Experiences are like mist: they will fade away. Practitioners who spend their time practicing in seclusion are certain to have many different experiences, but these experiences are very unreliable. As it is said, experiences are like rainbows, but the great meditator who runs after them like a child will be deceived. We may occasionally have flashes of clairvoyance, seeing things we cannot ordinarily know. We may have signs of accomplishment, or predictions from the deity or the dakinis. But such experiences in most cases give rise to hope and expectation. They are none other than the tricks of demons: they simply cause obstacles. When true realization dawns in one’s mind, it is like the king of mountains, Mount Meru, which no wind can shake.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book Zurchungpa's Testament
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Further quotes from the book Zurchungpa's Testament:
- Not outside yourself
- The three higher trainings
- Free from the extreme of existence and that of nonexistence
- What a waste of time
- Like two expressions on the same face
- The moon’s reflection on water
- Perceiving everything in its natural purity
- Just as space
- Not fabricated, never stained
- Examine your actions very closely
- Spontaneous devotion to your teacher
- Just leave it like it is
- Complete absence of doubt
- Projections of the mind
- Nothing else than the projection of one’s own mind
- Recognizing awareness
- The even state of all-pervading peace
- Suitable vessels
- Superficial dharma practice