Chögyam TrungpaUsually when panic arises, we try to brush it off and occupy ourselves with something else. There is somebody very reasonable in us, who says, “This is your imagination. Everything is going to be okay. Don’t worry. Take a rest. Have a glass of milk.” But if instead you go along with the panic and become the panic, there is a lot of room in the panic, because the panic is full of air bubbles, so to speak. It is very spacious. You probably find yourself suspended in the midst of panic, which is suspended in space.
Freedom from egohood ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe dictators of the world are egomaniacal people, obviously. But more ordinary people also function in that way, including ourselves. We would like to possess our world, and so we act in such a way that whatever we see around us is completely in order, according to our desire to maintain the security of “me,” “myself”—which is egohood. Inspired by means of discipline, meditation, and discriminating awareness, we have freedom from egomaniac-ness, freedom from egohood.
Kindness of your enemy ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheNever get angry, even with someone who has deliberately and maliciously harmed you. You should be grateful to such a person for helping you to purify past negative actions, to increase your determination to be free from samsara and to develop love and compassion.
Skillful means ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThere’s no need to philosophize your work in order to make it spiritual. It has spiritual bearing anyway. If you regard yourself as a person on the spiritual path, then whatever you do is part of the path, an expression of the path. Decentralization, the absence of ego, the lack of searching for happiness, and not avoiding pain — all of that brings us into the reality of dealing with things directly and thoroughly. Dealing with things in this decentralized, egoless manner is known in the buddhist tradition as upaya, or skillful means. Without that, there is no means of discovering the inner guru, or inner teacher, as one might call it, which is the constant instruction that you begin to receive on the path. The daily living situation becomes the teaching; it becomes a constant learning process. There’s no way of developing that sense of inner teacher if you fail to relate with daily living situations directly, because without that, there’s no interchange with your world.
Useful gap ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThere are second thoughts happening each time you act. There is hesitation, and from that hesitation or gap, you can go backward or forward. Changing the flow of karma happens in that gap. So the gap is very useful. It is in the gap that you give birth to a new life.
Capable of dealing with reality ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaSpirituality is simply a means of arousing one’s spirit, of developing a kind of spiritedness. Through that you begin to have greater contact with reality. You are not afraid of discovering what reality is all about, and you are willing to explore your individual energy. You actually choose to work with the essence of your existence, which could be called genuineness. An interest in spirituality doesn’t mean that you lack something, or that you have developed a black hole in your existence which you are trying to compensate for or cover over with some sort of religious patchwork. It simply means that you are capable of dealing with reality.
Goodness is always there ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaYou have something in yourself that is fundamentally, basically good. It transcends the notion of good or bad. Something that is worthwhile, wholesome, and healthy exists in all of us. … Such goodness is synonymous with bravery. It is always there. Whenever you see a bright and beautiful color, you are witnessing your own inherent goodness. Whenever you hear a sweet and beautiful sound, you are hearing your own basic goodness. Whenever you taste something sweet or sour, you are experiencing your own basic goodness. … Things like that are always happening to you, but you have been ignoring them, thinking that they are mundane and unimportant, purely coincidences of an ordinary nature. However, it is worthwhile to take advantage of anything that happens to you that has that particular nature of goodness. You begin to realize that there is nonaggression happening all around you in your life, and you are able to feel the freshness of realizing your goodness, again and again.
Nothing but a deluded form of perception ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheAgain and again, develop compassion for all sentient beings in general, and particularly for those who dislike you. It might be difficult at first, but you will never attain enlightenment as long as you continue to feel ill-will towards your enemies. Those who are now your enemies were in former lives your parents, and there is nothing fixed about the status of an enemy or friend. To feel hostility towards enemies and affection towards your friends is nothing but a deluded form of perception. If you train your mind to recognize everything as insubstantial like a dream, hostility towards enemies will lose its meaning entirely. This is crucially important, because ordinarily our lives are driven by the yearning to acquire food and clothing, possessions, partners, status and acclaim. We put a great deal of thought into devising the cleverest, most efficient ways to obtain them, and we think, “So-and-so has this much money, my friends have this much, so I need more.” Or: “In the past, I stayed in this kind of house, in this part of town, but now I shall move to a better place.” We must put a stop to all such thinking.
No need to worry ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIf you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.
Overcoming the hatred within ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheOnce you overcome the hatred within your mind, you will discover that in the world outside, there is no longer any such thing as even a single enemy.
Transforming ourselves from within ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaTo begin with, what is Dharma? Generally, when most people try to practice Dharma, or say that they practice Dharma, they sometimes understand it as a ritual, something that you do with your body, your speech, or through special actions or activities. And if that is the case, then you need to devote special time for that activity. This type of Dharma practice usually happens in your shrine room or in your meditation room. You need to reserve special time for this manner of practice.
However, if you look deeply, the Dharma is not only that. Dharma is not a ritual; it is not something you do only with your body and speech. Dharma is actually something that transforms your mind. For example, if we are aggressive or angry, then we may look inside and try to find reasons why we should not feel that way. We instruct ourselves, we try to change it, and then slowly, we become less angry. Or, if we are somebody with a lot of attachment or clinging, we may try to do something about it. We look inside, correct ourselves, transform ourselves from within, and then start to lessen that emotion. That is what we actually mean by Dharma practice.
You do not need to find special time for this kind of Dharma practice. You can do this form of practice even while you engage in your profession, your work. It can be done in concert with your daily livelihood. It involves reflecting on your aspirations, your way of thinking, and how you act and react. When you can change that, along with how you relate to other people – through your reactions and connections – you become aware of what you are doing. Examining that and then working in this way is, I think, a very important kind of Dharma practice.
The source of real happiness and good health ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaThose who have little interest in spirituality shouldn’t think that human inner values don’t apply to you. The inner peace of an alert and calm mind are the source of real happiness and good health. Our human intelligence tells us which of our emotions are positive and helpful and which are damaging and to be restrained or avoided.
Choices available to us ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheAt any given moment, you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce a perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited, or to remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed. You can remain in the sleep of ignorance, or remember that you are and always have been awake. Either way, you’re still expressing the unlimited nature of your true being. Ignorance, vulnerability, fear, anger, and desire are expressions of the infinite potential of your buddha nature. There’s nothing inherently wrong or right with making such choices. The fruit of buddhist practice is simply the recognition that these and other mental afflictions are nothing more or less than choices available to us because our real nature is infinite in scope.
The nectar of mindfulness ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheUnlike ordinary drinks, the nectar of mindfulness is available everywhere all the time, and can quench your thirst once and for all. Jetsun Milarepa said: If you need something to drink, drink the tea of mindfulness and vigilance.
Heroic perseverance ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronWe can put our whole heart into whatever we do; but if we freeze our attitude into for or against, we’re setting ourselves up for stress. Instead, we could just go forward with curiosity, wondering where this experiment will lead. This kind of open-ended inquisitiveness captures the spirit of enthusiasm, or heroic perseverance.
The courage to look at ourselves honestly and gently ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThe most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.
Becoming independent practitioners ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe main point is that if we are going to be real practitioners of the dharma, then we need to become independent practitioners, people who actually know how to practice by learning how to be quite direct and honest with ourselves. We might think we can always be sitting in front of our teacher or master and practice the dharma by continually receiving advice from him or her about what we should and should not do. But if we are always in need of advice, then someone who can give us advice is not always going to be there for us.
Therefore, we have to learn how to pay attention to what is going on in our own minds and figure out what are our faults, and what are our qualities, and what is the way to distinguish between faults and qualities. Instead of constantly looking to something that is outside of us, we have to develop the ability to pay attention in a mindful way and an insightful way to what is actually happening within us, so that we can become capable, autonomous practitioners of the dharma.
Insight and love ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhInsight brings love, and love is not possible without insight, understanding. If you do not understand, you cannot love. This insight is direct understanding, and not just a few notions and ideas. In meditation we allow ourselves to be shined on by the light of that insight.
Appreciate anything that exists ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAny perception can connect us to reality properly and fully. What we see doesn’t have to be pretty, particularly; we can appreciate anything that exists. There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real, is taking place in everything.
Soil good enough to cultivate ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWe do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.