Clarity ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

My teachers described the clear light of mind as self-illuminating – like the flame of a candle, which is both a source of illumination and illumination itself. Clarity is part of the mind from the beginning, a natural awareness. You can’t develop it the way, for instance, you develop muscles through physical exercise. The only thing you have to do is acknowledge it, simply notice the fact that you’re aware.

Mingyur Rinpoche

Products and parts ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

When any two components or more come together, a new phenomenon emerges – nails and wood become a table; water and leaves become tea; fear, devotion, and a savior become God. This end product doesnt have an existence independent of its parts.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

True happiness is based on peace ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Many people think of excitement as happiness. They are thinking of something, or expecting something that they consider to be happiness, and for them, that is already happiness. But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

Thich Nhat Hanh

The ultimate authority ~ 14th Dalai Lama

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.

14th Dalai Lama

Begin the training sequence with yourself ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

We should think like this: ‘May all the torments destined for me in the future, the heat and cold of the hells and the hunger and thirst of the famished spirits, come to me now. And may all the karma, obscuration and deﬁlement causing beings to fall into an infernal destiny sink into my heart so that I myself might go to hell instead of them. May the suffering of others, the fruit, as the teachings say, of their desire and ignorance, come to me.’ We should train ourselves like this again and again until we have such signs as that of Maitriyogin, who was wounded in the place where the stone had hit the dog.
Bodhichitta, the mind of enlightenment, is the heart of all the practices of the Sutra and Mantrayana, and it is easy to implement. If one has it, everything is complete, and nothing is complete without it. At this present time, you are receiving many teachings on mind—training from different teachers. Keep them in your hearts! When they are translated, I hope that you will understand and remember them. For this is indeed the Dharma.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

We are completely crazy ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche

From morning to night we do everything with the self-cherishing mind. Inside the house, outside the house, getting dressed, walking around, talking to people, working, eating, seeing things, shopping, going to bed—we do everything with self-cherishing.
Even though everything we do is motivated by the wish to obtain temporal happiness and avoid temporal problems, in fact, everything we do creates the cause of greater, continual suffering in the future. For countless previous lifetimes we’ve been carrying on like this, perpetuating the cycle of suffering, living fulltime with the thought of the eight worldly dharmas.
Unless we can break this cycle we will continue like this, doing the same thing on and on endlessly, because we’re using entirely the wrong methods to deal with our immediate worldly problems. We’re forever creating the causes for much greater suffering for ourselves. Really, we are crazy; completely crazy.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Avoiding criticism ~ 17th Karmapa

We should not say bad things about anyone, whether or not they are bodhisattvas. It is not the same thing, however, if we know that pointing out someone’s mistakes will help them to change. Generally speaking, since it is not easy to change another person, we should avoid criticism. Other people do not like to hear it and, further, laying out their faults will create problems and troubles for us. We who are supposed to be practicing the dharma should be trying to do whatever brings happiness to ourselves and others. Since faultfinding does not bring any benefit, we should carefully avoid it.
[…]
If we really want to help someone, perhaps we can say something once in a pleasant way so that the person can readily understand, “Oh yes, this is something I need to change.” However, it is better not to repeat our comments, because if we keep mentioning faults, not only will it not truly help, it will disturb others to no good effect. Therefore not mentioning the faults of others is the practice of bodhisattvas.

17th Karmapa

Gazing at the uncontrived sameness of every experience ~ Longchenpa

We should cast aside all childish games that fetter and exhaust body, speech and mind; and stretching out in inconceivable nonaction, in the unstructured matrix, the actuality of emptiness, where the natural perfection of reality lies, we should gaze at the uncontrived sameness of every experience, all conditioning and ambition resolved with finality.

Longchenpa

Short human life ~ Gampopa

Just like an arrow shot by a skillful archer as soon as the string is released it does not stay but quickly reaches its target, so also is the life of humans.

Gampopa

The joy of bodhicitta ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche

When you have compassion, a bodhisattva’s compassion for all sentient beings, why you have bodhicitta for all sentient beings is because of your joy, not because of your sorrow. When you see that all sentient beings are suffering, you see that they don’t have to suffer, they can get out of that suffering, but not from somewhere else, the means of getting out of suffering is in them. Buddha-nature is in them, primordial wisdom is in them. When you see that then you get the natural aspiration, “May I reach liberation so that I can liberate all mother sentient beings who are suffering absolutely unnecessarily.” You have aspiration, confidence and a destination; it is more than just hope. So that is joy, it is not sorrow. It is not like, “These poor sentient beings are suffering. I have to do something for them.” It is, “These future Buddhas are unnecessarily suffering. They are having a nightmare. Their essence is perfect so they have all the means in them to overcome this suffering. So may I be the aspiration and guide for them. May I have that honor to be the guide and example and giver of that great realization for them, to make them realize who they are,” that’s all. You are not bringing something from somewhere and giving it to them, or cutting something from yourself and sewing it on to them. It is just making them realize who they are. That is what bodhicitta is. And it is joy, confidence, and an honor. It is not suffering, it is not pain and it is not misery.

Tai Situ Rinpoche

Bottomless heart ~ Pema Chödron

When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.

Pema Chödron

Through karma ~ Buddha Shakyamuni

Beings evolve through karma, take birth because of karma, enjoy and (function) through karma.

Buddha Shakyamuni

Signs of Practice ~ Dudjom Rinpoche

Calm and self-control are signs of listening to the Dharma;
Few passions, signs of meditation;
Harmony with everyone is the sign of a practitioner;
Your mind at ease, the sign of accomplishment.

Dudjom Rinpoche

Self-pity ~ Lama Yeshe

By eliminating the self-pitying imagination of ego, you go beyond fear. All fear and other self-pitying emotions come from holding a self-pitying image of yourself.

Lama Yeshe

Suffering is the dance of what is ~ Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

Adverse conditions are spiritual friends.
Devils and demons are emanations of the victorious ones.
Illness is the broom for evil and obscurations.
Suffering is the dance of what is.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye

Take a walk ~ Chögyam Trungpa

Meditation is getting into the natural situation, the organic natural situation of what we are, directly, thoroughly, properly. In order to do this, we cannot just rent a helicopter and fly to the heart of the matter without any inconvenience. We do not have the money to buy such a fantastic machine. So what shall we do? The obvious thing to do is walk, just to walk on our own feet, just walk. We have to get into the countryside of this intimate natural beauty and walk. That is exactly what the first step of meditation is, going into our natural psychological situation without trying to find some fancy touristic vehicle. It is a very pleasant thing, to begin with, to just walk.

Chögyam Trungpa

Virtue, concentration, and wisdom ~ Ajahn Chah

Virtue, concentration, and wisdom together make up the Path. But this Path is not yet the true teaching, not what the teacher actually wanted, but merely the Path that will take you there. For example, say you traveled the road from Bangkok to Wat Pah Pong; the road was necessary for your journey, but you were seeking Wat Pah Pong, the monastery, not the road. In the same way, we can say that virtue, concentration, and wisdom are outside the truth of the Buddha but are the road that leads to truth. When you have developed these three factors, the result is the most wonderful peace.

Ajahn Chah

Just avoid clinging to thought ~ Dogen Zenji

Above all, don’t wish to become a future Buddha;
Your only concern should be,
As thought follows thought,
To avoid clinging to any of them.

Dogen Zenji

The spontaneous wisdom of the heart ~ Mingyur Rinpoche

Compassion is the spontaneous wisdom of the heart. It’s always with us. It always has been, and always will be. When it arises in us, we’ve simply learned to see how strong and safe we really are.