Buddha saw the same old age and sickness and death that we see, but he was driven to find the root causes; and that, too, is a miracle. His realization that all compounded things are impermanent was his ultimate triumph. Instead of flaunting victory over some externally existing enemy, he found that the real enemy is our clinging to the self; and defeating that self-clinging is a miracle far greater than all supernatural miracles, real or imagined.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist

Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Further quotes from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist:

• Pride and pity
• Eventually we are disappointed
• Our true nature is like a wineglass
• The cup that holds the teachings
• Enlightened beings may seem insane
• Happily ever after
• The habit of self
• Clinging to our hopes and fears
• Today is the death of yesterday
• Appreciating the whole cycle of impermanence
• Nonviolence
• Like moths to the flame
• A simple, scientific fact
• Enjoying the bliss of ignorance
• The Self
• Like medicines
• Products and parts
• I don’t give a damn
• Your own ignorance betrays you