Right now, you may be experiencing all sorts of happiness and pleasure; but this won’t last, so do not become attached to it. In this life you are bound to experience all sorts of difficulties, sickness, and other troubles; it is important to see in them the truth of the teachings.

Whenever we experience pain or pleasure, misery or contentment, it is due to our actions in past lives. If you are now healthy, famous, or rich, it is because of meritorious actions you performed in the past. If you suffer from illness, obstacles, or trouble some circumstances, that is the result of your past negative actions. But whatever circumstances you find yourself in, you can purify your mind; when in pain, you can pray from the core of your heart that your suffering may be a substitute for the suffering of others, so that all their pain and suffering will be exhausted forever. The more you suffer, the more you can practice taking on the suffering of all beings.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones

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Further quotes from the book The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones:

• Remember death
• Ordinary worldly goals
• No greater virtue
• Three turnings of the wheel of Dharma
• Don’t be like that
• Mind filled with faith
• The spear of mindfulness
• This is very shortsighted
• The shadow of our actions
• Cause and effect
• The only way to obtain lasting happiness
• At the time of death
• Two ways to meditate
• Mastery of the mind
• A lump of earth
• Following the view
• The intention to benefit others
• The gift of the Dharma
• Stillness and movement