Chögyam TrungpaBefore we discuss the technique of meditation, let us point out the merit and sanity and wakefulness you are going to get out of just simply being willing to sit like a piece of rock. It’s fantastically powerful. It overrides the atomic bomb. It’s extraordinarily powerful that we decide just to sit, not hang out or perch, but just sit. Such a brave attitude, such a wonderful commitment, is magnificent. It is very sane, extraordinarily sane.
Let us not waste our lives ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaWe have gained a perfect human form with its freedoms and advantages, we have met the precious teachings of the Mahāyāna, and we have the freedom to practice the sacred Dharma authentically. So, at this time, let us not waste our lives in meaningless pursuits, but work towards the genuine, lasting goal.
This life passes quickly ~ Padmasambhava
PadmasambhavaThis life passes as quickly as autumn clouds;
Family and friends are like passers-by in a market;
The demon of death approaches like twilight’s shadows;
What the future holds is like a translucent fish in cloudy waters;
Life’s experiences are like last night’s dreams;
The pleasures of the senses, like an imaginary party.
Meaningless activities are like waves
lapping on the surface of the water.
The knack of refraining ~ Pema Chödron
Pema ChödronMany of our escapes are involuntary: addiction and dissociating from painful feelings are two examples. Anyone who has worked with a strong addiction—compulsive eating, compulsive sex, abuse of substances, explosive anger, or any other behavior that’s out of control—knows that when the urge comes on it’s irresistible. The seduction is too strong. So we train again and again in less highly charged situations in which the urge is present but not so overwhelming. By training with everyday irritations, we develop the knack of refraining when the going gets rough. It takes patience and an understanding of how we’re hurting ourselves not to continue taking the same old escape route of speaking or acting out.
The Essential Points of Mahamudra, Dzogchen, and the Middle Way ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim RinpocheHey, hey, lucky students, diligent, faithful and smart,
Take a look at mind’s nature –
simplicity unborn
When reference points and signs dissolve in certainty
Don’t strive, strain, or stop, just relax naturallyLook nakedly at the inexpressible –
Mind’s basic nature, bliss and emptiness
Relaxed, at ease, fixation-free,
All that binds is free in bliss-emptiness
Within this clear light, the dharmadhatu,
Take a look at the play of unborn mind
Mind’s play manifests as appearance-emptinessPure awareness, from beginningless time,
Naturally present, transcending mind –
Thoughts that this view is best dissolve naturally
When we realize mind’s reality.
Then tigles of light and rainbows can shine
But since we don’t think they’re real, these
dzogchenpas are fine!
Physical and psychological level of suffering ~ 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai LamaThe great benefit of science is that it can make a tremendous contribution to the alleviation of suffering on a physical level, but it is only by cultivating the qualities of the human heart and transforming our attitudes that we can begin to address and overcome our mental suffering. We need both, since the alleviation of suffering must take place on both a physical and a psychological level.
View, meditation, conduct and fruition ~ Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche
Tsikey Chokling RinpocheThe view of the natural state is beyond concepts,
The meditation is beyond meditating,
The conduct is beyond accepting and rejecting,
The fruition is beyond hope and fear.
Cultivate concentration ~ Gyelse Tokme Zangpo
Gyelse Tokme ZangpoThe practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cultivate concentration,
Which utterly transcends the four formless absorptions,
In the knowledge that mental afflictions are overcome entirely
Through penetrating insight suffused with stable calm.
No more than an empty echo ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheSome people spend all their energy, and even risk their lives to achieve fame. Fame and notoriety are both no more than an empty echo. Your reputation is an alluring mirage that can easily lead you astray. Discard it without a second thought, like the snort you blow from your nose.
The choice is yours ~ 17th Karmapa
17th KarmapaNo one can compel you to eat meat or to be vegetarian. You have to think carefully for yourself, and then act according to your own values and for your own reasons. […] The reasons have to be compelling and convincing enough to change our mental attitudes, not just our physical actions. Only a change in attitude can sustain changes in our behavior in the long run.
This choice simply cannot be foisted on us from outside. We see the reality of what happens to the animals. But all the information in the world is not enough if our heart is not moved. We need to make a decision from the depth of our heart, so that we just do not want meat, and so that this feeling is genuine and arises spontaneously.
The good thing is, if you give up meat for a while and then slip back, you can always try again. There is no reason why you cannot make a new effort. It will not be a loss to try again and again.
Finally, if you want to give up meat, but can’t seem to get rid of the habit, one solution is to put yourself in the cage where the animals are held before slaughter. Spend some time in there. If you like chicken, spend some time in a chicken coop. If you like pork, spend time in a sty, if only in your imagination. See how it feels. Then decide.
The Eight Reminders ~ Milarepa
MilarepaCastles and crowded cities are the places
Where now you love to stay;
But remember that they will fall in ruins
After you have departed from this earth.Pride and vainglory are the lure
Which now you love to follow;
But remember, when you are about to die
They offer you no shelter and no refuge!Kinsmen and relatives are the people
With whom now you love to live!
But remember that you must leave them all behind
When from this world you pass away!Servants, wealth, and children
Are things that you love to hold;
But remember, at the moment of your death
Your empty hands can take nothing with you!Vigor and health are dearest to you now;
But remember that at the moment of your death
Your corpse will be bundled up and borne away!Now your organs are clear, your blood and flesh are strong and vigorous;
But remember, at the moment of your death
They will no longer be at your disposal!Sweet and delicious foods are things
That now you love to eat;
But remember, at the moment of your death
Your mouth will let the spittle flow!When of all this I think, I cannot help
But seek the Buddha’s teachings!
The enjoyments and pleasures of this world,
For me have no attraction.I, Milarepa, sing of the Eight Reminders,
At the Guest House of Garakhache of Tsang.
With these clear words I give this helpful warning;
I urge you to observe and practice them!
But when you die ~ Chatral Rinpoche
Chatral RinpocheYou might spend your whole life pursuing only food and clothes,
With great effort and without regard for suffering or harmful deeds,
But when you die you can’t take even a single thing — consider this well.
No connection with that particular doctrine ~ Tenzin Palmo
Tenzin PalmoIf we come across certain things that we find difficult to accept even after careful investigation, that doesn’t mean the whole Dharma has to be thrown overboard. Even now, after all these years, I still find certain things in the Tibetan Dharma which I’m not sure about at all. I used to go to my Lama and ask him about some of these things, and he would say, “That’s fine. Obviously you don’t really have a connection with that particular doctrine. It doesn’t matter. Just put it aside. Don’t say, `No, it’s not true.’ Just say, `At this point, my mind does not embrace this.’ Maybe later you’ll appreciate it, or maybe you won’t. It’s not important.
Two kinds of suffering ~ Ajahn Chah
Ajahn ChahThere are two kinds of suffering: the suffering, which leads to more suffering, and the suffering, which leads to the end of suffering. The first is the pain of grasping after fleeting pleasures and aversion for the unpleasant, the continued struggle of most people day after day. The second is the suffering, which comes when you allow yourself to feel fully the constant change of experience – pleasure, pain, joy, and anger – without fear or withdrawal. The suffering of our experience leads to inner fearlessness and peace.
Neither mind nor anything but mind ~ Longchenpa
LongchenpaExperience may arise in the mind
but it is neither mind nor anything but mind;
it is a vivid display of absence, like magical illusion,
in the very moment unutterable.
All experience arising in the mind,
at its inception, know it as absence!
Just Dharma Drama ~ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Thinley Norbu RinpocheWe may pretend to be Buddhists, but if we do not have a wisdom point of view and the compassion that the Buddha Shakyamuni revealed again and again, then whatever Dharma acts we perform are just Dharma drama for the nihilist audience to senselessly gossip about during intermission.
Anchor ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhFeelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
Fundamental importance of the practice of morality ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa RinpocheWithout the practice of morality, there’s no enlightenment, no liberation from samsara, not even good rebirths in future lives.
Paying attention to the karmic process ~ Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom RinpochePlease be careful in the future to pay attention. Karma can be very subtle and tricky. We might think something is no big deal, but it may turn out to have serious consequences, so pay good attention to the karmic process. This is what every practitioner needs to pay attention to — even those with the highest realization.
Our journey will have been useless ~ 4th Shechen Gyaltsab
4th Shechen GyaltsabWe now have a precious human life. However, if, like an explorer who returns empty-handed from an island covered with treasure, we just enjoy this inestimably valuable life for some time without bringing back the gem of the sublime Dharma, our journey will have been useless. And if, caught up in the activities of daily life, we neglect the liberating instructions, we will have possessed this invaluable human existence but gained nothing from it.