Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheIt’s recommended that beginners do a thorough background check of the guru in question — listening to the stories that follow a particular guru around, reading books and other literature, evaluating his or her social media. Also, don’t limit your search to just one guru; leave the mind open to other options, apparent or unseen.
Just because a guru is adored by hundreds of disciples does not prove his or her authenticity. As history has shown, hundreds, if not millions, of people are very capable of creating a phenomenon of group denial. You could settle with the first person who sparks your interest, but it’s wise to seek out different types of teachers from different age groups, with different styles, from different lineages, before making a commitment. They may open your mind.
Perhaps you have a preconception that you don’t like a certain type of guru, but you might be surprised to find that that is the very type that benefits you most.
Mind’s reflections ~ Saraha
SarahaThe mind is the sole creator of everything that exists.
The samsaric and nirvanic conditions
Are reflected in the mind
Your own experience of compassion ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa RinpocheWhen I introduce the concept of the buddhas and bodhisattvas working for sentient beings to Westerners, I normally recommend that they first use their own experience of compassion as an example, as this makes it easy to understand. When we feel compassion for someone, we want to help, not harm her. In other words, we try to benefit that person by doing whatever we can for her with our body, speech and mind. Even though we don’t feel compassion for every sentient being, we do whatever we can to help those for whom we do feel compassion. If we did feel compassion for all sentient beings, we would try to help all of them according to our capacity. That is logical.
Depending Arising ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniBubbles and foam
Arise from turbulent waters,
Arising in dependence on causes and circumstances,
But with no agent to bring them about.In just the same way,
Names and forms arise from actions.
They stem only from causes,
But have no agent to bring them about.
Examine all aspects of an event ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaFrom the Buddhist viewpoint, every event has many aspects and naturally one event can be viewed from many, many different angles. It is very rare or almost impossible that an event can be negative from all points of view. Therefore, it is useful when something happens to try to look at it from different angles and then you can see the positive or beneficial aspects. Moreover, if something happens, it is very useful immediately to make a comparison with some other event or with the events of other people or other nations. This is also very helpful in sustaining your peace of mind.
The guru is the nature of our mind ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe guru is the nature of our mind. Once we have realized the nature of our mind, it is no longer necessary to search for the guru outside. If the view of the mind is maintained beyond meditation and postmeditation, the guru is present beyond meeting and parting.
Again and again ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheWe shouldn’t feel that Dharma occurs only when we sit down and meditate. Dharma should be present with us all the time. Dharma should be practiced in everything we do, at all times and in all our actions. Of course, at the moment we can’t act like Milarepa or the Buddha, but at least we can try to be responsible for our own mind. We must try our best not to let the negative mental states develop. We must try to feel more compassion and to develop more bodhichitta. Although we can’t do this immediately, at least we can do whatever we can by doing it everyday, again and again.
Observing our conditioning first ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
Namkhai Norbu RinpocheMany spiritual paths have as their basis the principle of compassion, of benefiting others. In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, for example, compassion is one of the fundamental points of the practice, together with the knowledge of the true nature of phenomena, or voidness. Sometimes, however, compassion can become something constructed and provisional, because we don’t understand the real principle of it. A genuine, not artificial, compassion, can only arise after we have discovered our own condition. Observing our own limits, our conditioning, our conflicts and so on, we can become truly conscious of the suffering of others, and then our own experience becomes a basis or model for being able to better understand and help those around us.
The unity of shamatha and vipashyana ~ 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche
3rd Jamgon Kongtrul RinpocheWhat does it mean to practice shamatha and vipashyana together? Shamatha involves letting the mind rest on an object in a state of concentration. Both mind and object lack ultimate reality. This true nature is present at all times, not only when one achieves insight into it through vipashyana meditation. Maintaining this awareness or insight in shamatha meditation – that is, not separating one-pointedness from awareness — is the unity of shamatha and vipashyana.
When a feeling or thought arises, what does it mean to unite “calmness movement, and awareness” through shamatha and vipashyana? Let us take the arising of anger as an example. First one notices that anger has arisen and acknowledges it. This corresponds to shamatha or mental calmness, that is, mindfulness which allows one to notice that a feeling has arisen. Based on this, one examines the feeling or thought by means of vipashyana. Calmness, movement, and awareness are the three phases that one examines. Calmness corresponds to the question: “where does the feeling or thought dwell?,” movement to the question: ”where does the feeling or thought go to?,” and awareness to the question: “what is present between the arising and the subsiding of the thought or feeling?” This form of investigation brings one to the realization that the feeling has no real existence.
Extending gratitude in all directions ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaEven setting aside what it inspires you to do for others, when you cultivate gratitude, you certainly gain a great deal yourself in terms of well-being and happiness. When you feel grateful, you recognize that you are the beneficiary of others’ kindness. You feel fortunate. Gratitude just feels good, and it can be extended in all directions, since not only clothes but every single thing you use comes to you from others. At mealtime, you can feel grateful for each and every ingredient on your plate, for those who did the cooking and the planting, even for sunlight, for rainfall, and for the minerals that enrich the soil.
The Six Paramitas ~ Jigme Lingpa
Jigme LingpaTranscendent generosity is found in contentment;
Its essence is simply letting go.
Discipline is not to displease the Three Jewels.
The best patience is unfailing mindfulness and awareness.
Diligence is needed to sustain all the other perfections.
Concentration is to experience as deities all the appearances to which one clings.
Wisdom is the self-liberation of grasping and clinging;
In it there is neither thinking nor a thinker.
It is not ordinary. It is free from fixed convictions.
It is beyond suffering. It is supreme peace.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow ~ Patrul Rinpoche
Patrul RinpocheYou renounce evil and take up good, as in the teachings on cause and effect.
Your action follows the progression of the Vehicles.
Through your perfect view, you are free from all clinging.
Peerless Teacher, at your feet I bow.
Vast silent knowing ~ Tenzin Palmo
Tenzin PalmoBehind the movement of the conceptual mind is vast silent knowing. It is so simple. But we don’t believe it. And it is sad indeed that we miss it. We overlook the simplicity in front of us.
Rather than being trapped by your perceptions ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheWe are naturally attached to comfort and pleasure and bothered by physical and mental suffering. These innate tendencies lead us to seek out, maintain and try to increase whatever gives us pleasure comfortable clothing, delicious food, agreeable places, sensual pleasure – and to avoid or destroy whatever we find unpleasant or painful. Constantly changing and devoid of any true essence, these sensations rest on the ephemeral association of the mind with the body, and it is useless to be attached to them. Rather than being dragged along and trapped by your perceptions, just let them dissolve as soon as they form, like letters traced on the surface of water with your finger disappearing as you draw them.
Real peace ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhIf I could not be peaceful in the midst of danger, then the kind of peace I might have in simpler times is meaningless. If I could not find peace in the midst of difficulty, I knew I would never know real peace.
The truth of the path ~ Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom RinpocheWhile the causal condition for the path is the Buddha-nature, the dominant condition is the sublime teacher, because the path comes about through practicing his or her teachings, and realization of the ground as it is depends on the teacher. The actual practice of the path depends on the individual; the path itself is virtue that combines skillful means and wisdom and serves as the gateway to liberation.
It is said in the sutras:
Wisdom accompanied by skillful means is the path.
Skillful means accompanied by wisdom is the path.And in the Abhidharma texts we find:
The path, in brief, is to fully recognize suffering, to abandon the origin of suffering, to realize cessation, and to follow the path of meditation.
It is by energetically and single-mindedly training in the general and specific stages of the path that comprise the Buddha’s doctrine, matching them to one’s own individual capacity, that one will gradually travel the paths of accumulation, joining, seeing, and meditation, all the way to the end. For the actual attainment of the result depends on practice.
Realizing the nature of mind ~ Buddha Shakyamuni
Buddha ShakyamuniIf you realize the nature of mind, you have already become a buddha. There is no need to seek buddha elsewhere.
Entering the Dharma Gate ~ Milarepa
MilarepaThough grief in the Ocean of Samsara
Is preached, and its renunciation is urged,
Few people are really convinced
And renounce it with determination.Though knowing that life will ever turn to death,
Few feel uneasy, or think that it will end.
Though their life is blessed with good prospects,
Few can practice abstention for a day.Though the Bliss of Liberation is expounded
And Samsara’s pains are stressed,
Few can really enter the Dharma Gate.Though the profound Pith-Instructions
Of the Whispered Lineage are given without stint, few
Without fail can practice them.Though the teaching of Mahamudra is expounded
And the Pointing-out demonstration is exercised,
Few can really understand the Essence of Mind.To the hermit’s life and the Guru’s wish
One can always aspire, but few
Can put them into practice.The perfect, skillful path of Naropa
May be shown, without concealment,
But those who can really follow it
Are very few. My dear lad,You should follow in my footsteps
If in this life you want to do
Something that is worthwhile.
Overcoming problems that confront us ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaNo matter how difficult the situation may be, we should employ science and human ingenuity with determination and courage to overcome the problems that confront us. Faced with threats to our health and well-being, it is natural to feel anxiety and fear. Nevertheless, I take great solace in the following wise advice to examine the problems before us: If there is something to be done — do it, without any need to worry; if there’s nothing to be done, worrying about it further will not help.
Peace, joy, and happiness right where we are ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhSpirituality is not religion. It is a path for us to generate happiness, understanding, and love, so we can live deeply each moment of our life. Having a spiritual dimension in our lives does not mean escaping life or dwelling in a place of bliss outside this world but discovering ways to handle life’s difficulties and generate peace, joy, and happiness right where we are, on this beautiful planet.