Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheTo expect happiness without giving up negative action is like holding your hand in a fire and hoping not to be burned. Of course, no one actually wants to suffer, to be sick, to be cold or hungry – but as long as we continue to indulge in wrong doing we will never put an end to suffering. Likewise, we will never achieve happiness, except through positive deeds, words, and thoughts. Positive action is something we have to cultivate ourselves; it can be neither bought nor stolen, and no one ever stumbles on it just by chance.
Teaching what is really useful ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaParents do seek to create a wonderful world for their children, but even more splendid is to give them explanations that increase their intelligence and ability to discriminate right from wrong. In Buddhism, we speak of what is to be given up and what is to be taken up. According to the Dharma, what is most difficult to give up, even if we try very hard, is our ego-fixation, this grasping on to “I”. Therefore, we are guiding our children in the wrong direction if we encourage their self-centeredness. We should teach them what is really useful.
Art in everyday life ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaEvery moment we might be doing the same things — brushing our teeth every day, combing our hair every day, cooking our dinner every day. But that seeming repetitiveness becomes unique every day. A kind of intimacy takes place with the daily habits that you go through and the art involved in it. That is what is called art in everyday life.
A day of mindfulness ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhFrom time to time, to remind ourselves to relax and be peaceful, we may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness, when we can walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, enjoy being together as if we are the happiest people on Earth.
Accomplishing the benefit of all sentient beings ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaWe may set too high of a bar for ourselves when we contemplate Buddhist teachings about working for the benefit of all sentient beings. I don’t think it’s really possible to arrive at a time when you’ll be able to say to yourself that you are now accomplishing the benefit of all sentient beings. It’s more a matter of dealing with what’s directly in front of you in terms of the experiences of happiness and suffering that you – and the sentient beings you are connected with – are going through.
I think you can meet situations of suffering with an open heart and a readiness to do whatever you can to reduce the suffering of sentient beings, to free sentient beings from suffering. Or in the same way, be ready to do anything you can to further the happiness of any given sentient being that you meet and to engage in this kind of conduct with a heart of joyfulness, cheerfulness and delight. This is really the meaning of accomplishing the benefit of all sentient beings.
So it’s basically situation by situation and developing further the readiness to help, developing further this heart of wanting sentient beings to be free of suffering and to enjoy happiness in whatever situation they are in at the present. I think that’s what ‘accomplishing the benefit of all sentient beings’ really means. I don’t think that phrase means we are going to accomplish the benefit of every single sentient being at the same time.
It cannot be fixed ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheTo believe that life’s problems will somehow work themselves out, everything bad is fixable and something about samsara has to be worth fighting for makes it virtually impossible to nurture a genuine, all-consuming desire to practise the dharma. The only view that truly works for a dharma practitioner is that there are no solutions to the sufferings of samsara and it cannot be fixed.
Enjoying inner silence ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhSilence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence.
Good conduct ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaFor a dharmic person, good conduct is a sense of mindfulness and awareness: whatever you are doing, you should try to see it as an extension of your sitting practice, your general sense of awareness and refraining from too much, unnecessary activity…. You could look at yourself and smile. You could be awake and aware and, at the same time, on the spot. Constant sunrise happens. Your reflect that yourself, and you always look awake and aware of what you are doing. That is good conduct. You respect yourself and you respect the sacredness of your whole being, your whole existence. When you have that kind of self-respect, you don’t spill your tea or put your shoes on the wrong feet. You appreciate the weather, your coffee, your tea, your clothes, your shower. There is a tremendous sense that for the first time you have become a real human being and you can actually appreciate the world around you. That appreciation comes from being aware.
Persistent patience ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaNormally the way that we relate to patience is that sometimes we can be patient and at other times we feel we cannot. The type of patience we need to cultivate is persistent patience, which means that we are patient when we can be patient and we are patient when we feel we cannot be patient. If we lack this, then we will have no way to overcome our kleshas because patience is the opposite of and the remedy to both anger and hatred.
There is blue sky all the time ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe absence of grasping and fixation is like flying in an airplane. When we rise above the clouds, we begin to realize that upstairs there is a blue sky all the time. We realize that the sun is always shining, even when it is cloudy and rainy down below. There is blue sky all the time, and that blue sky is free from clouds.
Correct attitude for listening to teachings ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaWhen receiving the teachings, it is important to have the correct attitude. It is not practicing the Dharma properly to listen with the intention of gaining material advantage or reputation. Neither should our goal be higher rebirth in the next life, nor should we be wishing only for our own liberation from samsara. These are all attitudes we should reject. Instead, let us listen to the teachings with the determined wish to attain the state of omniscience for the sake of all beings.
Helping another ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIf you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they are safe. If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help another to better understand. If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of another.
Why the Dharma is so important ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaSometimes, we have strange ideas about the Buddha. We go to him for refuge and then think that he will extend his large hand down from the sky and lift us out of samsara. Actually, the Buddha came into the world, taught the path to liberation, and then passed away.
Since we cannot go looking for him now, what should we do? We can rely on the Dharma he bequeathed to us and practice as much as possible this path to full awakening.
The Dharma is the Buddha’s representative. If we put into practice the meaning of his words, it is the same as if the Buddha were present and we could see him and hear him teaching us. This is why the Dharma is so important.
Work of art ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWhat a work of art is all about is a sense of delight. Touch here, touch there, delight. It is an appreciation of things as they are and of what one is – which produces an enormous spark. Something happens – clicks – and the poet writes poems, the painter paints pictures, the musician composes music.
These situations are the scriptures ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe only way to relate with the present situation of spirituality or the neurotic state of the moment is by meditation. I don’t mean sitting meditation only, but relating with the emotional situations of daily life in a meditative way, by working with them, being aware of them as they come up. Every situation then becomes a learning process. These situations are the books; they are the scriptures.
The disease of believing in an ‘I’ ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheSomeone with eye disease might see all kinds of objects apparently floating in the sky -lights, lines, and spots – when in truth there is nothing there. Similarly, because we have the disease of believing in an ‘I’, we see that ‘I’ as an inherently existing entity.
Ceasing to imprison ourselves ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAnytime meditation depends on even the faintest quality of dwelling on something, then something is still not quite free. However, somehow freedom arises from or depends on imprisonment. First you have to recognize your fundamental imprisonment. Then, if you cease to imprison yourself, you are truly free. Whenever there is an experience of faint imprisonment, you are free to give that up — just a little bit. In order to experience freedom, you have to give an inch.
A noble heart ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaInside each of us there is a noble heart. This heart is the source of our finest aspiration for ourselves and the world. It fills us with the courage to act on our aspirations. Our nobility may be obscured at times, covered over with small thoughts or blocked by confused and confusing emotions. But a noble heart lies intact within each of us nonetheless, ready to open and be offered to the world… When we clear away all that blocks it, this heart can change the world.
A question of removing the clouds ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIt’s a question of removing the clouds, rather than recreating the sun.
The condition of openness ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIf you open your mind, if you are willing to meet, then the teacher opens his mind as well. It is not a question of magic; the condition of openness is a mutual creation.