14th Dalai LamaWith regard to selflessness, it is necessary to know what “self” is — to identify the self that does not exist. Then one can understand its opposite, selflessness. Selflessness is not a case of something that existed in the past becoming non-existent; rather, this sort of “self” is something that never did exist. What is needed is to identify as non-existent something that always was nonexistent, for due to not having made such identification, we are drawn into the afflictive emotions of desire and hatred as well as all the problems these bring.
No time to waste ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheNever forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else.
All Habits Can Be Broken ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaI want to underscore this point: we find greed difficult to control not because it is natural, but because it has been generated by long, unchecked habituation. This is important to recognize, because even though old habits may be tough to break, all habits can be broken.
Temporarily polluted water ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheThe Buddha often compared natural mind to water, which in its essence is always clear and clean. Mud, sediment, and other impurities may temporarily darken or pollute the water, but we can filter away such impurities and restore its natural clarity.
Beginning to relate with our world ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThrough the practice of meditation, we gradually begin to relate with our world, our friends, and other situations. And slowly we begin to trust the world as well. We begin to feel that the world is not as bad as we thought— there might be something worth learning. However, we cannot just go out and love the world. We have to start with ourselves, because the world is our world. Running away from ourselves into the world would be like trying to accept the rays of the sun while rejecting the sun itself.
Simply natural qualities of your mind ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheAvoid becoming attached to positive experience if it was peaceful. As with every mental experience, bliss, clarity, and nonconceptuality spontaneously come and go. You didn’t create them, you didn’t cause them, and you can’t control them. They are simply natural qualities of your mind.
Overcoming obstacles ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheTry to bring all your experience into the context of devotion to the teacher. If you can grasp this vital point of the practice, you will have no obstacles. If your situation is pleasant and easy, see your happiness, without any attachment, as the blessings of the teacher, and as a dream, an illusion. And if you go through difficulties and suffering, see that, too, as the blessings of the teacher. If you fall ill, visualize your spiritual teacher wherever it is in your body that you feel pain or that is the site of the disease. Recognize that illness and pain offer you an opportunity to purify yourself of harmful past actions and of ignorance – the sources of suffering. Keep in mind the many other beings who are suffering in the same way as you are, and pray that your suffering may absorb theirs, and that they may be liberated from all suffering. In this way, illness can teach us compassion.
The seven branches ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe seven branches serve as antidotes: prostration is the antidote to pride; offering is the antidote to attachment, greed, meanness, and poverty; confession is the antidote to aggression and anger; rejoicing is the antidote to envy and jealousy; requesting the turning of the Wheel of Dharma is the antidote to ignorance; requesting the buddhas and teachers to remain is an antidote to wrong views; and dedication is an antidote to uncertainty and doubts.
The freshness of not rebuilding ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam Trungpa“Egolessness” does not mean that nothing exists, as some have thought, a kind of nihilism. Instead, it means that you can let go of your habitual patterns and then when you let do, you genuinely let go. You do not re-create or rebuild another shell immediately afterward. Once you let go, you do not just start all over again. Egolessness is having the trust to not rebuild again at all and experiencing the psychological healthiness and freshness that goes with not rebuilding. The truth of egolessness can only be experienced fully through meditation practice.
Enlightenment ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheEnlightenment will be ours when we are able to care for others as much as we now care of ourselves, and ignore ourselves to the same extent that we now ignore others.
Inner softness ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe softness in the situation has to come from you rather than someone else adding it in. If someone falls in love with you, it doesn’t help if you aren’t in love with that person. Nothing can be manufactured from the outside. You have to be in a state of softness or openness to the situation; the outside situation can only act as a reminder. Outside situations can only act as landmarks.
Compassion without attachment ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaCompassion without attachment is possible. Therefore, we need to clarify the distinctions between compassion and attachment. True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Because of this firm foundation, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering, then on that basis we develop genuine concern for their problem. This is genuine compassion. For a Buddhist practitioner, the goal is to develop this genuine compassion, this genuine wish for the well-being of another, in fact for every living being throughout the universe.
When true realization dawns in one’s mind ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheExperiences are like mist: they will fade away. Practitioners who spend their time practicing in seclusion are certain to have many different experiences, but these experiences are very unreliable. As it is said, experiences are like rainbows, but the great meditator who runs after them like a child will be deceived. We may occasionally have flashes of clairvoyance, seeing things we cannot ordinarily know. We may have signs of accomplishment, or predictions from the deity or the dakinis. But such experiences in most cases give rise to hope and expectation. They are none other than the tricks of demons: they simply cause obstacles. When true realization dawns in one’s mind, it is like the king of mountains, Mount Meru, which no wind can shake.
The importance of patience ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIt is necessary to work patiently with others, all the time. If you have patience with people, they slowly change. You do have some effect on them if you are radiating your sanity. They will begin to take notice, although of course they don’t want to let anybody know. They say, “Nothing has changed. I have the same problems.” But don’t give up. Something happens — if you take your time. It works!
Unconditional expression ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThere is such a thing
as unconditional expression
that does not come from self or other.It manifests out of nowhere
like mushrooms in a meadow,
like hailstones, like thundershowers.
Prepare yourself for death ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheEven in times of peace, a nation foresees the eventuality of war, and remains ready to respond. In the same way, stay on the alert, and prepare yourself for death by practicing the Dharma. Like an eternal harvest, it will keep you supplied with provisions for the life to come and will be the very basis of your future happiness.
The effortless radiance of emptiness ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheCompassion is the effortless radiance of emptiness, free of concepts and beyond description. That is how a buddha’s activity for beings can be limitless. If you understand this, you will know that even when a cool breeze blows upon a sick person burning with fever, that itself is the blessings and compassion of the buddhas.
Your 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. You don’t have to do anything different. You don’t have to shift or change your awareness. All you have to do while observing your mind is to recognize the qualities it already has.
The relationship between emptiness and experience ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheThe relationship between emptiness and experience isn’t so simple or rather it’s so simple that it’s easy to miss.
Seeing your confusion ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAny confusion you experience has within it the essence of wisdom automatically. So as soon as you detect confusion, it is the beginning of some kind of message. At least you are able to see your confusion, which is very hard. Ordinarily people do not see their confusion at all, so by recognizing your confusion, you are already at quite an advanced level. So you shouldn’t feel bad about that; you should feel good about it.