Training in supreme bodhicitta ~ Lama Tsongkhapa

Just as I have fallen into the sea of samsara,
So have all mother migratory beings.
Bless me to see this, train in supreme bodhicitta,
And bear the responsibility of freeing migratory beings.

Lama Tsongkhapa

Dealing with Emotions ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

For aeons, almost everything we think and feel, all our interpretations have been rooted in hope and fear, which in turn, have bound our minds up in turbulent emotions, constraining them to such a degree that we no longer have any control over them. That is why, according to the shravakayana teachings, we need to tame the mind, or from the bodhisattvayana point of view train it to become useful, or from the vajrayana perspective recognize mind.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Gentleness ~ Chögyam Trungpa

When you are fully gentle, without arrogance and without agression,
you see the brilliance of the universe.
You develop a true perception of the universe.

Chögyam Trungpa

Getting unstuck ~ Pema Chödron

We can contact our inner strength, our natural openness, for short periods before getting swept away. And this is excellent, heroic, a huge step in interrupting and weakening our ancient habits. If we keep a sense of humor and stay with it for the long haul, the ability to be present just naturally evolves. Gradually we lose our appetite for biting the hook. We lose our appetite for aggression.

Pema Chödron

No regret ~ Milarepa

My religion is to live and die without regret.

Milarepa

Pure perception and devotion ~ Longchenpa

Respect and develop pure perception and devotion toward those who are practicing Dharma as the noble sangha. If you see faults in others, think that they’re the reflections of your own delusions. If you see good qualities in others, meditate on rejoicing over them. Disclose and expel your own faults. Generate virtuous qualities and act with astonishing perseverance. Be with holy people and abandon evil friends. Stay in solitary places and promise to pursue meditation. Make sure that whatever you do is consonant with Dharma practice.

Longchenpa

Source of joy and suffering ~ Shantideva

Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in this world
All comes from desiring myself to be happy.

Shantideva

Hope and fear ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche

Hope and fear only exist because of each other, they only exist interdependently. Personally I find this very, very comforting. When I remember this, again and again, it is like being tired, going to bed, resting and recovering. Having this practice, knowing this, means we can relax, rejuvenate and then hopefully be able to follow the footsteps of our guru. Before we become a lion maybe we can become a nice puppy.

Tai Situ Rinpoche

You are the business of your meditation ~ Lama Yeshe

Meditation is not on the level of the object but on that of the subject – you are the business of your meditation.

Lama Yeshe

Starting to try seeing the nature of our mind ~ 14th Dalai Lama

If the first true fact is that life in general is not easy, we should certainly not expect that seeing the nature of our mind will be simple. The actual nature of mind, on any level, is not very obvious. Even to identify and recognize correctly what is mind is extremely difficult. Just to start to try to see it, we need strong motivation. We need to be clear about why we would like to see the nature of our mind.

14th Dalai Lama

Love vs attachment ~ Ponlop Rinpoche

Love is when you are thinking: “How can I make you happy?” Attachment is when you are thinking: “Why aren’t you making me happy?”

Ponlop Rinpoche

The display of your own intrinsic nature ~ Longchenpa

In the expanse in which self-knowing rigpa arises spontaneously, free of all grasping, rest and relax, without contrivance or fabrication. Whatever thoughts arise, recognizing their essence, allow them all to be liberated as the display of your own intrinsic nature.

Longchenpa

Radiate boundless love ~ Buddha Shakyamuni

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

Buddha Shakyamuni

Recognizing what is actually there ~ 17th Karmapa

When we talk about the true nature of mind, when we say “nature,” it means the actual state, the actual situation that the mind is in. It’s simply a matter of recognizing what is there, what is actually there. So sometimes what is tricky for us to understand is that the reason we have not recognized the true nature of our mind is not because it is too profound, or too difficult. It is because it is too simple or too easy. The masters of meditation of the past say that we fail to recognize the true nature of mind because it is so simple that we fail to trust it.
So the true nature of mind is simply what we are right now, it is our uncontrived natural state. Since we are in such a habit of living our lives in contrived states, and states where we are always adding concepts onto things, it’s difficult for us to return to the way we naturally are.

17th Karmapa

Making right decisions made easy ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche

When you are not clear about the purpose of your life, you are never clear when it comes to making decisions that affect your life. You always hesitate and are always in danger of making the wrong decision. When your only purpose for living is the benefit of others, it is very easy to make the right decision. It is easy because you are very clear about why you are alive.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Your own true enemies ~ Chatral Rinpoche

No matter where you stay – be it a busy place or a solitary retreat – the only thing that you need to conquer are mind’s five poisons and your own true enemies, the eight worldly concerns, nothing else.

Chatral Rinpoche

You are something ~ Chögyam Trungpa

The whole concept of needing training for things is a weak approach, because it makes us feel that we cannot possess the potential in us, and that therefore we have to make ourselves better than we are. We have to try to compete with heroes or masters. Although we are not actually them, we believe we could become them purely by imitating — by pretending, by deceiving ourselves constantly that we are what we are not. But when a sudden flash of genuine enlightenment occurs, such hypocrisy doesn’t exist. You do not have to pretend to be something. You are something.