17th KarmapaSometimes we have a positive thought and are moved by an altruistic motivation to benefit others, but the response is not what we had hoped for. People might not accept our offer of help. We ourselves might feel our capacity was not adequate to the task, or we might be left with the feeling that our virtue lacked strength. However, when it comes to art, there are no such problems: for example, when children make drawings, they are not concerned about the reactions of grown-ups or other people. They simply express on paper whatever arises spontaneously in their heart or mind, without forcing or faking anything and without worrying whether others will like it or not.
Similarly, when it comes to engaging in virtue, it is important that we do not act to please or impress anyone. Rather, we should be expressing whatever is pure and spontaneous in our heart and mind, without pretence, phoniness or hesitation. First, we bring forth whatever we find within ourselves that is beautiful and spontaneous, and only later do we consider whether it will be accepted or not. Otherwise, sometimes others have strong expectations and we might feel we will not be able to show them what we have that is beautiful. This is the feeling that comes.
Not separate from you ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaCompassion is more than sympathy and more than empathy. With sympathy and empathy, most of the time there is a sense of placing the object of your sympathy over there and having some understanding of their situation or where they come from. Compassion is deeper and more strongly felt than that. With compassion you do not experience the person as an object over there, separate from you, but rather you have the wish or the feeling that you have become the other. That is the sort of feeling we are aiming for. Compassion has a sense of coming out from where you are, and going over to the position of the other – even jumping across to their position.
In short, compassion makes us a part of others. It brings us out from our own space and moves us into the place of the other. Compassion is not a matter of staying in our own space, looking down at their suffering and calling ourselves compassionate.
The meditative journey ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinThe meditative journey is not about always feeling good. Many times we may feel terrible. That’s fine. What we want is to open to the entire range of what this mind and body are about. Sometimes we feel wonderful and happy and inspired, and at other times we deeply feel different aspects of suffering.
No one can please everyone ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheThe fault doesn’t necessarily always exist externally. If the analyzer is bound by hope and fear, more likely he or she will find endless faults. No one, not even the Buddha himself, can please everyone. His own cousin Devadata was disgusted by the Buddha. He spent all his life basically criticizing the Buddha’s deeds. Even though everyone saw the Buddha as a perfect being, Devadata did not.
Like listening to someone playing a flute ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinLet the breath draw the mind down to its own level of subtlety. It is like listening to someone playing a flute as they walk off into the distance.
Deep in the mountain ~ Ryokan
RyokanTime and again
You, too,
Must long for
Your old nest
Deep in the mountain.
Nothing is exempt from change ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinWe can also strengthen the quality of ardor by reflecting on the transiency of all phenomena. Look at all the things we become attached to, whether they are people or possessions or feelings or conditions of the body. Nothing we have, no one in our lives, no state of mind is exempt from change. Nothing at all can prevent the universal process of birth, growth, decay, and death.
Bringing out the natural qualities inherent in us ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaThe teaching on precious human life shows us that this human body of ours has the potential to allow us to accomplish significant and vast things, not only for ourselves, but for many others. It points out just what an opportunity this human body represents. All human beings are fundamentally endowed with love, compassion and other positive qualities, not as products of religious practice, but as something present within us all right from birth. The most important thing, and the basis of Dharma practice, is for us to value these innate human qualities, and work to enhance and develop them.
Therefore, to be a Dharma practitioner does not imply becoming someone different. There is no need to become a strange or new person. Nor are we necessarily adopting a whole new lifestyle. Rather, we are bringing out the natural qualities inherent in us, within the life we are already leading. For this reason, Dharma practice is not something we do apart from, or outside of, our ordinary life.
Not Changing in Any Way Whatsoever ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheWhen we are deluded about the natural state and roaming about in samsaric existence, is our nature in any way worsened? No, it is not. The basic state of Mahamudra, the natural state itself, is not spoiled by confusion. It does not change in any way whatsoever. Is the natural state of Mahamudra improved through being realized? No, it is not. It is not an entity or identity that can be either worsened by confusion or exalted by realization.
The awareness that you are here ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu SuzukiWhen you are sitting in the middle of your own problem, which is more real to you: your problem or you yourself? The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.
The whole purpose of the outer guru ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheIdolizing and supplicating the outer guru should not be done at the expense of losing touch with the inner guru. We are not supplicating an almighty, independent creator.
The whole purpose of the outer guru is to fish out the inner guru, to teach us how to tap into the space between past thoughts and future thoughts and, if possible, remain there. That moment is the inner and secret gurus. Even if we manage once in a blue moon to encounter this state, managing to remain there for more than a moment is rare. We don’t even have the habit of wanting to do that.
Devotion to the guru helps us develop the habit of wanting. But we cannot expect the guru to do the job for us. We may be awestruck by the charisma, the power, the hats, the height of throne, the titles, and all the props. We are comforted by the idea that he will lead us and take care of us. But if we don’t use the outer guru to develop our inner and secret gurus, we will always remain at square one. We will be bombarded by emotion whether we win the lottery or hear that our boyfriend is flirting with another man.
Everything is in the Heart ~ Ryokan
RyokanEven if you consume as many books
As the sands of the Ganges
It is not as good as really catching
One verse of Zen.
If you want the secret of Buddhism,
Here it is: Everything is in the Heart!
Becoming aware of suffering ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinImagine holding on to a hot burning coal. You would not fear letting go of it. In fact, once you noticed that you were holding on, you would probably drop it quickly. But we often do not recognize how we hold on to suffering. It seems to hold on to us. This is our practice: becoming aware of how suffering arises in our mind and of how we become identified with it, and learning to let it go. We learn through simple and direct observation, seeing the process over and over again until we understand.
Samadhi ~ Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu RinpocheThe Sanskrit word samadhi is translated in Tibetan as tingdzin, which literally means “deep holding.” The mind is held firmly and deeply so the meditation becomes very stable. Samadhi can refer to either tranquility meditation or insight meditation. By doing this deep meditation, we experience the flavor of samadhi—the exquisite taste of meditation.
The magic show of consciousness ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinThe great discovery in our practice is that, on one level, birth and death, existence and nonexistence, self and other are the great defining themes of our lives. And on another level, it’s all just a dance of insubstantial appearances, what the Buddha called “the magic show of consciousness.”
Celebrity Gurus ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheSome disciples treat their gurus like movie stars. They go around wearing necklaces with the guru’s photo, or they hang the guru’s picture on their wall. Some kind of fall in love with the guru, but it’s more like an infatuation, the way others fall for their therapists. It becomes very personal and can easily be mishandled.
Many Tibetan lamas — also Thai, Burmese, all kinds of Buddhist teachers — allow a kind of merchandising of their image. It’s very confusing. The extent of promotion often correlates with their level of insecurity. They have a feeling of having to sell themselves. At public events in Taiwan some Mahayana monks emerge from a lotus onstage, and thousands of fans have this kind of ecstatic experience.
It’s as if these spiritual characters are worried they will lose their relevance. Like, “If you don’t do this, someone else will take over” — as if the Dharma is a brand like Apple that needs to keep up with the market, otherwise Samsung will take over.
Printing business cards, bags, announcement banners, fliers, buttons with the lama’s face, billboards proclaiming the greatness of the teacher … aren’t there other ways to reach sentient beings who need the Buddhadharma?
Simply an illusion ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Tsoknyi RinpocheIllusion immediately becomes more workable when we acknowledge it as simply an illusion. The Western habit is to work against the grain and to try and organize the illusory into something solid and structured … In the stressful attempt to nail down the illusory nature of things, our chance to be at ease, spacious, awake, and free, which already exists within ourselves, gets lost.
A few dead leaves ~ Ryokan
RyokanTo kindle a fire,
the autumn winds have piled
a few dead leaves.
Awareness of thoughts ~ Joseph Goldstein
Joseph GoldsteinEvery time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.
At all times and in every situation ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaIn short, at all times and in every situation, make sure that whatever you do turns into the sacred dharma and dedicate every virtuous action toward enlightenment. By doing so, you will fulfill your guru’s wishes and be of service to the Buddha’s dharma; you will repay your parents’ kindness and spontaneously accomplish the benefit of yourself and others. Please keep this in your heart.