Gender identities ~ 17th Karmapa

Our ideas about what it means to be a woman or a man – that is, our gender constructs – are given meaning and importance in our day-to-day reality. Gender identities permeate so much of our experience that it is easy to forget that they are just ideas – ideas created to categorize human beings. Nevertheless, the categories of masculine and feminine are often treated as if they were eternal truths. But they are not. They have no objective reality. Because gender is a concept, it is a product of our mind – and has no absolute existence that is separate from the mind that conceives of it. Gender categories are not inherently real in and of themselves.

17th Karmapa

Harmonizing with actuality ~ Ajahn Chah

To define buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say: Don’t cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.

Ajahn Chah

Training the Mind ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

The quintessence of the path is to have the wisdom that realizes egolessness. Until we have this wisdom, we have not understood the essence of the Buddha’s teaching.

In order to achieve this wisdom, first we have to make our mind malleable, workable—in the sense of being in control of our own mind. As Shantideva said, if you want to walk comfortably, there are two possible solutions. Either you can try to cover the whole ground with leather—but that would be very difficult—or you can achieve the same effect by simply wearing a pair of shoes. In the same way, it would be difficult to train and tame every single emotion that we have, or to change the world according to our desires. In fact the basis of all experience is the mind, and that’s why Buddhists stress the importance of training the mind in order to make it workable and flexible.

Yet a flexible mind is not enough. We have to understand the nature of the mind. This is very difficult to do, precisely because it involves the wisdom of realizing egolessness. We have been in samsara from beginningless time. Our habitual patterns are very strong. We are completely deluded. For this reason, it is very, very difficult for this wisdom to appear.

So what is to be done? There is only one way to obtain this wisdom—by accumulating merit. How should we accumulate this merit? According to the general vehicle of Buddhism, the method of accumulating merit is by having renunciation mind, by contemplating impermanence, by refraining from all the causes and conditions that will strengthen the ego, by engaging in all the causes and conditions that will strengthen our wisdom, by refraining from harming other beings, and so on. In the mahayana school, the merit is accumulated by having compassion for sentient beings.

To cut a long story short, if you want enlightenment you need wisdom. If you want wisdom, you must have merit. And to have merit, according to mahayana, you must have compassion and bodhichitta, the wish to establish beings in the state of freedom.

Failing to let go of ordinary concerns ~ Chatral Rinpoche

You might remain in a solitary place, physically isolated from the world,
Yet fail to let go of ordinary concerns, and, with attachment and aversion,
Seek to bring defeat upon your enemies while furthering the interests of your friends,
And involve yourself in all kinds of projects and financial dealings —
But there could hardly be anything worse than that at all.
If you lack the wealth of contentment in your mind,
You’ll think you need all kinds of useless things,
And end up even worse than just an ordinary person,
Because you won’t manage even a single session of practice.
So set your mind on freedom from the need for anything at all.
Wealth, success and status are all simply ways of attracting enemies and demons.
Pleasure-seeking practitioners who fail to turn their minds from this life’s concerns
Sever their connection to the authentic Dharma.
So take care to avoid becoming stubbornly immune to the teachings.

Chatral Rinpoche

Never disturbed ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

Even though thoughts and emotions come and go, the mind’s natural clarity is never disturbed or interrupted.

Mingyur Rinpoche

Being in touch with all aspects of life ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Life is both dreadful and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Failing to see what is ~ Chögyam Trungpa

Your mind is highly preoccupied with what you want, so you fail to see what is.

Chögyam Trungpa

Invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance ~ 14th Dalai Lama

Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger. Instead of getting angry nurture a deep caring and respect for troublemakers because by creating such trying circumstances they provide us with invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance and patience.

14th Dalai Lama

Awakening is essential ~ Pema Chödron

Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It’s becoming critical. We don’t need to add more depression, more discouragement, or more anger to what’s already here. It’s becoming essential that we learn how to relate sanely with difficult times. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way that we can benefit others.

Pema Chödron

Utilizing Illness on the Path ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Keep in mind the many other beings who are suffering in the same way as you are, and pray that your suffering may absorb theirs, and that they may be liberated from all suffering. In this way, illness can teach us compassion.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The Power of Emotions ~ 17th Karmapa

Most people who would like to give up eating meat but have been unable to do so say the reason is because of the flavor and because of habit. Many people say they just like how meat tastes. What keeps them eating meat is craving the taste on their tongues. This is the power that emotions have in the face of our intellect. Because they are enslaved to their emotional craving for meat, many people do not want to give up meat even when they know that it is the right thing to do. Apart from that desire for the flavor, most people have no real reason to keep eating meat.

17th Karmapa

The need to recognize our essential buddhanature ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Generally speaking, the ultimate message of Buddhism is that you possess buddhanature. In other words, you already and quite naturally have within you the qualities of complete enlightenment. But you need to realize this. The fact that you don’t have this realization is the reason why you are wandering in samsara. According to Nagarjuna, the Buddha didn’t say that you need to abandon samsara in order to gain enlightenment. What he said was that you need to see that samsara is empty, that it has no inherent existence. This is the same as saying that you need to recognize your essential buddhanature.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Awareness and apprehended objects ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

Just as space isn’t defined by the objects that move through it, awareness isn’t defined by what it apprehends.

Mingyur Rinpoche

So the sage does not adhere ~ Buddha Shakyamuni

As a water bead on a lotus leaf, as water on a red lily, does not adhere, so the sage does not adhere to the seen, the heard, or the sensed.

Buddha Shakyamuni

Let nature teach you ~ Ajahn Chah

The forest is peaceful, why aren’t you? You hold on to things causing your confusion. Let nature teach you. Hear the bird’s song then let go. If you know nature, you’ll know Dhamma. If you know Dhamma, you’ll know nature.