Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheOne quality that is indispensable is the authentic guru lineage. As the great Sakyapa master Drakpa Gyaltsen said, a guru without lineage has no blessing. Lineage establishes a pedigree of sorts and is an absolutely necessary component of the path. Lineage is a history; it provides authentication. Where there is a lineage, there is a path, and the path has been tested.
Any path leading from one place to another is a product of causes and conditions, and the Buddhist path is no exception. Working with causes and conditions is the essence of the Buddhist path. In the beginning — especially in the beginning — we strive to no longer gather negative causes and conditions, and we learn how to apply positive causes and conditions. Eventually we gather the specific causes and conditions needed to disentangle ourselves from causes and conditions altogether.
For the Vajrayana practitioner, the right causes and condition are of utmost importance. Of all the many causes and conditions, lineage happens to be an extremely decisive factor. On a fundamental level, lineage is a condition that, in our human mind, authenticates the teaching and the teacher. A lineage can be a reference point: you can refer to what has been done by all the lineage gurus prior to your own guru, and this will oftentimes help build confidence in the teacher and the teachings.
Looking at your own eyes ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaA great teacher of meditation once said, “Meditating is trying to look at your own eyes without using a mirror.” That’s a very mysterious statement. How can we look at our own eyes without a mirror? The idea stops us in our tracks. But maybe we can explore that in our practice. The only way to solve this riddle is just to be there.
Not outside yourself ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheThe Buddha is not to be sought outside yourself.
Check how the guru handles criticism ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheMany gurus claim they are straight shooters: they say what they think without inhibition or filters. But if they dish it out, they should be able to take it. They should embody tolerance. But most of the time, critical gurus don’t tolerate criticism very well. One way to check is to watch how the guru handles bad publicity. Check the Internet to see whether he or she has ever been met with scandal, and if so, how did he or she react? How a person handles praise and criticism, gain and loss, fame and insignificance, happiness and suffering is all very telling.
Our life is taking place in each moment ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaLife is something to be greatly cherished. It unfolds from moment to moment. Meditating on death and impermanence makes us aware of that fact, and teaches us to cherish each and every moment of our lives. If we make just one moment meaningful, that amounts to the same thing as making our whole life greatly meaningful. Our life is taking place in each moment.
Sometimes people think the traditional meditation on death and impermanence involves having the painful and frightening thought, “I am going to die! Oh, no!” That is not a correct understanding of what contemplating impermanence means. Rather, it means not letting even a tiny part of our life go to waste. By cherishing our life and earnestly applying ourselves to living it fully, we are accomplishing the purpose of meditating on death and impermanence.
Look beyond titles and hats ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheThough essentially unnecessary, the rank of a lama does serve a purpose. Institutions and titles can provide a measure of safety. Just like it might be safer to go to a popular restaurant because it has been written up in guidebooks, popular lamas come with many personal endorsements.
Then again, the system is not foolproof; reputations can be bought. You can always go to a restaurant and check for yourself, but in the spiritual world, it’s much more difficult to come to a conclusion.
This is all just to say that those who are seeking a guru should not look in only one direction; they should look beyond titles and hats. They should also look beyond their romantic ideal of a guru, whether it be an ascetic or a crazy wise man.
Sign of a mature practitioner ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheA mature practitioner will usually have a far purer perception of others than a beginner. The more enlightened qualities a practitioner acquires, the humbler he will become; the more time he spends with his guru, the greater his devotion; and the more he hears and contemplates the dharma, the quicker his pride and arrogance will diminish.
The supreme sign of a great practitioner is not that he sprouts a halo, has extraordinarily auspicious dreams, experiences bliss continuously, or can foresee our miserable futures. The supreme sign is that he no longer has any interest in material gain, fame, the respect of others, or being the centre of attention.
Don’t waste your time ~ Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom RinpocheDo not allow yourself to become impervious and blasé regarding the Dharma; do not lead yourself astray. Let the profound Dharma sink into your mind. Now that you have obtained this excellent life, so hard to find, now that you have the freedom to practice the teachings, don’t waste your time.
The power of our senses ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThere is much to be said for sensory experiences as a way to feel our personal interconnectedness in a vivid and unmediated way. As our senses open, our heart is moved. This direct experience evokes affection and affection, and that leads naturally to wanting to nurture and protect our planet.
Don’t Set Out to Save the World ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronWhen we are training in the art of peace, we are not given any promises that, because of our noble intentions, everything will be okay. In fact, there are no promises of fruition at all. Instead, we are encouraged to simply look deeply at joy and sorrow, at laughing and crying, at hoping and fearing, at all that lives and dies. We learn that what truly heals is gratitude and tenderness.
It isn’t that we say, “It doesn’t matter about me all that much, but if I changed the world, it would be better for other people.” It’s less complicated than that. We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts.
Limitless opportunities ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaWhy do we need to contemplate impermanence? The fact that things change does not mean we lose something. Rather, it is a sign that we have new opportunities and new options. We meditate on impermanence in order to see that the change that takes place moment to moment represents moment after moment of opportunity. The opportunities available to us are inexhaustible and limitless, and are arising continuously. We meditate on impermanence so that we can make full use of these opportunities and make good choices.
The clarity aspect ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheYou could say that when Nagarjuna explains the Prajnaparamita, he concentrates more on its empty aspect, whereas when Maitreya explains the same thing he concentrates more on the “-ness” aspect. This “-ness” is buddhanature. You might wonder why the Buddha taught in the sutras that all phenomena are like clouds—unstable, naturally illusory, and empty. Why is it that even though we can experience them, they are without essence, like a dream or mirage?
Why is all this taught as emptiness in the Madhyamaka teachings and the Prajnaparamita Sutras? And as Mipham Rinpoche’s commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra asks, why in this third turning of the wheel of dharma does the Buddha say that this buddhanature exists within all sentient beings? Isn’t that a contradiction? Furthermore, since buddhanature is very difficult to understand, even for sublime beings who are on the path, why is it taught here for ordinary beings? Let’s go to Maitreya’s text:
He had taught in various places that every knowable thing is ever void, like a cloud, a dream, or an illusion. Then why did the Buddha declare the essence of buddhahood to be there in every sentient being? (Stanza 156)
First of all, there is no contradiction between the second turning of the wheel of the dharma, where the Buddha taught that everything is emptiness, and the third turning of the wheel, where the Buddha taught that all sentient beings have buddhanature. In the Prajnaparamita Sutras of the second turning, the Buddha emphasizes that nothing is truly existent. So here, when Buddha says there is buddhanature, he isn’t saying that buddhanature truly exists. Rather, he is emphasizing its clarity aspect. When we talk about the union of clarity and emptiness, it’s important that we understand both aspects, not only the emptiness aspect.
Humble Gurus ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheIt’s usually safer to go with a guru who is not interested in fame. There is a chance that some gurus might be madly designing and printing pamphlets and buttons for the sake of all sentient beings. Not all lamas who are zealously promoting themselves and sitting on the highest thrones have an ulterior motive; some might actually be humble. But the greatest teachers of recent times said repeatedly and with complete conviction that they were not enlightened. They claimed to be totally ordinary beings, and they exhibited their humble devotion to their own gurus and teachers again and again. For example, when I asked Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche for his treasure teachings, his response was that there are so many great treasure teachings and that his were completely useless. He said I should not be wasting my time pursuing him. Instead, most of the time all he talked about was his devotion to his own teachers.
Transforming death, the intermediate state, and rebirth ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaIn order to train in the path that would allow us to transform death, the intermediate state, and rebirth, we have to practice on three occasions: during the waking state, during the sleeping state, and during the process of death.
Through others and their lives ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaI often think that we might not find value and purpose within the life we live with this one body, but we will find it through others and their lives. In this way, other people become the mirror in which we can see our own dignity and value reflected.
I must go there today ~ Ryokan
RyokanI must go there today –
Tomorrow the plum blossoms
Will scatter.
Our essential aim in practising the Dharma ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaOur essential aim in practising the Dharma is to create happiness and inner peace within our minds, and to transform our minds. This goal of transforming our minds lies at the very core of Dharma practice. It is the basic aim and reason for practising the Dharma, and everything else gets taken care of along the way. However, this is not to say that when you practise Dharma you should not engage in any worldly activities, or that there is no need to do so. That is not the case.
Primordially pure ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheBuddhanature is pure and free from all kinds of compounded phenomena, right from the beginning.
The ultimate true nature is always devoid of anything compounded, so it is said that defilements, karma, and their full ripening are like a cloud, etc. (Uttaratantra Shastra, Stanza 158)
Therefore, buddhanature is free from the three kinds of emotions: desire, aggression, and jealousy. It is free from the emotions of karmic formation, such as virtuous actions and non-virtuous actions. And it is free from the result of emotion, the five aggregates. Therefore, the emotions are like clouds.
The defilements are said to be like clouds, karma is likened to the experience in dreams, and the full ripening of karma and defilements—the aggregates—are likened to conjurations. (Uttaratantra Shastra, Stanza 159)
The nature of beings is primordially pure; that’s why we call it buddhanature. Although emotions are seemingly apparent and seemingly stubborn, seemingly like a second nature, they are never a second nature. They are like clouds—they are adventitious, and not a true part of you. This point is quite important. In Buddhism we always come to the conclusion that these emotions and defilements are temporary. When we’re looking at a gray cloudy sky, we might call it a cloudy sky, but it’s not really a cloudy sky. The clouds are never the sky. The clouds are temporary or adventitious.
Being with it fully ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinWhen we are with people and feeling bored, can we listen a little more carefully, stepping off the train of our own inner commenting? If we are sitting in meditation and feeling uninterested, can we come in closer to the object, not with force but with gentleness and care? What is this experience we call the breath? If someone were holding your head under water, would the breath be boring? Each breath is actually sustaining our life. Can we be with it fully, just once?
Naked mind ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheIt is said that we must recognize the mind as it is, in other words as completely naked. “Naked” here means that the mind is not covered or obscured by anything. If we can really immerse our self within this original, bare state of mind, we will automatically understand the right view, and everything that is not part of the mind will automatically disappear.