken with intense anxiety, like a thief who has just been thrown into jail and anxiously anticipates his punishment. A person might find himself with nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, and no house to live in; but if his mind is filled with faith in his teacher and the Three Jewels, that person will both live and die with his heart always joyful and confident.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Tomorrow, death comes ~ Buddha Shakyamuni

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

Buddha Shakyamuni

Greed Makes Us Unhappy ~ 17th Karmapa

We all want to be happy, but generally we lack a clear idea of where real happiness comes from. The commercials communicate certain ideas about what we need in order to feel happy. When we are repeatedly exposed to these images and ideas, they begin to form a kind of mental habit. We start feeling that what was advertised could be the key to our happiness, and so of course we want to own it. We end up telling ourselves, “I should have one of those motorcycles! I should go around in style! I want to be successful and happy, too!”

Over time, we develop a habit of longing for what we do not have. Without our noticing where it came from, this habitual desire creeps up on us and evolves into greed. Like other habits, greed develops gradually. We do not stop to check this growing habit in its early stages, because for the most part our cultures encourage us to give ourselves over to greed. The more deeply ingrained our habit of greed, the more deeply we fall under its sway – and the more “natural” it seems. Once entrenched, the habit of greed keeps us feeling needy, and forever on the lookout for things we lack. In short, greed makes us unhappy.