An appropriate question to ask a Buddhist is simply, “What is life?”

From our understanding of impermanence, the answer should be obvious: “Life is a big array of assembled phenomena, and thus life is impermanent.” It is a constant shifting, a collection of transitory experiences. And although myriad life-forms exist, one thing we all have in common is that no living being wishes to suffer. We all want to be happy, from presidents and billionaires to hardworking ants, bees, prawns, and butterflies.

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:

• Relationships
• Not paranoid but prepared
• Not a buddha yet
• I don’t give a damn
• Appreciating the whole cycle of impermanence
• The cup that holds the teachings
• Bound by practicality
• Enlightened beings may seem insane
• Buddhist renunciation
• The Self
• The habit of self
• Pride and pity
• Emotionally not possible
• Change is inevitable
• Beyond nonviolence and meditation
• Eventually we are disappointed
• Like a child at the cinema
• Four seals
• Enjoying the bliss of ignorance