17th KarmapaDiscover which actions truly produce happiness and which result in suffering. Using discernment, take up what brings benefit and discard what causes harm. Live accordingly and you will be on the right path.
Deciding to go straight ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche
Tai Situ RinpocheTurning our mind from samsara to enlightenment means that instead of going in circles we now decide to go straight; because if we go in circles, no matter how big or how small the circles are, we still end up in the same place.
Recovering our own sovereignty ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhA human being is like a television set with millions of channels…. We cannot let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to recover our own sovereignty.
Just putting on appearances ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaSometimes when we practice dharma we think that we need to show some sort of external or physical sign of it. We pay a lot of attention to the rituals and these actions of our body and speech. This is practicing dharma when we’re focusing outside. But instead what we need to do is turn our attention inwards. We need to see whether what we’re doing is functioning as an antidote to the afflictions or not. We need to see whether we are taming our mind or not. We need to see whether our mind is improving, getting kinder, or not. If we don’t look at it in this way then there’s no benefit to doing these actions – we think that we are trying to do the dharma, but actually we are just making a show with our body and speech. We are putting on appearances, and that’s all we really take an interest in. And the moment that happens, this becomes spiritual materialism.
Love and compassion for all ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheJust as space is infinitely vast, so too is the number of sentient beings. Yet we tend to think that the only relationships we have with other beings are the tiny number, comparatively, that we have at present. Wherever we live, we like a few people, dislike a few others, and ignore all the rest. Based on this prejudiced and very limited perception of others, we keep giving rise to attachment and aggression. Thus we accumulate karma, the driving force of samsara.
If we could see the endless sequence of lives we have led in the past, we would know that there is not a single being on earth who has not been our father or our mother, not only once but many times over. To return the love and great kindness they have shown us, we must cultivate love and compassion for all of them, as the great enlightened ones do. Above all, we should aspire from the depths of our heart to be able to bring them to perfect enlightenment, without leaving a single one of them behind. The merit arising from such an aspiration is in proportion to the number of beings, so the wish to liberate innumerable beings can engender an immeasurable amount of merit.
Universal equality ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaWhether one is rich or poor, educated or illiterate, religious or nonbelieving, man or woman, black, white, or brown, we are all the same. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are all equal. We all share basic needs for food, shelter, safety, and love. We all aspire to happiness and we all shun suffering. Each of us has hopes, worries, fears, and dreams. Each of us wants the best for our family and loved ones. We all experience pain when we suffer loss and joy when we achieve what we seek. On this fundamental level, religion, ethnicity, culture, and language make no difference.
Being kind to oneself ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe kindness to oneself that I was speaking of is rather different from the self-fixation of selfishness. For example, the Buddha said, “I have shown you the path to liberation but know that its achievement depends on you.” In other words, we have to take responsibility for the achievement of liberation through our own efforts. It is the undertaking of responsibility for one’s own liberation that I’m referring to as kindness to oneself. What we normally mean by self-cherishing includes within it the implicit abandonment of the welfare of others and the rejection of any effort to achieve that welfare of others. Therefore, it is very different from what I mean by kindness to oneself.
Like the earth ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheLike the earth and the pervading elements,
Enduring like the sky itself endures,
For boundless multitudes of living beings,
May I be their ground and sustenance.
Putting oneself in the place of another ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
All tremble at violence; all fear death.
Putting oneself in the place of another,
one should not kill nor cause another to kill.
Taking your situation in hand ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhEvery time you practice walking meditation, investing your mind and body in every step, you are taking your situation in hand. Every time you breathe in and know you are breathing in, every time you breathe out and smile to your out-breath, you are yourself. You are your own master; you are the gardener in your own garden. We are relying on you to take good care of your garden, so that you can help your beloved to take care of hers.
The organic quality of compassion ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAction without compassion is like planting a dead tree. It will never grow. But any action that contains compassion is planting a living tree that grows endlessly and never dies. Or even if the tree dies, it always leaves a seed behind, which will grow into another tree. That organic quality of compassion goes on and on and on.
The Essence of the Buddhist teachings ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe Essence of the Buddhist teachings is as the following verse states:
Do not commit any evil actions,
Engage in excellent virtue,
And tame your own mind –
This is the teaching of the Buddha.The entire Buddhist Dharma can be summarized by the instruction to give up harming
others and to benefit them… For human beings in general and, in particular, for all followers of a spiritual tradition, the most important prerequisite for being a Buddhist is to give rise to altruistic motivation… A spiritual practitioner needs to have a peaceful and serene mind and altruistic attitude… If together with that you uphold the distinct view of a spiritual tradition, you will be able to benefit both yourself and many others.
Mind just as it is ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheAll the qualities of your natural mind – peace, openness, relaxation, and clarity – are present in your mind just as it is.
Feeling confused is the starting point ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWe should realize that there is some discrepancy, that everything is not clear cut and black and white. Feeling confused is the starting point. When you are confused, you don’t believe in your confusion as being the answer. Because you are confused, you feel that the answer must be something else more clear. That invites further questioning, which contains the answer within itself. One begins to work on oneself that way.
The mirror of the mind ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThere is a story that reminds us how crucial it is that we take responsibility for what we ourselves contribute to the problem, rather than laying all the blame for our harmful food systems on others – or waiting for someone else to fix the problem.
This story tells of a king of a small, remote kingdom in ancient Tibet. In this kingdom, mirrors were extremely rare – practically unheard of. Yet somehow the king managed to acquire a hand mirror, and picked it up one day as he was talking to his faithful old servant. The king took a good look at himself in that mirror, and was not pleased by what he saw. It seems this king was a singularly unattractive man. He felt thoroughly disgusted by the face staring at him from his mirror. He tossed the mirror aside and exclaimed, “Who is that ugly man? I don’t ever want to see him again! Banish this mirror from my kingdom!”
The servant could not keep silent at this. After all the years he had spent gazing on the king’s unattractive face, he seized this opportunity to say: “My Lord, I have had to look at you all these years. I do not have the option of just banishing the mirror!”
Like the king in this story, we seem to have a tendency to look at others, but not want to see ourselves. There is a saying in Tibetan: “To see others, you need a pair of eyes. To see yourself, you need the mirror of your own mind.
Essentially good ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheBuddhism is not so much concerned with getting well as with recognizing that you are right here, right now as whole as good as essentially good as you ever could hope to be.
Life is short ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronEvery act counts. Every thought and emotion counts too. This is all the path we have. This is where we apply the teachings. This is where we come to understand why we meditate. We are only going to be here for a short while. Even if we live to be 108, our life will be too short for witnessing all its wonders. The dharma is each act, each thought, each word we speak. Are we at least willing to catch ourselves spinning off and to do that without embarrassment? Do we at least aspire to not consider ourselves a problem, but simply a pretty typical human being who could at that moment give him- or herself a break and stop being so predictable?
My experience is that this is how our thoughts begin to slow down. Magically, it seems that there’s a lot more space to breathe, a lot more room to dance, and a lot more happiness.
Coexisting in delicate balance ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe environment is irreplaceable. All life forms on earth coexist in delicate balance. Although some habitats are naturally more abundant than others, we are degrading the environment by exploiting and polluting it, affecting the entire world irrespective of borders. For everyone’s sake, let’s stop polluting the environment. How foolish to destroy our planet – which has to sustain present and future generations. Together, let’s protect and safeguard the earth.
Spiritual values ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIt seems that scientific research reaches deeper and deeper. But it also seems that more and more people, at least scientists, are beginning to realize that the spiritual factor is important. I say ‘spiritual’ without meaning any particular religion or faith, just simple warmhearted compassion, human affection, and gentleness. It is as if such warmhearted people are a bit more humble, a little bit more content. I consider spiritual values primary, and religion secondary. As I see it, the various religions strengthen these basic human qualities. As a practitioner of Buddhism, my practice of compassion and my practice of Buddhism are actually one and the same. But the practice of compassion does not require religious devotion or religious faith; it can be independent from the practice of religion. Therefore, the ultimate source of happiness for human society very much depends on the human spirit, on spiritual values. If we do not combine science and these basic human values, then scientific knowledge may sometimes create troubles, even disaster….
Loosing your ability to respond openly ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheIf you chase after thoughts and emotions, if you let them lead you, they begin to define you, and you lose your ability to respond openly and spontaneously in the present moment. On the other hand, if you attempt to block your thoughts, your mind can become quite tight and small.