Anger self-liberated ~ Patrul Rinpoche

Do not chase after the object of your anger –
look at the angry mind,
Anger is self-arisen and self-liberated,
clarity-emptiness by nature,
Clarity-emptiness is nothing other than
mirror-like wisdom –
Within anger self-liberated, recite the
six-syllable mantra.

Patrul Rinpoche

Clinging to an unwholesome direction ~ Aryadeva

Most people cling to
An unwholesome direction.
Thus most common beings
Certainly go to bad rebirth.

Aryadeva

Rest in natural great peace ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

Rest in natural great peace, this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thought,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace.

Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

Fettered by craving ~ Tilopa

Child, it is not by appearances that you are fettered but by craving.

Tilopa

Bodhicitta practice ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If we see others in trouble, although we cannot immediately take their suffering upon ourselves, we should make the wish to be able to relieve them from their misfortunes. Prayers like this will bear fruit eventually. Again, if others have very strong afflictive emotions, we should think, ‘May all their emotions be concentrated in me.’ With fervent conviction, we should persist in thinking like this until we have some sign or feeling that we have been able to take upon ourselves the suffering and emotions of others. This might take the form of an increase in our own emotions or of the actual experience of the suffering and pain of others.
This is how to bring hardships onto the path in order to free ourselves from hopes and fears – hopes, for instance, that we will not get ill, or fears that we might do so. They will thus be pacified in the equal taste of happiness and suffering. Eventually, through the power of bodhicitta, we will reach the point where we are free even from the hope of accomplishing bodhicitta and the fear of not doing so. Therefore we should have love for our enemies and try as much as possible to avoid getting angry with them, or harbouring any negative thoughts towards them. We should also try as much as possible to overcome our biased attachment to family and relatives. If you bind a crooked tree to a large wooden stake, it will eventually grow straight. Up to now, our minds have always been crooked, thinking how we might trick and mislead people, but this [bodichitta] practice, as Geshe Langri Tangpa said, will make our minds straight and true.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The need for dualistic practice ~ Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Why do we need dualistic practices, such as generating merit, to reach a state that transcends duality? Because we have to start from where we are. Our mind’s true nature is covered by karmic turbulence caused by our grasping at self and our negative mental habits. “Grasping at a self” refers to the way we grasp at mental objects as truly existing, perceiving them dualistically as subject and object. The aspect of our mind that perceives this way is conceptual mind. Conceptual mind and the true nature of mind are like the surface and depths of the ocean: The surface is choppy with wind-tossed waves; beneath it is still and peaceful.
Most of us can’t glimpse into the depths, our true nature, because our conceptual mind is constantly churning out turbulence. Grasping at self tricks us, like a nightmare, into believing that we are separate from the world and each other. This triggers negative emotions, from craving and anxiety to jealousy and aggression, which spill out into unhealthy words and actions.
Every dualistic perception, every negative thought, feeling, word, and deed, leaves a negative karmic imprint in our conceptual mind that walls us off from our true nature. On the other hand, positive mentalities leave positive karmic imprints that open our mind, loosen grasping at self, and thin out the barriers to our true nature.
As long as we have dualistic concepts and emotions, the world is solid to us. Our suffering is all too real. Circumstances matter. If our surroundings are chaotic, it will be hard to find tranquillity. If we experience peace and joy, however, we will be inspired to generate even more peace and joy. Then whatever we say and do will be the words and deeds of joy and peace. We progressively loosen our grasping at self, and eventually we glimpse the luminous nature of our mind. If we perfect this realization, we uproot grasping at self and become fully awakened.

Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

The fundamental sameness of all human beings ~ 14th Dalai Lama

However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone, he or she will not survive. When we are sick or very young or very old, we must depend on the support of others. There is no significant division between us and other people, because our basic natures are the same. If we wish to ensure everyone’s peace and happiness we need to cultivate a healthy respect for the diversity of our peoples and cultures, founded on an understanding of this fundamental sameness of all human beings.

14th Dalai Lama

Nothing more than fleeting events ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

When you begin to recognize perceptions as nothing more than fleeting, circumstantial events, they don’t weigh as heavily on you, and the whole dualistic structure of “self” and “other” begins to soften.

Mingyur Rinpoche

Eclipsed by many different obscurations ~ Kalu Rinpoche

Mind is eclipsed by many different obscurations; if they are removed, mind’s fundamental nature, like the sun shining brightly in a clear, open sky, can manifest all the qualities of wisdom, compassion, and a Buddha’s abilities.

Kalu Rinpoche

Set your buttocks down and train ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Most people suffer from being afraid of themselves, afraid of not being able to liberate the thought or emotion that is about to arise. At the moment the thought arises, they single it out as no good. You often hear that negative emotions are bad, but you don’t know how to let them go. All these negative traits have been in you. But you can’t not be how you are, so what do you do? For the unrealized person, there is only one solution: be depressed about it. All spiritual systems say negative thoughts are bad. You cannot find any that say negative thoughts are good. Really, are there any? Maybe some of them say that you should express them, let them out, but that is still because they know that negative thoughts are not good, that if you did not let them out you would just keep them festering inside. It is merely a different way of phrasing the same depressing information.
The main point is to be free of negative thought and emotion. The method of getting rid of these differ, of course. There are oceans of books written about how to do so, from both spiritual and psychological points of view. We all understand that attachment, aggression, closed-mindedness, and all the other selfish emotions make problems for people. There is a broad agreement that negative emotional states are difficult, painful, and bad because they cause problems for ourselves and for others. Everybody is in agreement about that. But how to be free, for real? That is not a settled matter. There is a lack of clarity about how to be truly free. No matter how much it is explained or discussed or thought about, the problem remains largely unsolved. Honestly, there is only one solution: set your buttocks down on the meditation cushion and train in how to be free. As far as I am concerned, that is the only way.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Why is it so important to have a teacher? ~ Pema Chödron

When you’re with a teacher, their wisdom resonates with your wisdom. It transcends the two personalities.

Pema Chödron

Just be ordinary ~ Linji Yixuan

As I see it, there isn’t so much to do. Just be ordinary — put on your robes, eat your food, and pass the time doing nothing.

Linji Yixuan

The Meditative Aspect of Situations is There Already ~ Chögyam Trungpa

Meditation practice is a simple way of stepping out of the neurotic and chaotic aspects of the thought process. We can simplify everyday life, as well as bring simplicity to the sitting practice of meditation. Relating to both practice and daily life as fully as possible, being right on the dot in terms of technique, will bring us into an open situation where we don’t have to guard against anything or concentrate on anything, either. We find that the meditative aspect of the situation is there already.

Chögyam Trungpa

Simple and direct ~ Ajahn Chah

It is so easy once you understand. It is so simple and direct. When pleasant things arise, understand that they are empty. When unpleasant things arise, see that they are not yours. They pass away. Don’t relate to them as being you, or see yourself as the owner of them. You think that papaya tree is yours, then why don’t you feel hurt when it is cut down? If you can understand this, then this is the correct path, the correct teaching of the Buddha, and the teaching that leads to liberation.

Ajahn Chah

Existing in each instant of time ~ Shunryu Suzuki

Shikantaza, our zazen, is just to be ourselves. When we do not expect anything we can be ourselves. That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time. This practice continues forever. We say, “each moment”, but in your actual practice a “moment” is too long because in that “moment” your mind is already involved in following the next breath. So we say, even in a snap of your fingers there are millions of instants of time. This way we can emphasize the feeling of existing in each instant of time.

Shunryu Suzuki

Having compassion for the “other” ~ 17th Karmapa

Compassion for the “other,” whether people, animal species, trees, or other plants, and for Earth itself, is the only thing that will ultimately save us human beings. Most people are primarily concerned about their work, wealth, health, or family. On a daily basis, they probably feel they have more urgent things to worry about than their environmental footprint. Of course, paying attention to this issue would mean having to make inconvenient choices and changes in their lives. I am not so different. Although I had considered giving up eating meat for many years, I became a complete vegetarian only a few years ago. Somebody presented a short documentary that showed how animals suffer before and during the act of killing. Watching it, I could feel the fear felt by the animals. Like a thunderclap, I became aware that these living beings were suffering so greatly simply to satisfy my habitual preferences. Eating meat became intolerable for me at that moment, and so I stopped.

17th Karmapa

Mahakaruna ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

People like us have dualistic compassion, whereas the Buddha’s compassion does not involve subject and object. From a buddha’s point of view, compassion could never involve subject and object. This is what is called mahakaruna — great compassion.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Complete openness of mind ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When performing the meditation practice one should develop the feeling of opening oneself completely to the whole universe with absolute simplicity and nakedness of mind, ridding oneself of all protecting barriers. Don’t mentally split into two when meditating, one part of the mind watching the other like a cat watching a mouse. One should realize that one does not meditate to go deeply within oneself and withdraw from the world: complete openness of mind is the essential point.