Dudjom RinpocheYou should bring into the path all those who have a good or bad connection with you without making any distinction whatsoever, be they faithful persons who serve you or faithless persons who revile or abuse you. Care for them with pure prayers of aspiration.
Devotion for our kind teachers ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaUnless we have such devotion for our kind teachers that we consider them as greater than the Buddha, we will not receive even a single portion of their blessings.
Without genuinely receiving blessings, the tender shoots of experience and realization will not grow.
Our way of observing things ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Shunryu SuzukiIt is because our way of observing things is deeply rooted in our self-centered ideas that we are disappointed when we find everything has only a tentative existence. But when we actually realize this truth, we will have no suffering.
The stainless expanse of the mind’s true nature ~ Asanga
AsangaSpace, whose nature is free of concepts;
Encompasses everything;
Likewise, the stainless expanse of the mind’s true nature
Permeates all beings.
The essential need to abandon the view of self ~ Mahasi Sayadaw
Mahasi SayadawAs long as one is not free from the wrong view of self, one cannot expect to escape from the risk of falling into the miserable realms of the hells, the animals or the petas. Though one may be leading a happy life in the human or deva world by virtue of one’s merits, yet one is liable to fall back into the miserable states of existence at any time, when one’s demerits operate. For this reason, the Buddha pointed out that it is essential to work for the total removal of the wrong view of self: “Let a monk go forth mindfully to abandon view of self”.
Trample on anger with realization ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheExamine anger itself and you will find that it is nothing but a thought. If that angry thought disappears, it will not lead to an action done in anger, with its negative karmic results. Trample on anger with realization, and it dissolves like a cloud in the sky; and as it dissolves, the notion of “enemy” will vanish with it.
Everyday actions and dharma ~ Dogen Zenji
Dogen ZenjiThose who see worldly life as an obstacle to dharma see no dharma in everyday actions. They have not yet discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of dharma.
Being a Buddhist ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheYou may not not have been born in Buddhist country or to a Buddhist family, you may not wear robes or shave your head, you may eat meat and idolize Eminem and Paris Hilton. That doesn’t mean you can’t be a Buddhist.
The most important requirements for a teacher ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronThe most important requirements for a teacher are to know you well, see where you’re holding on, and be able to create circumstances that highlight your grasping. Situations emerge that allow you to see where you’re stuck. Because it’s happening with your dharma teacher, you don’t run away when you’re insulted or uncomfortable, and that’s the real value. You hang in there and they help you through it.
Praying to the guru ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheWe think that the guru is only good for giving teachings, that the guru is only good for special things but not good for headaches or other problems. This is not the way to think. For every problem that you have, pray to the guru, receive his blessings and you will be free from it. In one Tantra, it says, “Years and years of doing meditation on the development or completion stages, or years and years of chanting mantras, cannot compare with one instant of remembering the guru.”
The golden chain of spirituality ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAs long as we follow a spiritual approach promising salvation, miracles, liberation, then we are bound by the “golden chain of spirituality.” Such a chain might be beautiful to wear, with its inlaid jewels and intricate carvings, but nevertheless, it imprisons us. People think they can wear the golden chain for decoration without being imprisoned by it, but they are deceiving themselves. As long as one’s approach to spirituality is based upon enriching ego, then it is spiritual materialism, a suicidal process rather than a creative one.
Spontaneity ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaI feel much better when I am spontaneous, because it comes from the heart.
My grandfather of mindfulness ~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Thinley Norbu RinpocheMy grandfather of mindfulness must watch constantly after this spoiled child of deluded mind to save him from disaster.
Just this mind ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahMeditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind.
The fire-brand circle of samsara ~ Nagarjuna
NagarjunaIf we grasp at the (five) aggregates, we are grasping at self.
If we grasp at self, from that (arises) karma, and from (karma arises) birth.
Through these three, without a beginning, middle, or end,
Revolves the fire-brand circle of samsara
By depending on each other as the cause.
Ability to fly ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheWhen we become fixed in our perceptions we lose our ability to fly.
Working on our difficulties indirectly ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaWe can overcome our difficulties by working on them indirectly. There are two aspects to the hardships we go through. There are the outer circumstances of the hardship and there is a reaction we have to the hardship in our minds. So it is not the case that there is a only an unfortunate or negative event that is the problem. A lot of our experience of hardship is connected is how we carry the burden of the hardship mentally. Actually most of the suffering we experience in relation to a hardship is connected to the choices we make in terms of the aspect of the difficulty on which we choose to focus. I think that shifting our focus can help to reduce the sense of burden connected to our difficulties.
Why long for the unnecessary ~ Milarepa
MilarepaToss to the winds your concern for this life, and impress on your mind the unknown time of your death. Remembering the pain of samsara, why long for the unnecessary?
Our responsibility ~ Chatral Rinpoche
Chatral RinpocheDuring this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble—so terrified that their hair stands on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with new types of weapons. That’s why we make supplication prayers to the three jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities.
Reacting with anger ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Chagdud Tulku RinpocheWhen someone insults us, we usually dwell on it, asking ourselves, ‘Why did he say that to me?’ and on and on. It’s as if someone shoots an arrow at us, but it falls short. Focusing on the problem is like picking up the arrow and repeatedly stabbing ourselves with it, saying, ‘He hurt me so much. I can’t believe he did that.’ Instead, we can use the method of contemplation to think things through differently, to change our habit of reacting with anger. Imagine that someone insults you. Say to yourself, ‘This person makes me angry. But what is this anger?’ It is one of the poisons of the mind that creates negative karma, leading to intense suffering. Meeting anger with anger is like following a lunatic who jumps off a cliff. Do I have to go likewise? While it’s crazy for him to act the way he does, it’s even crazier for me to do the same.