Thrangu RinpocheAnger’s nature is not rendered empty by looking; it was already empty and always will be. As anger is empty in essence, it cannot be changed or transformed in any way whatsoever. As anger, or any other thought or emotion has no concrete nature, by looking into it and recognizing it, it naturally subsides. Only ignorance, the failure to know this fact, can sustain it.
Two great sources of fear in samsara ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThere are two great sources of fear in samsara, the moment of birth and the moment of death. The suffering and fear experienced at these two times have to be faced completely alone; there is no one who can really help us. The only thing that can help alleviate those sufferings is the practice of the supreme Dharma. Nothing else can do so.
But we do not know how to practice it: we have only become clever at doing worldly things. From an early age we have learned how to make things comfortable for ourselves and how to avoid being uncomfortable. This sort of attitude has resulted in a high degree of material achievement. We can fly through the sky in airplanes, and so on, and we have made life very easy from the material point of view. But actually we are just like children running after a rainbow. These things do not really help us.
We need to turn our minds toward the Dharma by reflecting on these sufferings of birth and death. By doing so, we enter the path, going first through the preliminaries, and then proceeding to the main practice. As we practice, we will gradually get a true taste of what it means to become disillusioned with worldly affairs and to progress on the path. This is something that will come with experience.
But we must not postpone it, thinking, “I will do this practice next month or next year …” If we have received a teaching today, it is today that we should start putting it into practice, for it is only from the moment we actually plant a seed that it will start to sprout.
Mind is inconceivable ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaThe mind does seem to be and yet lacks real existence.
When searched for, it’s not found;
When looked for, it’s not seen.
No color does it have, no shape; it cannot be identified.
Not outside or within; throughout the triple time,
It is not born, it does not cease.
And it is not located anywhere on this side or on that.
Groundless, rootless, it is not a thing.
There is no pointing to it: mind is inconceivable.
Mind’s ability to think and know ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
When we say that mind is empty, we do not mean that it is a void in the way that space is empty. Space is indeed empty but it does not have the ability to know, to see, or to reflect. Space is “dead emptiness.” When we say that the nature of mind is emptiness, we mean that the mind is not a solid or fixed entity. It cannot be found, no matter where we look. Nonetheless it has the ability to understand and reflect. This ability to think and know is what we mean when we speak of the mind’s luminosity.Thrangu Rinpoche
Nothing solid is really happening ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronWhatever you experience in your life – pain, pleasure, heat, cold, or anything else – is like something happening in a dream. Although you might think things are very solid, they are like passing memory. You can experience this open, unfixated quality in sitting meditation: All that arises in your mind – hate, love, and all the rest – is not solid. Although the experience can get extremely vivid, it is just a product of your mind. Nothing solid is really happening.
The real enemy ~ Sakya Trizin
When you have anger, this inner anger is reflected back and the enemy appears outside. If you try to destroy your enemy with anger, the other side will also become angry, and the situation will escalate. Even if you destroy one enemy, there will be another enemy, and more and more enemies will arise. Instead of defeating outside enemies, you should look toward your own anger as the real enemy, the enemy that causes suffering. The real enemy is not outside but within your own mind. Even if you cannot eliminate your anger entirely, trying to see things this way will help you to disrupt it.Sakya Trizin
Openness ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Tulku Urgyen RinpocheComplete openness, ‘Zangtal’ in Tibetan, means not attached to anything, not fixating on anything. This is precisely the opposite of an ordinary person’s frame of mind clinging to and fixating on everything. The openness of Rigpa, the openness of a yogi, does not fixate on anything: it does not hold on to anything. We need to grow used to this type of openness. Let your five senses be wide open, wide awake and yet thought-free. Remain in that state, utterly open.
The quality of zazen will express itself ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu SuzukiIf you think you will get something from practicing zazen, already you are involved in impure practice. It is all right to say there is practice, and there is enlightenment, but we should not be caught by the statement. You should not be tainted by it. When you practice zazen, just practice zazen. If enlightenment comes, it just comes. We should not attach to the attainment. The true quality of zazen is always there, even if you are not aware of it, so forget all about what you think you may have gained from it. Just do it. The quality of zazen will express itself; then you will have it.
Stillness and movement ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe mind has, in general, two aspects, stillness and movement. Sometimes, the mind is quiet and free from thoughts, like a calm pool; this is stillness. Eventually, thoughts are bound to arise in it; this is movement. In truth, however, although in a sense there is a movement of thoughts within the stillness, there is actually no difference between these two states — just as the nature of stillness is voidness, the nature of movement is also voidness. Stillness and movement are merely two names for the one mind.
Stay with what is ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheDo not run away from these unpleasant feelings.
Do not manipulate them into pleasant feelings.
Stay with what is, with whatever arises.
Even the smallest amounts of merit ~ Gampopa
GampopaEven when your realization transcends the very notions of there being anything to accumulate or purify, continue still to accumulate even the smallest amounts of merit.
The nature of the mind ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheThe reason that we can’t find mind when we look for it is that mind doesn’t have an essential nature of its own. This nonexistence is what the Buddha called emptiness or shunyata. This emptiness does not need to be verified through complicated philosophical reasoning; it is simply the nature, or essence, of the mind. Both peacefulness and disturbing emotions arise from mind’s nature, which is not solid or dense; rather, it is empty of inherent existence. Because it is empty, its nature cannot be harmed and does not become defective or degrade with age or illness.
A fully qualified meditation ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheTo realize the quintessential instructions of mahamudra and the coemergence of thought and appearance, we need to recognize not only the resting mind, but also the nature of the mind. We need to understand what resting mind is, not only through inference but also through direct observation. And when we realize emptiness directly, we have understood the nature of phenomena. Therefore, in addition to achieving shamata and arousing great bodhichitta, we also need the vipashyana that realizes the nature of phenomena. When we have some experience of these three qualities of samadhi, bodhichitta and vipashyana, we have a fully qualified meditation.
Noticing the collective effects of our individual actions ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaSeeing ourselves as fundamentally separate and independent inclines us to underestimate or altogether ignore the connections between ourselves and others. As happens in our use of electronic connectivity, we feel that we are here, while everyone else is over there, apart from us. We even imagine that we can do whatever we wish with no consequences for anyone but ourselves. Given the environmental impact of our consumer-driven global society, I believe we cannot afford to leave unexamined the assumptions that have allowed us to go so far down this road without noticing the collective effects of our individual actions.
Two types of friends ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheAn unsuitable friend is one who is fond of distractions, totally immersed in ordinary worldly activities, and who does not care in the least about achieving liberation — a friend who has no interest or faith in the Three Jewels. The more time you spend with such a person, the more the three poisons will permeate your mind. Even if you do not initially agree with their ideas and actions, if you spend a lot of time with unsuitable friends, you will eventually be influenced by their bad habits. Your resolve to act positively will decline, and you will waste your life. Such people will prevent you from spending any time studying, reflecting, and meditating — which are the roots of liberation. And they will make you lose whatever qualities you may have developed, especially compassion and love — which are the very essence of the teachings of the Great Vehicle. An unsuitable friend is like a bad captain who steers his ship onto the rocks. Such people are your worst enemy. You owe it to yourself to stay away from them. In contrast, being with people who embody or aspire to gentleness, compassion, and love will encourage you to develop those qualities so essential to the path. Inspired by their example, you will become filled with love for all beings, and come to see the inherent negativity of attachment and hatred. Authentic spiritual friends are those who have received teachings from the same teacher as yourself and, detached form worldly concerns, are devoting themselves to practice in secluded places. In the company of such friends, you will naturally be influenced by their good qualities, just as birds flying around a golden mountain are bathed in its golden radiance.
Oh, this is how my mind works ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheWhen you are trained as Buddhist, you don’t think of Buddhism as a religion. You think of it as a type of science, a method of exploring your own experience through techniques that enable you to examine your actions and reactions in a non-judgmental way, with the view toward recognizing, “Oh, this is how my mind works. This is what I need to do to experience happiness. This is what I should avoid to avoid unhappiness.
A Sense of Wonder ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThe ground of loving-kindness is this sense of satisfaction with who we are and what we have. The path is a sense of wonder, becoming a two- or three-year-old child again, wanting to know all the unknowable things, beginning to question everything. We know we’re never really going to find the answers, because these kinds of questions come from having a hunger and a passion for life — they have nothing to do with resolving anything or tying it all up into a neat little package. This kind of questioning is the journey itself.
The root of happiness ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheThe reason we practice meditation is to attain happiness. With regard to short-term happiness, we usually mean either physical pleasure or mental pleasure or both of them. But if you look at either of these pleasant experiences, their root has to be a mind that is at peace and free from suffering. As long as your mind is unhappy and devoid of tranquility or peace, no matter how much physical pleasure you experience, your mind will not know true happiness. On the other hand, even if you lack the ideal physical circumstances of wealth and so on, if your mind is at peace you will be happy anyway.
Room for not knowing ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronWhen we think that something is going to bring us pleasure, we don’t know what’s really going to happen. When we think something is going to give us misery, we don’t know. Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. We try to do what we think is going to help. But we don’t know. We never know if we’re going to fall flat or sit up tall. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may be just the beginning of a great adventure.
Merit dedicated to enlightenment ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniJust as a drop of water that falls into the great ocean
Will never disappear until the ocean itself runs dry,
Merit totally dedicated to enlightenment
Will never disappear until enlightenment is reached.