17th KarmapaWhen you pose a question, you are simply asking for what comes to mind spontaneously as a response. Likewise, in reply I only state whatever comes to mind at that very moment. It is a spontaneous exchange. Apart from this, there is no true dialogue.
Beginning to meditate on the nature of mind ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheWhen we begin to meditate on the nature of mind, it is preferable to make short sessions of meditation, several times per day. With perseverance, we will progressively realise the nature of our mind, and that realisation will become more stable. At this stage, thoughts will have lost their power to disturb and subdue us.
Meeting our edge ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronHow do we renounce? How do we work with this tendency to block and to freeze and to refuse to take another step toward the unknown? If our edge is like a huge stone wall with a door in it, how do we learn to open that door and step through it again and again, so that life becomes a process of growing up, becoming more and more fearless and flexible, more and more able to play like a raven in the wind.
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Whenever you realize you have met your edge — you’re scared and you’re frozen, and your blocked — you’re able to recognize it because you open enough to see what’s happening. It’s already a sign of your aliveness and that fact that you’ve shed a lot, that you can see so clearly and vividly. Rather than think that you’ve made a mistake, you can acknowledge the present moment and its teaching, or so we are instructed. You can hear the message, which is simply that you are saying, ‘No.’ The instruction isn’t then to ‘smash ahead and karate-chop that whole thing;’ the instruction is to soften, to connect with your heart, and engender a basic attitude of generosity toward yourself, the archetypical coward.
The world is a totality ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaThe world is a totality in itself. It has its own muscles, its own brain, its own limbs, and its own circulation. We are not talking about the totality of the world in the sense that everything should be good and perfect and fantastic, and nobody should acknowledge anything bad. We are talking about reality, in which good is made out of bad and bad is made out of good. Therefore, the world can exist in its own good/bad level, its self-existing level of dark and light, black and white, constantly. Whatever is there, favorable or unfavorable, is workable: it is the universe.
A new old world ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaCommitting yourself to the practice of meditation brings a sense of reality, that the practice is no longer a myth. It’s a real experience. And having become part of your lifestyle, the practice acts as a reminder, a way of looking at your heavy-handed thoughts, which are known as emotions. A complete new world, a new old world, of meditative life could be established. There is so much joy that goes with that, the joy of being connected with the earth.
Problem solver ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaWhether we consider the individual, family, local, national or international level, peace must arise from inner peace. For example, making prayers for peace while continuing to harbor anger is futile. Training the mind and overcoming your anger is much more effective than mere prayer. Anger, hatred and jealousy never solve problems, only affection, concern and respect can do that.
Practicing with Strong Emotions ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronWhen you touch a hot stove, as soon as you become aware of the pain, you immediately pull your hand away. You don’t let it rest on the burner in order to explore the pain. In the same way, we stay present with strong emotion only very briefly at first. The instruction is: short moments again and again. Rather than trying to endure prolonged exposure to intense feeling, we touch in for only two or three seconds, then pause and breathe gently before touching in again. Or we might simply stay with the troubling feeling for five or six minutes and then go on with our day, more in touch with our emotions and, therefore, less likely to be dragged around by them.
Living up to your inheritance ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWhen you commit yourself to the bodhisattva path, the path of helping others, you feel as if you have done it before and you have been doing it all along. It is like living up to your inheritance, or taking over your parents’ business. You feel that there is something quite natural and right about it.
Now is everything ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaNow is everything. Whatever you do in this very moment is everything: it’s the past, it’s the future, it’s now. So you develop tremendous confidence that what you are doing is true and honest and absolutely realistic. From this point of view, the choices we make depend on how much we are accurately in the now.
Discovering alertness ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWe sometimes think that being mindful means being critical of ourselves and very watchful. We think that meditation provides us with a big brother who is going to watch over us or whip us into shape if we do something wrong. But mindfulness practice is not about punishing yourself when you lose track of your breath or your thoughts. Mindfulness does not criticize or set conditions for you. Nor is it about rewarding you. Rather, it is helping you to discover the alertness that already exists in your mind, by dispelling the dullness that has covered it up.
Not seeing thoughts as simple phenomena ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaWhen you relate to thoughts obsessively, you are actually feeding them because thoughts need your attention to survive. Once you begin to pay attention to them and categorize them, then they become very powerful. You are feeding them energy because you are not seeing them as simple phenomena. If one tries to quiet them down, that is another way of feeding them.
Dissatisfaction ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaDissatisfaction occurs because the mind spins around in such a way that there seems to be no beginning and no end to its motion. Thought processes continue on and on: thoughts of the past, thoughts of the future, thoughts of the present moment. Thoughts are prompted by and also identical with dissatisfaction, the constantly repeated feeling that something is lacking, incomplete in our lives. We are always trying to fill the gap, to make things right. The continuing action of struggle and preoccupation is very irritating and painful. Understanding and confronting suffering is the first step, the First Noble Truth taught by the Buddha.
Life just is ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaLife on the practical level does not contain any subtle philosophy or subtle mystical experience. It just is. If we are able to see that isness, so to speak, then there is a sense of realization. We experience sudden enlightenment. Without a sense of hopelessness, there is no way to give birth to sudden enlightenment. Only giving up our projects brings about the ultimate, definite, positive state of being, which is the realization that we are already enlightened beings here and now.
Aspiration ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAspiration is one of the five strengths that allow us to practice our bodhisattva discipline of helping others throughout our whole life. Because you have experienced joy and celebration in your practice, it does not feel like a burden to you. Therefore, your aspire further and further. You would like to attain enlightenment. You would like to free yourself from neurosis. You would also like to serve all sentient beings throughout all times, all situations, at any moment. You are willing to become a rock or a bridge or a highway. You are willing to serve any worthy cause that will help the rest of the world. It is also general instruction on becoming a very pliable person, so that the rest of the world can use you as a working basis for their enjoyment of sanity.
Panoramic awareness in everyday life ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaIn addition to the sitting form of meditation, there is the meditation practice in everyday life of panoramic awareness. This particular kind of practice is connected with identifying with the activities one is involved in. This awareness practice could apply to artwork or any other activity. It requires confidence. Any kind of activity that requires discipline also requires confidence. You cannot have discipline without confidence; otherwise it becomes a sort of torturing process. If you have confidence in what you are doing, then you have real communication with the things you are using, with the material you are using. Working that way, a person is not concerned with producing masterpieces. He is just involved with the things that he is doing. Somehow the idea of a masterpiece is irrelevant.
Looking at the looker ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheApplying attention practice, we use our emotions as a focus for developing awareness, an opportunity to look at the ‘looker’. Just as we need sound to look at sound, form to look at form, we need emotions to look at emotions. In fact, intense emotions can be our best friends in terms of stabilizing the mind, giving the restless bird a branch on which to rest.
Seeing clearly how deceiving the ways of the world are ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheOnce you have understood the union of emptiness and the dependent arising of phenomena, you will see clearly how deluded and deceiving the ways of the world really are, and, like an old man forced to play children’s games, you will find them very tiresome. When you have realized the utter foolishness of spending your life attached to friends and scheming to subdue your enemies and competitors, you will find it tedious. Once you have been struck by the pointlessness of letting yourself be forever influenced and conditioned by your habitual tendencies, you will become sick of it. … That will inspire you to strive towards liberation — and by striving for it, you will attain it.
Distinguishing between wants and needs ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaIt is important that we develop the habit of distinguishing between wants and needs, because much more than just our own personal well-being is at stake. We only have to look at the rapid degradation of our natural environment in order to see the destructive effects of our consumerism.
Guidance on the own path ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaEach person must find his or her own path. Nonetheless, seek guidance from wise and compassionate people and listen to them earnestly. This will help you find the best way to proceed – now and in the future.
An intimate relationship with yourself ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaMeditation practice takes place on a personal level. It involves an intimate relationship with ourselves. Great intimacy is involved. It has nothing to do with achieving perfection, achieving some absolute state or other. It is purely getting into what we are, really examining our actual psychological process without being ashamed of it. It is just friendship with ourselves.