17th KarmapaWe all react in similar ways to what is pleasant and what is unpleasant. Understanding this, we know how to help each other. Why not support others in promoting goodness and preventing harm?
Taking care of the environment ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaWe as buddhists believe that benefiting others is an act of kindness, and the first thing that comes to our mind, as act of kindness, is giving alms to the poor. That’s not the only way, there are many ways to be kind. Taking care of the environment and nature is also a very important act of kindness that can benefit many humans and animals alike in the future.
One’s best teacher ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIn the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.
Work is real ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWork is something real, just as much as spiritual practice. Work doesn’t have to have any extra meaning behind it, but it is spirituality in itself. Work doesn’t need another philosophical reinforcement. Maybe you think that you can’t relate to work unless you have a good philosophical reason, and without that, your work remains mechanical. In that case, you may be missing the point of spirituality altogether. Spirituality is not other than work, just to make the point clear. Work is spirituality, work is real—as much as anything else.
Bring your own stubborn mind under control ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheDo all that you can to bring your own stubborn mind under control and to develop your faith, diligence and renunciation. Never think that the dharma you are practising is for your benefit alone. To recite even a single mani mantra is of inconceivable benefit, so dedicate it for the sake of all who live.
Taking refuge here and now ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhMindfulness of breathing is your island, where you can be safe and happy, knowing that whatever happens, you are doing your best thing.
This is the way to take refuge in the Buddha, not as mere devotion but as a transformational practice.
You do not have to abandon this world.
You do not have to go to heaven or wait for the future to take refuge.
You can take refuge here and now.
You only need to dwell deeply in the present moment.
Forgive into freshness ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThere is a simple practice we can do to cultivate forgiveness. First we acknowledge what we feel — shame, revenge, embarrassment, remorse. Then we forgive ourselves for being human. Then, in the spirit of not wallowing in the pain, we let go and make a fresh start. We don’t have to carry the burden with us anymore. We will discover forgiveness as a natural expression of the open heart, an expression of our basic goodness. This potential is inherent in every moment. Each moment is an opportunity to make a fresh start.
Unconditional friendship with yourself ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThe first step is developing an unconditional friendship with yourself. Unconditional friendship means staying open when you want to shut down, when it is just too painful, too embarrassing, too unpleasant what you see in yourself.
Everything depends on the mind ~ Tenzin Palmo
Tenzin PalmoSamsara is not the planet, the planet is perfectly in sync, it’s the minds of the beings that inhabit the planet that makes it samsara or nirvana. When you enter nirvana you don’t suddenly disappear you’re still living on the same planet but the planet itself has transformed because the mind has transformed. It all depends on the mind, everything depends on the mind.
How marvelous ~ Nagarjuna
NagarjunaWith all its many risks, this life endures
No more than windblown bubbles in a stream.
How marvelous to breathe in and out again,
To fall asleep and then awake refreshed.
Trapped in discrimination ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Tsoknyi RinpocheWhat usually happens is that whenever something is seen or heard, we feel that it demands our attention. We fall under the command of the visible form being seen and we feel that we have to get involved in discriminating what it is. So we stay busy attaching values and defining and pigeon-holing it. If a sound occurs, we immediately think, “I have to listen to that sound.” We get caught up again and again, trapped in discriminating whether we like the sensation or don’t like it; whether we must accept it or reject it. That very process is the creation of karma, right there. That is what we are trying to step out of right now through meditation training.
Looking at the underlying causes of happiness and unhappiness ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheMost people don’t have a very clear idea of what happiness is, and consequently find themselves creating conditions that lead them back to the dissastifaction they so desperately seek to eliminate. That being the case, it would be a good idea to look at happiness, unhappiness, and their underlying causes a bit more closely.
Let things be just as they are ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahThe heart is just the heart; thoughts and feelings are just thoughts and feelings. Let things be just as they are.
True teacher of compassion and tolerance ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIt is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.
Go Beyond Concept ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheBy and large, human beings tend to prefer to fit in to society by following accepted rules of etiquette and being gentle, polite, and respectful. The irony is that this is also how most people imagine a spiritual person should behave. When a so-called dharma practitioner is seen to behave badly, we shake our heads over her audacity at presenting herself as a follower of the Buddha. Yet such judgments are better avoided, because to “fit in” is not what a genuine dharma practitioner strives for.
Think of Tilopa, for example. He looked so outlandish that if he turned up on your doorstep today, odds are you would refuse to let him in. And you would have a point. He would most likely be almost completely naked; if you were lucky, he might be sporting some kind of G-string; his hair would never have been introduced to shampoo; and protruding from his mouth would quiver the tail of a live fish. What would your moral judgment be of such a being? “Him! A Buddhist?” This is how our theistic, moralistic, and judgmental minds work. Of course, there is nothing wrong with morality, but the point of spiritual practice, according to the vajrayana teachings, is to go beyond all our concepts, including those of morality.
We are our own savior ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe Buddha Shakyamuni has given us effective methods for working on our minds; however, whether we use them or not depends on us. The Buddha does not sit there and tell us what to do all the time. We are our own savior, our own protector. We should give ourselves the gift of a good future.
Be rid of afflictive emotions once and for all ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheIn short, afflictive emotions only have the power that you give to them. Rather than indulging in them again and again, be rid of them once and for all, and then liberation will be near at hand. To succeed, you are going to have to summon up strong determination. Otherwise, your teacher’s instructions will not be able to help you much, and your practice will lead nowhere. The teacher can guide you toward enlightenment, but cannot actually hurl you there like throwing a stone into the sky. He shows you the way, but it is up to you to follow it. Since your emotions are all-powerful, you must confront them with equally powerful antidotes. To get rid of a poisonous tree, you have to uproot it. Just pruning a few branches is not enough. In the same way, unless you uproot the emotions, they will just grow again, more vigorous than ever.
A wise critic ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniShould you find a wise critic to point out your faults, follow him as you would a guide to hidden treasure.
The third reliance ~ Mipham Rinpoche
Mipham RinpocheWhen it comes to the meaning,
You should know what is provisional and what is definitive,
And rely not on any provisional meaning,
But only on the meaning that is true definitively.The omniscient one himself in all his wisdom,
Taught according to students’ capacities and intentions,
Presenting vehicles of various levels
Just like the rungs of a ladder.Wisely, he spoke with certain intentions in mind,
As with the eight kinds of implied and indirect teachings.
If these were to be taken literally they might be invalidated,
But they were taught for specific reasons.[Third reliance: Do not rely on the provisional meaning, but on the definitive meaning.]
Just your interpretation of reality ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronSeeing when you justify yourself and when you blame others is not a reason to criticize yourself, but actually an opportunity to recognize what all people do and how it imprisons us in a very limited perspective of this world. It’s a chance to see that you’re holding on to your interpretation of reality; it allows you to reflect that that’s all it is — nothing more, nothing less; just your interpretation of reality.