Mingyur RinpocheIt’s very important to understand what creates samsara, also called the realm of confusion. Samsara does not arise from external circumstances. It’s not tied to any particular object in the world around us. What creates samsara is how the mind habitually clings to its misperceptions of reality.
Acting on Our Compassion ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaOnce we begin to truly value others’ happiness, if an opportunity arises for us to give others happiness or protect them from suffering, we will be ready to do so. If we are able to nurture a sense of continual readiness to act, we will not miss opportunities to benefit others. Even if we cannot immediately ensure the welfare of all beings, any time we see an opportunity to benefit any particular being, we will be eagerly waiting to act on our compassion. When we notice someone hungry in the street, we will look at once for something to offer them. We will become proactive and start carrying healthy foods to give them, or seek out a local food kitchen to support. As long as we aspire to benefit others, we will continually find opportunities to do so, and happily seize them whenever they present themselves. Thus this aspiration in itself has great significance and actual power.
Selflessness ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaBoth Buddhists and non-Buddhists practice meditation to achieve pleasure and get rid of pain, and in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist systems the self is a central object of scrutiny. Certain non-Buddhists who accept rebirth accept the transitory nature of mind and body, but they believe in a self that is permanent, changeless and unitary. Although Buddhist schools accept rebirth, they hold that there is no such solid self. For Buddhists, the main topic of the training in wisdom is emptiness, or selflessness, which means the absence of a permanent, unitary and independent self or, more subtly, the absence of inherent existence either in living beings or in other phenomena.
Facing ourselves ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaOne of the main obstacles to fearlessness is our habitual patterns. Ordinarily, we don’t let ourselves experience ourselves fully. That is to say, we have a fear of facing ourselves. Experiencing the innermost core of their existence is embarrassing to a lot of people. We cannot do that. We have to be honest with ourselves. We have to see our gut, our most undesirable parts. We have to see that. That is the basis of conquering fear. We have to face our fear; we have to look at it, study it, work with it, and practice meditation with it.
Outer and inner universe ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheNothing in your experience – your thoughts, feelings, or sensations – is as fixed and unchangeable as it appears. Your perception are only crude approximations of the true nature of things. Actually, the universe in which you live and the universe in your mind form an integrated whole.
Facing Impermanence Wisely ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaI have noticed that some people are uncomfortable when they are told that change is a fundamental part of life, or that nothing lasts forever. Yet impermanence is just a basic fact of our existence—it is neither good nor bad in itself. When we face impermanence wisely, we have an opportunity to cultivate a more constructive way of relating to that reality. If we do so, we can actually learn to feel at ease in the face of unexpected change, and work comfortably with whatever new situations might occur.
Path To Nowhere ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhMy path is the path of stopping, the path of enjoying the present moment. It is a path where every step brings me back to my true home. It is a path that leads nowhere. I am on my way home. I arrive at every step.
Underneath there’s something extremely soft ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronUnderneath all that craving or aversion or jealousy or feeling wretched about yourself, underneath all that hopelessness and despair and depression, there’s something extremely soft, which is called bodhicitta.
Purification ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheYou will fall sick, experience pain, and encounter many adverse circumstances. At such times do not think, ‘Although I am practicing the Dharma, I have nothing but trouble. The Dharma cannot be so great. I have followed a teacher and done so much practice, and yet hard times still befall me.’ Such thoughts are wrong views. You should realize that through the blessing and power of the practice, by experiencing sickness and other difficulties now, you are purifying and ridding yourself of negative actions…. By purifying them while you have the chance, you will later go from bliss to bliss. So do not think, ‘I don’t deserve this illness, these obstacles, these negative influences.’ Experience your difficulties as blessings…when you do experience such difficulties, you should be very happy and avoid having adverse thoughts like, ‘Why are such terrible things happening to me?’
Overcoming aggression ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAggression is an obstacle to visual dharma, to hearing and the other sense perceptions, and to understanding reality in its fullest sense. To overcome aggression, some kind of fundamental discipline seems to be absolutely important and necessary. Without any actual practice of sitting meditation to enable us to make friends with ourselves, nothing can be heard or seen to its fullest extent; nothing can be perceived as we would like to perceive it. But slowly and naturally, through our discipline, we gradually begin to branch out into the real world.
The view of interdependence ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaThe view of interdependence makes for a great openness of mind. In general, instead of realizing that what we experience arises from a complicated network of causes, we tend to attribute happiness or sadness, for example, to single, individual sources. But if this were so, as soon as we came into contact with what we consider to be good, we would be automatically happy, and conversely, in the case of bad things, invariably sad. The causes of joy and sorrow would be easy to identify and target. It would all be very simple, and there would be good reason for our anger and attachment. When, on the other hand, we consider that everything we experience results from a complex interplay of causes and conditions, we find that there is no single thing to desire or resent, and it is more difficult for the afflictions of attachment or anger to arise. In this way, the view of interdependence makes our minds more relaxed and open.
By training our minds and getting used to this view, we change our way of seeing things, and as a result we gradually change our behavior and do less harm to others. As it says in the sutras:
Abandon evildoing;
Practice virtue well;
Subdue your mind:
This is the Buddha’s teaching.
Confession and aspiration ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheOnce you know what has to be taken up and what has to be avoided, you must avoid even the minutest negative action. If you find you have committed a negative action physically, verbally, or mentally, you must acknowledge it immediately, confess, and repair the downfall. And if you see that you have done something positive, make a prayer ‘May I do even more, may I increase in virtue’.
Kindness to oneself ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaKindness to oneself means undertaking the responsibility for one’s own liberation.
Simply movements of the mind ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheThoughts aren’t really fixed realities, but simply movements of the mind that is thinking.
Buddha Nature ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheYou do not wash the cup, you wash the dirt; if you were to wash the cup, it would disappear completely. So, it is the dirt that is washable and has nothing at all to do with the cup.
This example is quite a good illustration of one of the most profound theories of the bodhisattvayana: we all have the potential to become Buddhas because we have Buddha nature. The problem is we have yet to realise it.
Three attitudes ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThree attitudes prevent us from receiving a continual flow of blessings. They are compared to three “pots”: a full pot, a pot with poison in it, and a pot with a hole in the bottom.
The pot that’s filled to the brim is like a mind full of opinions and preconceptions. We already know it all. We have so many fixed ideas that nothing new can affect us or cause us to question our assumptions.
The pot containing poison is like a mind that’s so cynical, critical, and judgmental that everything is poisoned by this harshness. It allows for no openness and no willingness to explore the teachings or anything else that challenges our righteous stance.
The pot with a hole is like a distracted mind: our body is present but we’re lost in thought. We’re so busy thinking about our dream vacation or what’s for dinner that we’re completely deaf to what’s being said.
Knowing how sad it is to receive blessings and not be able to benefit, Shantideva wants to save himself grief by remaining open and attentive. Nothing will improve, he says, unless we become more intelligent about cause and effect. This is a message worth considering seriously.
Being aware of our own shortcomings ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaTo be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in someone else.
Being an authentic Buddhist ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaSo maybe the point is to confront ourselves with the question: am I really a good person, a good human being? Because that is what characterizes being an authentic Buddhist.
Phenomena adorn emptiness, but never corrupt it ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe presence of space makes it possible for the whole universe to be set out within it, and yet this does not alter or condition space in any way. Although rainbows appear in the sky, they do not make any difference to the sky; it is simply that the sky makes the appearance of rainbows possible. Phenomena adorn emptiness, but never corrupt it.
Conquer ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniConquer anger with non-anger. Conquer badness with goodness. Conquer meanness with generosity. Conquer dishonesty with truth.