Thich Nhat HanhThe miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.
Being in the middle of nowhere ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThe challenge is to stay in the middle rather than to buy into struggle and complaint. The challenge is to let it soften us rather than make us more rigid and afraid. Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere only makes our hearts more tender. When we are brave enough to stay in the middle, compassion arises spontaneously.
Self-esteem ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe deepest reasons to love yourself have nothing to do with anything outside you – not with your body or with others’ expectations of you. If you ground yourself in your own goodness, nothing will be able to damage your self-esteem.
Just watch it lightly ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheNot to try to hold on to each thoughts as it arises. Whatever passes through the mind, we should just watch it come and go, lightly and without attachment, the way we’d practiced gently resting our attention on different kind of experiences.
Saddles, chairs, and green grass ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThere can be too much emphasis on the heroism of sitting practice and on the idea that there is nothing to do but meditate. There is a greater world than your little meditation world, your little meditation hall, and your little meditation cushion. There are other seats — there are saddles and chairs and green grass you can sit on. Everywhere you sit does not have to be a meditation cushion.
Secular ethics ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaWe need to understand the inadequacy of an educational system so slanted towards material values. The solution is not to give an occasional lecture, but to integrate ethics into the educational curriculum. To do this effectively requires a secular ethics, free of religious influence, based on common sense, a realistic view and scientific findings.
Finding out what is true ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronIn all kinds of situations, we can find out what is true simply by studying ourselves in every nook and cranny, in every black hole and bright spot, whether it’s murky, creepy, grisly, splendid, spooky, frightening, joyful, inspiring, peaceful, or wrathful. We can just look at the whole thing. There’s a lot of encouragement to do this, and meditation gives us the method. When I first encountered Buddhism, I was extremely relieved that there were not only teachings, but also a technique I could use to explore and test these teachings. I was told from day one that I had to find out for myself what was true.
Spiritual Teacher as Friend ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaWhen looking for a spiritual teacher, in my view the starting point should be that they are a good person. You should consider not just whether the teacher is an educated and knowledgeable person, but also whether he or she is a genuinely good-hearted person who has real affection for you. This is hard to tell from the outside; a teacher doesn’t come wearing a sign saying, “I am good-hearted.”
People have different personalities. Rather than looking for teachers with a particular personality, you should examine whether or not they are kind, and whether or not they have a positive impact on others. Teachers can be reclusive or reserved, so you’ll have to use your own judgment to determine whether they care for you or inspire you in a positive way.
How long should you examine a potential teacher? This is not easy to say. It is not as if they immediately take care of all your spiritual or emotional needs. The connection has to be developed over time.
My own personal feeling is that there are actually two considerations in selecting a spiritual teacher. One is this initial process of examination. The other is trust. The relationship between teacher and student is a relationship that you have to cultivate. It is not something that you discover already fully developed. You let the teacher get to know you, including your faults. At the same time, you gain confidence that the teacher will continue to care for you as a student. It is important that you feel able to trust your teacher, and you yourself must also be trustworthy. In a relationship between spiritual teacher and student, trust has to be mutual.
Taking Our Fences Down ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIt takes a long time to take our fences down. The first step is to learn to love ourselves, make friends with ourselves, not torture ourselves anymore. And the second step is to communicate to people, to establish a relationship and gradually help them. It takes a long time and a long process of disciplined patience.
The most basic kind of peace work ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhIf in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.
Generating A Vast Motivation ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheWhen we generate the motivation to lift not only ourselves but all sentient beings to the level of complete recognition of Buddha nature, an odd thing happens: The dualistic perspective of “self” and “other” begins very gradually to dissolve, and we grow in wisdom and power to help others as well as ourselves.
Sanity ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaSanity lies somewhere between the inhibitions of conventional morality and the looseness of extreme impulse, but the area in-between is very fuzzy. The bodhisattva delights in the play between hesitation and extreme impulsiveness – it is beautiful to look at – so delight in itself is the approach of sanity.
There are no fixed starting points ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaInterdependence and emptiness show us that there are no fixed starting points. We can start from nothing. Whatever we have, wherever we are — that is the place we can start from. Many people have the idea that they lack what they need in order to start working toward their dreams. They feel they do not have enough power, or they do not have enough money. But they should know that any point is the right starting point. This is the perspective that emptiness opens up. We can start from zero.
Reflections of your attitude ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheUntil you are ready to give your life and body for the sake of others in reality, which is not the case at present, you can at least do it mentally. As your mind grows used to altruistic love and compassion, your words and actions will naturally reflect that attitude.
Simply about us ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahThe Dhamma is not far away. It’s right with us. The Dhamma isn’t about angels in the sky or anything like that. It’s simply about us, about what we are doing right now. Observe yourself. Sometimes there is happiness, sometimes suffering, sometimes comfort, sometimes pain … this is the Dhamma. Do you see it? To know this Dhamma, you have to read your experiences.
Our Responsibility to Open ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThese days the world really needs people who are willing to let their hearts, their bodhicitta, ripen. There’s such widespread devastation and suffering: people are being run over by tanks or their houses are being blown up or soldiers are knocking on their doors in the middle of the night and taking them away and torturing them and killing their children and their loved ones. People are starving. It’s a hard time. We who are living in the lap of luxury with our pitiful little psychological problems have a tremendous responsibility to let our clarity and our heart, our warmth, and our ability ripen, to open up and let go, because it’s so contagious.
Praying at all times for the sake of all beings ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheAt all times, again and again, we should make vast prayers for the sake of all beings.
When falling asleep we should think,
‘May all beings achieve the absolute state’;
when waking up,
‘May all beings awake into the enlightened state’;
when getting up,
‘May all beings obtain the body of the Buddha’;
when putting on clothes,
‘May all beings have modesty and sense of shame’;
when lighting a fire,
‘May all beings burn the wood of disturbing emotions’;
when eating,
‘May all beings eat the food of concentration’;
when opening a door,
‘May all beings ope the door to the city of liberation’;
when closing a door,
‘May all beings close the door to lower realms’;
when going outside,
‘May I set out on the path to free all beings’;
when walking uphill,
‘May I take all beings to the higher realms’;
when walking downhill,
‘May I go to free beings from lower realms’;
when seeing happiness,
‘May all beings achieve the happiness of Buddhahood’;
when seeing suffering,
‘May the suffering of all beings be pacified’.
We can’t just jump over ourselves ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronHope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can’t simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment. We feel that someone else knows what’s going on, but that there’s something missing in us, and therefore something is lacking in our world.
Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look. That’s the compassionate thing to do. That’s the brave thing to do. We can’t just jump over ourselves as if we were not there. It’s better to take a straight look at all our hopes and fears. Then some kind of confidence in our basic sanity arises.
Experiencing mental happiness ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaDifferent things in this world can bring happiness and enjoyment. The most important of them all is what brings peace and happiness to our minds. How can we develop these? Usually, our minds are filled with the movement of concepts that disturb it. When the mind is set in motion this way, it cannot remain one-pointed and goes astray, unable to rest within. For this reason, mental happiness eludes us. When these concepts are dissolved into the nature of mind, we will experience the feeling of mental happiness. There are many methods for creating a mind that is one-pointed and joyful, the most important of which is meditation.
Just do what you do ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIf we see things as they are, then we do not have to interpret or analyze them further; we do not need to try to understand things by imposing spiritual experience or philosophical ideas upon them. As a famous Zen master said ‘When I eat, I eat; when I sleep, I sleep.’ Just do what you do, completely, fully.