TERMS STARTING WITH
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11. 'Jam dbyangs Rin po che (Jamyang Rinpoche, 1892-1946)
Bakkula. [alt. Nakula; Vakula; etc.] (P. Bakkula; T. Ba ku la; C. Bojuluo; J. Hakukura; K. Pakkura 薄拘羅). Sanskrit and PAi name of an ARHAT disciple of the Buddha, who became an arhat only eight days after ordaining at the age of eighty. The Buddha declared him to be foremost among those who enjoyed good health, and also one of the four monks most proficient in superknowledges (ABHIJNA), supernatural powers that are the by-products of meditation. ¶ Bakkula is also traditionally listed as fifth (or, in Tibetan, ninth) of the sixteen arhat elders (sOdAsASTHAVIRA), who are charged by the Buddha with protecting his dispensation until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. He is said to reside in JAMBUDVĪPA with eight hundred disciples. According to the East Asian tradition, Bakkula was a fierce warrior. After he ordained, the Buddha calmed him by making him sit in meditation, whence he became known as the "Quietly Sitting Arhat" (Jingzuo Luohan). Bakkula may be the arhat known by the epithet of Kundovahan (Holder of the Mongoose; C. Juntoupohan) referred to in the sAriputraparipṛcchA ("Sutra of sAriputra's Questions"). In Tibetan iconography he holds a mongoose (nakula) spitting out jewels; East Asian images have him seated in a chair holding a mongoose, sometimes accompanied by a beggar child. In CHANYUE GUANXIU's standard Chinese depiction, Bakkula is shown sitting cross-legged on a rock, with both hands holding a backscratcher over his left shoulder. In Tibetan Buddhism, Bakkula (or Bakula) is the first figure in an important incarnation (SPRUL SKU) lineage of the DGE LUGS sect. The nineteenth Bakula Rinpoche (1917-2003) served in the Indian parliament and as the Indian ambassador to Mongolia. Bakkula is alternatively known in Sanskrit as Bakula, Vakkula, Vakula, Vatkula (cf. P. BAkula; Vakkula).
Bdud 'joms Rin po che. (Düdjom Rinpoche) (1904-1987). An influential twentieth-century Tibetan master who served for a time as the head of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Born in the southern Tibetan region of PADMA BKOD, Bdud 'joms Rin po che was recognized at the age of three as the reincarnation of the treasure revealer (GTER STON) Bdud 'joms gling pa (Düdjom Lingpa). He trained primarily at SMIN GROL GLING monastery in central Tibet, establishing himself as a leading exponent of Rnying ma doctrine, especially the instructions of RDZOGS CHEN or "great completion." Following his flight into exile in 1959, Bdud 'joms Rin po che became the religious leader of the Rnying ma sect, while actively supporting the educational activities of the Tibetan diasporic community in India. He spent much of his later life in the West, establishing centers and garnering a wide following in the United States and France. He died in 1987 at his religious institution in Dordogne, France. Renowned as a treasure revealer, scholar, and poet, Bdud 'joms Rin po che is especially known for his extensive historical writings, including the comprehensive The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. His full name is 'Jigs bral ye shes rdo rje (Jikdral Yeshe Dorje).
Dalai Lama [from Mongolian ta-le ocean] The title of the Great Lama or abbot of the Gedun Dubpa Monastery situated at Lhasa, Tibet; used mainly by the Chinese and Mongols. One key to the Dalai Lama’s symbolical name, ocean-lama meaning wisdom-ocean, is found in the tradition of the great sea of knowledge or learning which remained for ages where now stretches the Shamo or Gobi Desert (SD 2:502). The Tibetans call him rgyal be rinpoche (precious victor) or often simply Kun-dun (the Presence). Popularly believed to be an incarnation of Chenresi (Avalokitesvara), he is regarded as the temporal ruler of Tibet.
Dalai Lama. (T. DA la'i bla ma). An honorific title given to members of a prominent Tibetan incarnation (SPRUL SKU) lineage belonging to the DGE LUGS sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lamas are traditionally revered as earthly manifestations of AVALOKITEsVARA, the BODHISATTVA of compassion and protector of Tibet. Although the term has become widely known outside the region, Tibetans most frequently refer to the Dalai Lama as Rgyal ba rin po che (Gyalwa Rinpoche) "Precious Conqueror," Sku mdun (Kundun) "The Presence," or Yid bzhin nor bu (Yishin Norbu) "Wish-fulfilling Gem." The name originated during the sixteenth century when ALTAN KHAN, ruler of the Tümed Mongols, bestowed the title on the Dge lugs teacher BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO by translating the prelate's name rgya mtsho ("ocean") into Mongolian as dalai. The name thus approximately means "ocean teacher." It is not the case, as is often reported, that the Dalai Lamas are so named because their wisdom is as vast as the ocean. After Bsod nams rgya mtsho, all subsequent incarnations have rgya mtsho as the second component of their name. At the time of his meeting with the Altan Khan, Bsod nams rgya mtsho was already a recognized incarnate lama of the Dge lugs. Bsod nams rgya mtsho became the third Dalai Lama and two of his previous incarnations were posthumously recognized as the first and second holders of the lineage. From that time onward, successive incarnations have all been known as the Dalai Lama. Although writings outside Tibet often describe the Dalai Lama as the head of the Dge lugs sect, that position is held by a figure called the DGA' LDAN KHRI PA, the "Throneholder of Ganden Monastery." The fourteen Dalai Lamas are:
Dpal sprul Rin po che. (Patrul Rinpoche) (1808-1887). One of the most important teachers of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism during the nineteenth century, famous for his great humility and simple lifestyle. Recognized as an incarnate lama (SPRUL SKU) while a child, Dpal sprul Rin po che trained under the great ascetic 'Jigs med rgyal ba'i myu gu (Jigme Gyalwe Nyugu), himself a disciple of the renowned treasure revealer (GTER STON) 'JIGS MED GLING PA, from whom he received instructions on the KLONG CHEN SNYING THIG, "Heart Essence of the Great Expanse." He later studied with many other great masters, including MDO MKHYEN RTSE YE SHES RDO RJE, mind emanation (thugs sprul) of 'Jigs med gling pa. Although he established himself as one of the foremost scholars of his time, Dpal sprul Rin po che emulated the renunciate lifestyle of his masters, wandering from place to place with few possessions, often in the guise of an ordinary beggar. He was known for his exceptional kindness, treating both king and pauper with equal compassion. The author of numerous commentaries and treatises on Buddhist philosophy and doctrine, he is perhaps best known for his KUN BZANG BLA MA'I ZHAL LUNG ("Words of My Perfect Teacher"), an explanation of the preliminary practices of the klong chen snying thig. Together with other great lamas of eastern Tibet, Dpal sprul Rin po che was also an active participant in the so-called RIS MED (nonsectarian) movement, which sought to cut through the rampant sectarian controversies of the time. According to one account, when asked what religious affiliation he maintained, Dpal sprul Rinpoche famously remarked that he was only a follower of the Buddha. He is also known as Rdza Dpal sprul (Dza Patrul) and O rgyan 'jigs med chos kyi dbang po.
Düdjom Rinpoche. See BDUD 'JOMS RIN PO CHE
Ginsberg, Allen. (1926-1997). American Beat poet and Buddhist born in Newark, New Jersey. Ginsberg attended Columbia University with the intent of becoming a labor lawyer, but soon fell in with a group that included students such as JACK KEROUAC, and nonstudents, such as William Burroughs, with whom he shared common interests, both literary and otherwise. In 1948, he had a transformative vision while reading William Blake in his Harlem apartment. He moved to San Francisco where he joined the burgeoning poetry movement. In October 1955, he read his most famous work, Howl, at the Six Gallery. By his own account, Ginsberg was first introduced to Buddhism in letters he received from Kerouac, in which his friend wrote of suffering as the fundamental fact of existence. He began to read the works of DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI, whom he later met in New York in the company of Kerouac. Ginsberg was intimately involved in the various cultural movements of the 1960s, collaborating with Timothy Leary, Bob Dylan, and Ken Kesey, and protesting actively against the Vietnam War. In 1962, he traveled to India with GARY SNYDER, visiting BODHGAYĀ and SĀRNĀTH; he also had an audience with the fourteenth DALAI LAMA, who had arrived from Tibet just three years earlier. After experimenting with various forms of Hindu practice, Ginsberg met the Tibetan lama CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA in 1970, and remained his disciple until Trungpa's death, helping to found the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Trungpa's Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado; in his last years, Ginsberg became a disciple of another Tibetan lama, Gelek Rinpoche. Buddhist themes figure prominently in much of Ginsberg's poetry.
from Samten Gyatso, as recalled by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Buddhadharma Fall 2005
Kalu Rinpoche. (1905-1989). An important modern meditation master and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. Recognized as an incarnation (SPRUL SKU) of the KARMA BKA' BRGYUD master 'JAM MGON KONG SPRUL, Kalu Rinpoche was ordained at the age of thirteen by the eleventh SI TU RINPOCHE. Kalu Rinpoche began serious meditation study at an early age, undertaking his first three-year retreat at the age of sixteen. He also received the transmission of the teachings of the SHANGS PA sect of Bka' brgyud. He later served as the meditation teacher at DPAL SPUNGS monastery. Following the Chinese invasion, Kalu Rinpoche left Tibet in 1962 and first stayed at a small monastery outside of Darjeeling, India. He later settled in Sonada, West Bengal, where he built a three-year retreat center, teaching there before traveling internationally for ten years (1971-1981). In 1971, he traveled to France and the United States, at the request of the DALAI LAMA and the KARMA PA, in order to educate Westerners in Buddhism. During those ten years, Kalu Rinpoche founded many meditation and dharma centers in Canada, the United States, and Europe, with his main meditation school in Vancouver, Canada. Kalu Rinpoche led his first three-year retreat for Western students of Tibetan Buddhism in France in 1976. His full name is Kar ma rang 'byung kun khyab phrin las.
Kalu Rinpoche
Patrül Rinpoche. See DPAL SPRUL RIN PO CHE
Rabten, Geshe. (1920-1986). A Tibetan monk-scholar of the DGE LUGS sect who played an important role in the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. He was born into a farming family approximately fifty miles south of Dar rgyas (Dargye) monastery in the Tre hor region of Khams. At the age of seventeen Geshe Rabten began his studies at SE RA monastery in LHA SA; he later became the teacher of the five-year-old incarnate lama Dgon gsar rin po che (Gonsar Rinpoche), who would remain his close disciple throughout Geshe Rabten's life. Geshe Rabten and Dgon gsar followed the DALAI LAMA into exile where he received his DGE BSHES lha ram pa degree in 1963 at the age of forty-three. He attracted many students, was appointed religious assistant (mtshan zhabs) to the DALAI LAMA, and began to teach Western students in 1969. He started Tharpa Choling Center of Higher Tibetan Studies near Lausanne, Switzerland, later in 1977. His full name is Dge bshes Rta mgrin rab brtan (Geshe Tamdin Rabten).
Shangs pa bka' brgyud. (Shangpa Kagyü). In Tibetan, "Succession of the Transmitted Precepts of the Shang Valley"; a lineage of Tibetan Buddhism traced back to its founder KHYUNG PO RNAL 'BYOR TSHUL KHRIMS MGON PO who was active in the Shangs Valley of western Tibet. It is generally counted as one of the eight great conveyances that are lineages of attainment (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). The teachings and practice of the Shangs pa bka' brgyud are in many ways similar to those of the MAR PA BKA' BRGYUD and stem from two principal sources: (1) a tantric system of instruction known as the six doctrines of NIGUMA (Ni gu chos drug), similar to those associated with NĀROPA, of whom Niguma is said to have been the wife or sister; and (2) the MAHĀMUDRĀ text entitled PHYAG CHEN GA'U MA ("Amulet Box Mahāmudrā"). Few Shangs pa bka' brgyud institutions were ever constructed, and the sect has almost disappeared as an independent entity. However, the Shangs pa bka' brgyud was highly influential in Tibet and its most important instructions were also transmitted within the BKA' BRGYUD, DGE LUGS, SA SKYA, JO NANG, and RNYING MA sects. Shangs pa teachings have been especially promulgated in modern times by the late contemporary master KALU RINPOCHE.
Tarpa Rinpoche Gyen. See THAR PA RIN PO CHE'I RGYAN
Thar pa rin po che'i rgyan. (Tarpa rinpoche gyen). In Tibetan, "Jewel Ornament of Liberation"; a systematic presentation of Buddhist teachings and a seminal textbook for the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism written by SGAM PO PA BSOD RNAM RIN CHEN. The text belongs to the genre of Tibetan literature known as LAM RIM, or "stages of the path," presenting an overview of the elementary tenets of MAHĀYĀNA doctrine through scriptural citation, philosophical reflection, and direct illustration. Its clear, concise, and unpedantic style has made it accessible to generations of readers. The doctrinal content reflects Sgam po pa's training in both the BKA' GDAMS sect and the tradition of MAHĀMUDRĀ, fusing Buddhist theory prevalent in both SuTRA and TANTRA and presenting what has been called sutra mahāmudrā-a tradition of mahāmudrā that does not rely on prerequisite tantric initiations and commitments. Sgam po pa thus transmits the underlying insights of tantric theory outside traditional methods of the VAJRAYĀNA. This system was later criticized by certain scholars such as SA SKYA PAndITA KUN DGA' RGYAL MTSHAN. The work is also commonly known as the Dwags po thar rgyan, after the author's residence in the region of Dwags po (Dakpo).
Thubten Yeshe. (Thub bstan ye shes) (1935-1984). Influential teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. Born to a farming family, in a village near LHA SA, Thubten Yeshe's first experience with monasticism began when, as a toddler, he was discovered to be an incarnation of the abbess of 'Chi med lung monastery. He displayed strong leanings toward the monastic life from a very early age and, when he was six, his parents put him in the care of an uncle at SE RA monastery outside Lha sa. He spent the next nineteen years at Se ra, where he studied diligently but was unable to complete his DGE BSHES (geshe) degree prior to fleeing Tibet at the time of the Lha sa uprising of 1959. He escaped to India with two of his brothers, going to the refugee camp in Buxador in northeast India. He began teaching Western students at Kopan monastery, near BODHNĀTH in Kathmandu, Nepal. He also traveled the world with his main disciple and fellow monk, Zopa Rinpoche. Together they created the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahāyāna Tradition in 1975, along with Wisdom Publications, the Root Institute in BODHGAYĀ, the Tushita Dharma Center in DHARMAsĀLĀ, India, and Nalanda monastery near Toulouse, France.
Trungpa, Chogyam. (Chos rgyam Drung pa) (1939-1987). One of the most influential Tibetan teachers of the twentieth century in introducing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. Chogyam Trungpa (his name, Chos rgyam Drung pa, is an abbreviation of chos kyi rgya mtsho drung pa) was born in Khams in eastern Tibet and identified while still an infant as the eleventh incarnation of the Drung pa lama, an important lineage of teachers in the BKA' BRGYUD sect, and was enthroned as the abbot of Zur mang monastery. He was ordained as a novice monk at the age of eight and received instruction from some of the leading scholars of the Bka' brgyud and RNYING MA sects. In 1958, he received the degrees of skyor dpon and mkhan po, as well as BHIKsU ordination. After the Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupying forces in March 1959, he escaped across the Himalayas to India on horseback and on foot, accompanied by a group of monks. In 1963, he traveled to England to study at Oxford University. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded a Tibetan meditation center called Samye Ling. While there, he suffered permanent injury in a serious automobile accident and decided thereafter to give up his monastic vows and continue as a lay teacher of Buddhism. In 1969, he moved to the United States, where he established a meditation center in Vermont called Tail of the Tiger. Trungpa Rinpoche's extensive training in Tibetan Buddhism, his eclectic interests, and his facility in English combined to make him the first Tibetan lama (apart from the fourteenth DALAI LAMA) to reach a wide Western audience through his many books, including Born in Tibet (1966), Meditation in Action (1969), and Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973). In 1974, he founded the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) in Boulder, Colorado, a center devoted to the study of Buddhism, psychology, and the arts. He also developed a network of centers around the world called Dharmadhatus, as well as the Shambhala Training Program. He invited several important Tibetan lamas to the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including DIL MGO MKHYEN BRTSE, BDUD 'JOMS RIN PO CHE, and the sixteenth KARMA PA. In 1986, he moved his headquarters to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and died there the following year.
Tshar pa. An offshoot of the NGOR subsect of the SA SKYA sect, established by Tshar chen Blo gsal rgya mtsho (Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, 1502-1567), founder of 'Dar Grang mo che (Dar Drangmoche) monastery. It represents a distinctive tradition of the LAM 'BRAS (path and result) teaching, including the distinction between the "assembly exegesis" (tshogs bshad) and "student exegesis" (slob bshad). It is said that the Ngor tradition became influential in the dissemination of the Sa skya tantric teachings, and the Tshar tradition in the esoteric transmission known as the slob bshad. Bco brgyad khri chen rin po che (Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, 1920-2007), a recent influential scholar of the Sa skya tradition, was head of the Tshar pa sect until his death.
KEYS (10k)
41 Chamtrul Rinpoche
15 Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
7 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
7 Sogyal Rinpoche
7 Patrul Rinpoche
5 Guru Rinpoche
4 Mingyur Rinpoche
3 Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
3 Dudjom Rinpoche
2 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
2 Gyatrul Rinpoche
2 Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche
2 Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
1 Yangthang Rinpoche
1 Tsoknyi Rinpoche
1 Tsogdruk Rinpoche
1 Traleg Rinpoche
1 Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
1 Third Dzogchen Rinpoche
1 The Wrathful Compassion of Guru Dorje Drollo
1 Prayer to Tara
1 Pema Chodron
1 Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
1 Minling Trichen Rinpoche
1 Lama Zopa Rinpoche
1 Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
1 Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche
1 Khandro Rinpoche
1 Judith Simmer-Brown
1 Jason Bowman
1 Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
1 Dzogchen Rinpoche III
1 Dzogchen Rinpoche
1 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
1 Chatral Rinpoche
1 Allen Ginsberg
1 Akong Rinpoche
1 Adeu Rinpoche
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
240 Sogyal Rinpoche
82 Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
51 Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
41 Chamtrul Rinpoche
34 Tsoknyi Rinpoche
28 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
25 Mingyur Rinpoche
24 Pema Ch dr n
21 Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
20 Anyen Rinpoche
19 Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
14 Patrul Rinpoche
13 Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
10 Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
8 Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
7 Bokar Rinpoche
6 Garchen Rinpoche
6 Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
5 Lama Zopa Rinpoche
5 Guru Rinpoche
1:Only the impossible is worth doing. ~ Akong Rinpoche, #KEYS
2:The enemy is lack of awareness, lack of presence. ~ Traleg Rinpoche, #KEYS
3:An outside enemy exists only if there is anger inside." ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #KEYS
4:If you marry the dharma, realizations will be your children. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
5:Meditation: There is nothing to do. It is about undoing
~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche,#KEYS
6:The root of dissatisfaction: always looking for the next thing.
~ Dzogchen Rinpoche,#KEYS
7:Never underestimate your potential. Buddha nature is always there. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
8:dances the lightning of life. Can you say you won't die tomorrow? ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
9:The greatest gift that you can give your teacher is doing your practice. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
10:If you do not let go of what binds you to samsara, you will never be free. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
11:If you have devotion, the Buddha is always right in front of you. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
12:Tomorrow or your next existence,
Who knows which will come first? ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#KEYS
13:What is the use of a realization that fails to reduce your disturbing emotions? ~ Guru Rinpoche, #KEYS
14:The essence of the highest teachings lies within a simple moment of awareness. ~ Khandro Rinpoche, #KEYS
15:When the right causes and conditions come together, anything can appear.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,#KEYS
16:It is impossible to have complete control over the world. Control your mind instead. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
17:You never receive blessings just from asking. Blessings come when you have got devotion. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #KEYS
18:Theoretical knowledge has no end. Take to heart and practice what you have learned. ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #KEYS
19:The young grasp at the future. The old grasp at the past. The wise remain in the present. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
20:For anyone, man or woman, who has faith in me, I have never departed. I sleep on their threshold. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #KEYS
21:Anything is possible. The point is to keep your heart and mind open to the likelihood of change. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #KEYS
22:Death is a mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #KEYS
23:Not recognizing natural mind is simply an example of the mind's unlimited capacity to create whatever it wants. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #KEYS
24:We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #KEYS
25:Those who accomplish me, accomplish all the buddhas; Those who see me, see all the buddhas. - Guru Rinpoche, Guru Yoga?
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,#KEYS
26:The most advanced technology and the most valuable asset that you will ever own is your mind. You will not find anything greater. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
27:You might meet with many obstacles in your life. But if you are a true practitioner, you will use them as training grounds of the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
28:The mind is the source of all experience, and by changing the direction of the mind, we can change the quality of everything we experience. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #KEYS
29:There is no such thing as a bad mind. There is only a mind that is untrained, or trained. Every being has the same potential, including you. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
30:Whenever you are in awe of an enlightened being, remember to be in awe of your own potential too. Because ultimately there is no difference. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
31:Train yourself, your mind, with the meditation techniques you have received, and don't twist the techniques to protect your delusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, #KEYS
32:True success is not measured by the amount of money that you have made. It is measured by the amount of wisdom and compassion that you have cultivated. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
33:In those who lack faith
Nothing positive will grow
Just as from a burnt seed
No green shoot will ever sprout.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher,#KEYS
34:Your path may be different to your family, friends, and country. But despite what they may think, it does not mean that you are going in the wrong direction. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
35:Becoming liberated from samsara is an inner journey. You can travel across the world and universe, and you will not find a way out. To get out, you must go in. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
36:The faith of total trust allows blessings to enter you.
When the mind is free of doubt, whatever you wish can be achieved.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher,#KEYS
37:The most precious gift that you could ever give to somebody is the Dharma.
The most precious gift that you could ever give to yourself is the practice of it. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
38:For all who think of him with faith
The Buddha is there in front of them
And will give empowerments and blessings.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, [T5],#KEYS
39:I am never far from those with faith, or even from those without it, though they do not see me. My children will always, always, be protected by my compassion. ~ Guru Rinpoche, [T5], #KEYS
40:At times, just relax in places with rivers, flowers, and so on, focusing on the visualization and singing HUM in a melodious, drawn out fashion.
~ Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, 1759-1792,#KEYS
41:If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
42:Of course you must study the dharma to know exactly what you have to do, but you must also understand that an inch of practice can sometimes be worth a mile of theory. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
43:As you start to see your own potential, you will also begin to recognize it in every being around you. Buddha nature is not a special quality available to just a privileged few. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #KEYS
44:If we think of ourselves as cattle with ropes hanging from our noses, Dharma practitioners hold that rope in their own hands, whereas ordinary people are controlled by others. ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #KEYS
45:Just as space can accommodate the whole universe - the mountains, continents, and so forth - the nature of the mind is so vast that it can accommodate the whole of phenomena.~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
46:The speed and distance that you travel on the path is determined by the level of your courage to go in the opposite direction from what you have been doing since beginningless time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
47:When desire or anger arise, the weakest practitioners immediately blame the outside world, and never practice. While the strongest practitioners immediately look inside, and always practice. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
48:Maintain a state of simplicity. If you encounter happiness, success, prosperity, or other favorable conditions, consider them as dreams or illusions, and do not get attached to any of them. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
49:The greater the practitioner, the smaller their eight worldly concerns. (The eight worldly concerns: Attachment to gain, pleasure, praise, and fame. Aversion to loss, pain, blame, and bad reputation) ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
50:No matter what you experience on the path, never give up. Because all of the buddhas became enlightened for you. They know your potential, and they will not stop helping until you are enlightened too. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
51:Once we recognize that thoughts are empty, the mind will no longer have the power to deceive us. But as long as we take our deluded thoughts as real, they will continue to torment us mercilessly. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
52:Mind is what creates both samsara and nirvana. Yet there is nothing much to it - it is just thoughts. Once we recognize that thoughts are empty, the mind will no longer have the power to deceive us. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
53:There are three main parts to the actual practice of Guru Yoga: first there is the visualization, next the fervent prayer to the guru, and lastly the receiving of the four empowerments.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga, [T2],#KEYS
54:Until you perfect the view, do not count your practice in years or months. But instead decide to dedicate the whole remainder of your life to Dharma practice. This is the approach of the very best practitioners. ~ Yangthang Rinpoche, #KEYS
55:How should you practice these instructions? Be like a hungry yak, browsing on one tuft of grass with its eyes already fixed on the next. Practice with joy and enthusiasm, and never fall into laziness or apathy. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
56:When you are away from your spiritual friends, and you feel lonely on the path, and you feel a lack of encouragement to go on, just remember that all of the enlightened beings are always with you. You are never alone. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
57:Never underestimate the importance of keeping your vows. Just how a castle will protect the king from being attacked by the enemy, the vows will protect your mind from being attacked by your mental afflictions. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
58:When death finally comes, you will welcome it like an old friend, being aware of how dreamlike and impermanent the phenomenal world really is. You should leave this life like an eagle soaring up into the blue sky. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
59:Rest in natural great peace, this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace. ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#KEYS
60:Do not keep putting off practice, thinking that another location or another time would be more suitable.
Nothing is better than the present moment. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, bring your life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
61:Action is being truly observant of your own thoughts, good and bad, looking into the true nature of whatever thoughts may arise, neither tracing the past nor inviting the future, …" ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying,", (1994)., #KEYS
62:If you can practice the dharma with as much energy that you have been giving to your samsaric existence, sooner or later you will definitely become a buddha. It is your choice. You have been shown the way. Nobody can do it for you. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
63:Without any possessions, and locked inside a prison, an experienced meditator could still feel joyful and free. While so many people who may travel the world, and who have every luxury and freedom, are still feeling joyless and imprisoned. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
64:When the wind blows the clouds disappear, and all of space is filled with the light of the sun. Likewise, through the power of dharma practice, our obscurations will disappear, revealing what has been there since beginningless time; a buddha. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
65:Just as light destroys darkness,
Generosity destroys miserliness,
Discipline destroys harmfulness.
Patience destroys intolerance,
Perseverance destroys laziness,
Concentration destroys distraction,
Wisdom destroys ignorance. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
66:Ask yourself: Do I want to continue being a great practitioner of ignorance, anger, and desire? Or do I want to become a great practitioner of wisdom and compassion instead?
Do not waste your precious human rebirth by making the wrong decision. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
67:He who has made the Buddha his refuge
Cannot be killed by ten million demons;
Though he transgress his vows or be tormented in mind,
It is certain that he will go beyond rebirth.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, Sutra of the Heart of the Sun,#KEYS
68:If anyone - superior or inferior - comes to hinder your practice, you should be unshakable, like an iron boulder pulled by a silk scarf. It won't do to be a weak character whose head bends in whichever direction the wind blows, like grass on a mountain pass. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche, #KEYS
69:You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a Reality, You are that Reality. When you understand this, you will see that you are nothing. and being nothing, you are everything. That is all." ~ Dudjom Rinpoche, (1904-1987) a Tibet's meditation master, Wikipedia, #KEYS
70:The fear that impermanence awakens in us, that nothing is real and nothing lasts, is, we come to discover, our greatest friend because it drives us to ask: If everything dies & changes, then what is really true?" ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", (1994), #KEYS
71:Each one of us is responsible for other living beings' happiness, besides our own. As a result, your loving kindness is the most wish-fulfilling thing in life, more precious than anything else in this world. That makes for a most satisfying, fulfilling life. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #KEYS
72:Ignorance can be compared to a dark room in which you sleep. No matter how long the room has been dark, an hour or a million years, the moment the lamp of awareness is lit the entire room becomes luminous. You are that luminosity. You are that clear light. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #KEYS
73:The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
74:If you could take the bliss and happiness that comes from meditation, and put it into a bottle, it would be the most popular drink in the world. Of course, this is not possible. But the good news is that it is free, it is good for your health, and it is always available. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
75:No matter how insignificant you feel, no matter what problems you have, and no matter how many afflictive emotions fill your mind, never underestimate your potential for a single moment. Like a diamond covered by dirt, your buddha nature is there, waiting to be discovered. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
76:If you can remember that all beings have buddha nature, it will help you cultivate equanimity, because it will feel like everybody is your family. The greater your equanimity, the greater your love and compassion towards them, no matter who they are, or what they have done. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
77:With enough heat, ice will turn into water, and then water will turn into steam. Likewise, with the heat of practice, intellectually understanding the nature of reality will eventually turn into the direct experience of it. As long as you keep practicing, this is guaranteed. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
78:The more you are preoccupied by your own physical aging, the more anxious you will become. Do not worry so much about your physical appearance. Concentrate, rather, on not wasting your life. Practise the Dharma. The more you engage in it, the more your satisfaction will grow. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
79:Like a feather that is blown wherever the wind takes it, a weak and undisciplined mind is easily influenced by its environment and can be blown off the path.
Until your mind becomes like a mountain that no wind can move, take care of who you mix with, and how you spend your time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
80:Studying the dharma is a vital part of our path. But if we never practice what we have studied, it is as if we have built a great ship, and then left it on dry land. The ship must set sail. That is the only way that we can cross the ocean of samsara to the enlightened state of a buddha. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
81:The higher you go up the ladder, the more painful the fall. The lower you go down the ladder, the less painful the fall. If you are not on the ladder, you can not fall.
Likewise, big ego, big fall, big suffering. Less ego, less fall, less suffering. No ego, no fall, no suffering. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
82:It's very important to understand what creates samsara, also called the realm of confusion. Samsara does not arise from external circumstances. It's not tied to any particular object in the world around us. What creates samsara is how the mind habitually clings to its misperceptions of reality. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #KEYS
83:Always remember that how we react to every moment of our life will reinforce either our negative habits or positive habits. No matter how challenging life may be, each moment can be seen as either a problem or an opportunity. If we can understand this, we can start to bring our entire life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
84:Within the sky-like empty mind, habitual tendencies and disturbing emotions are just like clouds and mist. When they appear, they appear within the expanse of empty mind. When they remain, they remain within the expanse of empty mind. And when they dissolve, they dissolve in that same expanse of empty mind. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #KEYS
85:It is crucial that practitioners not simply adopt an intellectual approach to the dharma, but rather understand the immense importance of engaging in actions of merit and virtue. Each practitioner is encouraged to examine whether there is a meeting of the view of the dharma in one's daily conduct and activities. ~ Minling Trichen Rinpoche, #KEYS
86:There are so many ways of making the approach to meditation as joyful as possible. You can find the music that most exalts you and use it to open your heart and mind. You can collect pieces of poetry, or quotations of lines of teachings that over the years have moved you, and keep them always at hand to elevate your spirit. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #KEYS
87:The dharma, whether it is sutra, tantra, mahamudra, or dzogchen, is like pure gold. No matter how many other metals that mix with it, pure gold can always be extracted. Likewise, any culture can easily absorb the dharma, whether it is in ancient Tibet or the modern day West, as the dharma is beyond culture, time, and place. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
88:No amount of intellectual knowledge can satisfy the need for the direct experience that is beyond concepts and duality. Do not be a fool and spend your whole life in a book.
Of course you must study the teachings, but you must also know when it is time to put what you have learnt into practice. Only direct experience can set you free. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
89:Quoting Dudjom Rinpoche on the buddha-nature: No words can describe it No example can point to it Samsara does not make it worse Nirvana does not make it better It has never been born It has never ceased It has never been liberated It has never been deluded It has never existed It has never been nonexistent It has no limits at all It does not fall into any kind of category ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #KEYS
90:The guru is the equal of all the buddhas. To make any connection with him, whether through seeing him, hearing his voice, remembering him or being touched by his hand, will lead us toward liberation. To have full confidence in him is the sure way to progress toward enlightenment. The warmth of his wisdom and compassion will melt the ore of our being and release the gold of the buddha-nature within. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
91:Death can not be fought off by any warrior, ordered away by the powerful, or paid off by the rich. Death leaves nowhere to run to, no place to hide, no refuge, no defender or guide.
So, reflect sincerely and meditate on how important it is from this very moment onwards never to slip into laziness and procrastination, but to practice the true Dharma, the only thing you can be sure will help at the moment of death. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
92:Activities are endless, like ripples on a stream. They end only when you drop them.
Human moods are like the changing highlights and shadows on a sunlit mountain range.
All activities are like the games children play, like castles being made of sand.
View them with delight and equanimity, like grandparents overseeing their grandchildren, or a shepherd resting on a hill watching over his grazing flock. ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#KEYS
93:Although some Western psychologies believe that the dreamer should not control the dream, according to Tibetan teachings this is a wrong view. It is better for the lucid and aware dreamer to control the dream than for the dreamer to be dreamed. The same is true with thoughts: it is better for the thinker to control the thoughts than for the thoughts to control the thinker. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep, #KEYS
94:Practice in a straightforward way. There is no need to live in fantasy and 'pretend' to be anything other than what you are. Be honest and open with yourself - if you are a good person, recognize that goodness and build upon it. If you are a deluded person, recognize that delusion and begin to disentangle yourself from it, be rid of it. It is essential that your practice be pure, straightforward and honest. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, #KEYS
95:Our mind is spinning around,
About carrying out a lot of useless projects.
It's a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You are completely distracted,
By all of these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don't be a fool. For once, just sit tight. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
96:The ground is composed of gold, the trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and the rain is the rainfall of nectar. All beings are dakas and dakinis; the calls of the birds are the sounds of Dharma; the sounds of nature, wind, water, and fire reverberate as the Vajra Guru mantra; and all thoughts are expressions of wisdom and bliss. So here the perception of purity is much vaster and more omnipresent than in the sutras.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga,#KEYS
97:Throughout the past 2500 years, whichever country Buddhism has been taught in, there have always been great yogis. Likewise, sooner or later there will be the great yogis of the West. This is because Buddhism has nothing to do with culture, gender, language, or colour. Buddhism is for all beings throughout time and space. And whoever dedicates their life to putting the teachings into practice will become a great yogi. It is as simple as that. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #KEYS
98:We also know life passes quickly and death is certain, yet in our busy lives we find it difficult to practice as much as we wish we could. Perhaps we meditate for an hour or two each day, but that leaves the other twenty-two hours in which to be distracted and tossed about on the waves of samsara. But there is always time for sleep; the third of our lives we spend sleeping can be used for practice.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#KEYS
99:At all times, do not lose courage in your inner awareness; uplift yourself, while assuming a humble position in your outer demeanor. Follow the example of the life and complete liberation of previous accomplished masters. Do not blame your past karma; instead, be someone who purely and flawlessly practices the dharma. Do not blame temporary negative circumstances; instead, be someone who remains steadfast in the face of whatever circumstances may arise. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche, #KEYS
100:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron, #KEYS
101:This awareness, free from an inside or an outside, is open like the sky.
It is penetrating Wakefulness free from limitations and partiality.
Within the vast and open space of this all-embracing mind,
All phenomena of samsara and nirvana manifest like rainbows in the sky.
Within this state of unwavering awareness,
All that appears and exists, like a reflection,
Appears but is empty, resounds but is empty.
Its nature is Emptiness from the very beginning.
~ Tsogdruk Rinpoche, The Flight of Garuda,#KEYS
102:Who is the object of homage?
You, whose face is very white, lovely and beautiful, glowing with light like an array of a hundred full autumn moons, all together, without the dust from earth and water, You are adorned with completely open, immeasurable twofold knowledge like the hosts of a thousand stars, The brilliant light of your clear wisdom manifesting the four correct analytical knowledges shines forth, Noble Lady Tara, Goddess Vajra Sarasvati, I pay homage to you. ~ Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, Smile Of Sun And Moon,#KEYS
103:Please understand that all sentient beings, all our past parents, want nothing but happiness. Unfortunately, through their negative actions they only create the causes for further pain and suffering. Take this to heart and consider all our parents, wandering blindly and endlessly through painful samsaric states. When we truly take this to heart, out of compassion we feel motivated to achieve enlightenment to truly help all of them. This compassionate attitude is indispensable as a preparation for practice. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #KEYS
104:For example, when practitioners transform into Shenlha Ökar (Shen Deity of White Light), they visualize their bodies as being adorned with the thirteen ornaments of peacefulness that in themselves evoke the enlightened quality of peacefulness.2 Shenlha Ökar himself embodies all six of the antidote qualities of love, generosity, wisdom, openness, peacefulness, and compassion; so as soon as you transform into Shenlha Ökar, you instantly embody these same qualities. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind, #KEYS
105:All of the various types of teachings and spiritual paths are related to the different capacities of understanding that different individuals have. There does not exist, from an absolute point of view, any teaching which is more perfect or effective than another. A teaching's value lies solely in the inner awakening which an individual can arrive at through it. If a person benefits from a given teaching, for that person that teaching is the supreme path, because it is suited to his or her nature and capacities. ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, #KEYS
106:Never underestimate the long-term consequences of your actions. For as long as the mind has the obscurration of grasping at an inherently existing "me", then there will be karma. No matter how far on the path one is, no matter how realised one is, no matter how many miraculous powers one has attained, for as long as there is even a subtle trace of this obscurration, karma is there.
That is why Padmasambhava, an enlightened being not even affected by it, had skilfully told ordinary beings, "My realization is higher than the sky, but my observance of karma is finer than grains of flour." ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
107:The reason why you do not touch fire is because you know that it will cause you to suffer. Likewise, if you truly understand karma, you will not commit a single negative action, because unless that negative karma is purified, you know that it will eventually ripen into suffering.
You might forget this natural process, or you might not believe in it, because the ripening does not always happen immediately. But your karma will follow you like your shadow, that gets closer and closer without you realising, until you are eventually touched by it. Please, I urge you to always remember this. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
108:So, first of all, it is most important to turn inwards and change your motivation.
If you can correct your attitude, skilful means will permeate your positive actions, and you will have set out on the path of great beings.
If you cannot, you might think that you are studying and practising the Dharma but it will be no more than a semblance of the real thing.
Therefore, whenever you listen to the teachings and whenever you practise, be it meditating on a deity, doing prostrations and circumambulations, or reciting a mantra-even a single mani it is always essential to give rise to bodhicitta. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
109:I would like to tell you that an enlightened essence is present in everyone. It is present in every state, both samsara and nirvana, and in all sentient beings; there is no exception. Experience your buddha nature, make it your constant practice, and you will reach enlightenment. In my lifetime I have known many, many people who attained such and enlightened state, both male and female. Awakening to enlightenment is not an ancient fable. It is not mythology. It actually does happen. Bring the oral instructions into your own practical experience and enlightenment is indeed possible; it is not just a fairy tale. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #KEYS
110:Patrul Rinpoche tells the story of an old frog who had lived all his life in a dank well. One day a frog from the sea paid him a visit. "Where do you come from?" asked the frog in the well. "From the great ocean," he replied. "How big is your ocean?" "It's gigantic." "You mean about a quarter of the size of my well here?" "Bigger." "Bigger? You mean half as big?" "No, even bigger." "Is it . . . as big as this well?" "There's no comparison." "That's impossible! I've got to see this for myself." They set off together. When the frog from the well saw the ocean, it was such a shock that his head just exploded into pieces. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #KEYS
111:During this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble - so terrified that their hair stands up on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with new types of weapons. If we were called on to confront them, there is no way we Dharma practitioners could defeat them. That is why we make supplication prayers to the three jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities. This is what I urge you to do. ~ Chatral Rinpoche, #KEYS
112:There are a vast amount of Buddhas already, and each one manifests countless forms simultaneously throughout all of the planes of cyclic existence for the benefit of all beings. However, at any given time, each individual being will have a stronger karmic connection with certain Buddhas, compared to other Buddhas.
Likewise, if you were a Buddha, since a huge number of beings throughout cyclic existence would have a stronger karmic connection with you during certain times, you would be able to benefit them much more directly than the many other Buddhas would be able to. Do not forget this.
The deeper you realise this, the greater your bodhicitta motivation becomes - in other words, the greater your compassionate wish to attain the enlightened state of a Buddha for the benefit of all beings, as soon as possible!
~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#KEYS
113:From the start, every practice requires three steps: learning, reflection, and application. To begin with, we need to receive the teachings in an authentic way. Real learning involves gaining understanding about an instruction. To do this we need to hear it clearly from someone who is part of a living tradition, who has a true transmission for the teaching, and who can pass it on clearly.
Having received the teaching, we then need to reflect upon it for ourselves. We need to gain some confidence and conviction about the value and methods of the teaching.
Finally we need to put the teaching to use by familiarizing ourselves with the practice and integrating it into our life. I want to stress this: after understanding a teaching intellectually and establishing it with certainty, it is vital to clear up any misconceptions and doubts you may have about it. Then you must make use of it in a very personal and intimate way, by practising. This is where any teaching becomes effective - by actually practising it, not simply knowing about it.
~ Adeu Rinpoche,#KEYS
114:You are living today in countries where the Dharma has only just begun to take root, like a fragile new shoot in the ground. Only your sustained diligence will bring it to fruition. Depending on the effort you put into study, reflection and meditation, and to integrating what you have understood into your spiritual practice, accomplishment may be days, months, or years away. It is essential to remember that all your endeavors on the path are for the sake of others. Remain humble, and aware that your efforts are like child's play compared to the ocean-like activity of the great bodhisattvas. Be like a parent providing for much-loved children, never thinking that you have done too much for others - or even that you have done enough. If you finally managed, through your own efforts alone, to establish all beings in buddhahood, you would simply think that all your wishes had been fulfilled. Never have even a trace of hope for something in return. ~ Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart of Compassion, Instructions on Ngulchu Thogme's Thirty-Sevenfold Practice of a Bodhisattva – p 147, Padmakara Translation Group - Shechen Publications #KEYS
115:ཨོཾ། འཇིགས་པ་བརྒྱད་སྐྱོབ་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
OM, JIK PA GYÉ KYOB MA LA CHAK TSAL LO
"Om! Homage to you, who protects from the eight fears!
བཀྲ་ཤིས་དཔལ་འབར་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
TASHI PAL BAR MA LA CHAK TSAL LO
Homage to you, who shines as a beacon of goodness!
ངན་སོང་སྒོ་འགེགས་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
NGEN SONG GO GEK MA LA CHAK TSAL LO
Homage to you, who closes the gates to the lower realms!
མཐོ་རིས་ལམ་འདྲེན་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
TORI LAM DREN MA LA CHAK TSAL LO
Homage to you, who leads the way to the higher realms!
རྟག་ཏུ་ཁྱེད་ཀྱིས་སྟོངས་པར་མཛད། །
TAK TU KYÉ KYI TONG PAR DZÉ
You are my constant companion.
ད་དུང་ཐུགས་རྗེས་བསྐྱབ་ཏུ་གསོལ། །
DA DUNG TUK JÉ KYAB TU SOL
Always protect me with compassion! ~ Prayer to Tara, H E Garchen Rinpoche?#KEYS
116:I accept, will not give up, and will practice each of the Three Jewels,
And will not let go of my guru or my yidam deity.
As the samaya of the Buddha, first among the Three Jewels,
I will apply myself to the true, essential reality.
As the samaya of sacred Dharma, second among the Three Jewels,
I will distill the very essence of all the vehicles' teachings.
As the samaya of the Sangha, the third and final Jewel,
I will look upon reality; I will behold pure awareness.
And as the samaya of the guru and the yidam deity,
I will take my very own mind, my pure mind, as a witness.
Generally speaking, the Three Jewels should be regarded as the ultimate place to take refuge. As was taught in the section on taking refuge, your mind should be focused one-pointedly, with all your hopes and trust placed in their care. The gurus are a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.
As the guides who lead you along the path to liberation, they are your sole source of refuge and protection, from now until you attain enlightenment.
For these reasons, you should act with unwavering faith, pure view and devotion, and engage in the approach and accomplishment of the divine yidam deity. ~ Dzogchen Rinpoche III, Great Perfection Outer and Inner Preliminaries,#KEYS
117:The Particular Necessity for Practice
The second part discusses "the particular necessity for practice."
Through the power of the yoga of speech, the stains that obscure the mind are removed. Once this happens, speech reaches its full potential. It is like discovering the true nature of your speech for the very first time.
To activate the yoga of speech, summon the primordial wisdom deities by calling their names. Just as calling someone's name naturally causes that person to draw closer to you, in the same way calling the wisdom deities by name brings them nearer to you.
They come to see what you want.
This does not mean the wisdom deities will not come if you do not call them. They could come even if you did not call their names.
You call their names-which is what you are doing when you recite mantras-because their names express their actual nature. A quote from the Dorje Kur (rDo rje gur) scripture reads: "To directly perceive the buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakinis and your own consort, get their attention by calling their names and invite them to come." Reciting the deity's name over and over purifies obscurations of speech and establishes the cause of vajra speech.
This cause produces the condition that averts adverse conditions.
The speech of the wisdom deities and your own speech will become the same-vajra speech. ~ Gyatrul Rinpoche, Generating the Deity,#KEYS
118:Recommended Reading
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest
DH Lawrence - The Rainbow
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
Karl Ove Knausgaard - My Struggle
Virginia Woolf - To The Lighthouse
Ben Lerner - The Topeka School
Sally Rooney - Conversations With Friends
Nell Zink - The Wallcreeper
Elena Ferrante - The Days of Abandonment
Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums
Walt Whitman - Leaves of Grass
Michael Murphy - Golf in the Kingdom
Barbara Kingsolver - Prodigal Summer
Albertine Sarrazin - Astragal
Rebecca Solnit - The Faraway Nearby
Michael Paterniti - Love and Other Ways of Dying
Rainer Maria Rilke - Book of Hours
James Baldwin - Another Country
Roberto Calasso - Ka
Translation by S. Radhakrishan - Principle Upanisads
Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Translation by Georg Feuerstein - Yoga Sutra
Richard Freeman - The Mirror of Yoga
Translation by S. Radhakrishan - The Bhagavad Gita
Shrunyu Suzuki - Zen Mind Beginner's Mind
Heinrich Zimmer - Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
Sogyal Rinpoche - The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Joseph Campbell - Myths of Light
Joseph Campbell - The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Sri Aurobindo - Savitri
Thomas Meyers - Anatomy Trains
Wendy Doniger - The Hindus ~ Jason Bowman, http://www.jasonbowmanyoga.com/recommended-reading,#KEYS
119:CHAPTER V
The Actual Practice:The Yoga of Meditative Equipoise
Part II
The Yoga of the Speech Recitation
The next section explains the yoga of vajra recitation in seven parts:
(1) general understanding, (2) the particular necessity for practice, (3) the actual nature of the recitation, (4) different types of recitation, (5) the manner of reciting the mantra, (6) number of recitations and (7) activity upon completion.
General Understanding
A general understanding of the yoga of vajra recitation is approached by considering the object that needs to be purified by the yoga, the means of purification and the result. The object that needs to be purified through the yoga of speech is the habit of perceiving all sounds-names, words, syllables and anything that is spoken-as merely ordinary sounds with ordinary meanings.
Simply stated, the object to purify is your present, obscured experience of speech and the habitual instincts that accompany it.
The practice of mantra recitation purifies this impure experience and results in pure, vajra-like speech. One achieves the Sambhogakaya and becomes imbued with the sixty qualities of the Buddha's speech. All of one's words become pleasing, meaningful and helpful. The means of purification is to recite the mantra, the pure sounds which the buddhas have given to us, over and over until they are like a spinning wheel of sound. ~ Gyatrul Rinpoche, Generating the DeityZ,#KEYS
120:The Nirmanakaya manifestation of Amitabha, I,
the Indian Scholar, the Lotus Born,
From the self-blossoming center of a lotus,
Came to this realm of existence through miraculous powers
To be the prince of the king of Oddiyana.
Then, I sustained the kingdom in accordance with Dharma.
Wandering throughout all directions of India,
I severed all spiritual doubts without exception.
Engaging in fearless activity in the eight burial grounds,
I achieved all supreme and common siddhis.
Then, according to the wishes of King Trisong Detsen
And by the power of previous prayers, I journeyed to Tibet.
By subduing the cruel gods, nagas, yakshas, rakshas,
and all spirits who harm beings,
The light of the teachings of secret mantra has been illuminated.
Then, when the time came to depart for the continent of Lanka,
I did so to provide refuge from the fear of rakshas
For all the inhabitants of this world, including Tibet.
I blessed Nirmanakaya emanations to be representatives of my body.
I made sacred treasures as representatives of my holy speech.
I poured enlightened wisdom into the hearts of those with fortunate karma.
Until samsara is emptied, for the benefit of sentient beings,
I will manifest unceasingly in whatever ways are necessary.
Through profound kindness, I have brought great benefit for all.
If you who are fortunate have the mind of aspiration,
May you pray so that blessings will be received.
All followers, believe in me with determination.
Samaya. ~ The Wrathful Compassion of Guru Dorje Drollo, Vajra Master Dudjom Yeshe Dorje, translated by Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche,#KEYS
121:THE FOUR FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES
Changing the Karmic Traces
Throughout the day, continuously remain in the awareness that all experience is a dream. Encounter all things as objects in a dream, all events as events in a dream, all people as people in a dream.
Envision your own body as a transparent illusory body. Imagine you are in a lucid dream during the entire day. Do not allow these reminders to be merely empty repetition. Each time you tell yourself, "This is a dream," actually become more lucid. Involve your body and your senses in becoming more present.
Removing Grasping and Aversion
Encounter all things that create desire and attachment as the illusory empty, luminous phenomena of a dream. Recognize your reactions to phenomena as a dream; all emotions, judgments, and preferences are being dreamt up. You can be certain that you are doing this correctly if immediately upon remembering that your reaction is a dream, desire and attachment lessen.
Strengthening Intention
Before going to sleep, review the day and reflect on how the practice has been. Let memories of the day arise and recognize them as memories of dream. Develop a strong intention to be aware in the coming night's dreams. Put your whole heart into this intention and pray strongly for success.
Cultivating Memory and joyful Effort
Begin the day with the strong intention to maintain the practice. Review the night, developing happiness if you remembered or were lucid in your dreams. Recommit yourself to the practice, with the intention to become lucid if you were not, and to further develop lucidity if you were. At any time during the day or evening it is good to pray for success in practice. Generate as strong an intention as possible. This is the key to the practice, ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#KEYS
122:WHEN THE GREAT YOGIN Padmasambhava, called by Tibetans Guru Rinpoche, "the precious teacher," embarks on his spiritual journey, he travels from place to place requesting teachings from yogins and yoginls. Guided by visions and dreams, his journey takes him to desolate forests populated with ferocious wild animals, to poison lakes with fortified islands, and to cremation grounds. Wherever he goes he performs miracles, receives empowerments, and ripens his own abilities to benefit others.
When he hears of the supreme queen of all dakinls, the greatly accomplished yogini called Secret Wisdom, he travels to the Sandal Grove cremation ground to the gates of her abode, the Palace of Skulls. He attempts to send a request to the queen with her maidservant Kumari. But the girl ignores him and continues to carry huge brass jugs of water suspended from a heavy yoke across her shoulders. When he presses his request, Kumari continues her labors, remaining silent. The great yogin becomes impatient and, through his yogic powers, magically nails the heavy jugs to the floor. No matter how hard Kumari struggles, she cannot lift them.
Removing the yoke and ropes from her shoulders, she steps before Padmasambhava, exclaiming, "You have developed great yogic powers. What of my powers, great one?" And so saying, she draws a sparkling crystal knife from the girdle at her waist and slices open her heart center, revealing the vivid and vast interior space of her body. Inside she displays to Guru Rinpoche the mandala of deities from the inner tantras: forty-two peaceful deities manifested in her upper torso and head and fifty-eight wrathful deities resting in her lower torso. Abashed that he did not realize with whom he was dealing, Guru Rinpoche bows before her and humbly renews his request for teachings. In response, she offers him her respect as well, adding, "I am only a maidservant," and ushers him in to meet the queen Secret Wisdom. ~ Judith Simmer-Brown, Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism, Introduction: Encountering the Dakini,#KEYS
123:PROTECTION
Going to sleep is a little like dying, a journey taken alone into the unknown. Ordinarily we are not troubled about sleep because we are familiar with it, but think about what it entails. We completely lose ourselves in a void for some period of time, until we arise again in a dream. When we do so, we may have a different identity and a different body. We may be in a strange place, with people we do not know, involved in baffling activities that may seem quite risky.
Just trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place may occasion anxiety. The place may be perfectly secure and comfortable, but we do not sleep as well as we do at home in familiar surroundings. Maybe the energy of the place feels wrong. Or maybe it is only our own insecurity that disturbs us,and even in familiar places we may feel anxious while waiting for sleep to come, or be frightenedby what we dream. When we fall asleep with anxiety, our dreams are mingled with fear and tension, sleep is less restful, and the practice harder to do. So it is a good idea to create a sense of protection before we sleep and to turn our sleeping area into a sacred space.
This is done by imagining protective dakinis all around the sleeping area. Visualize the dakinis as beautiful goddesses, enlightened female beings who are loving, green in color, and powerfully protective. They remain near as you fall asleep and throughout the night, like mothers watching over their child, or guardians surrounding a king or queen. Imagine them everywhere, guarding the doors and the windows, sitting next to you on the bed, walking in the garden or the yard, and so on, until you feel completely protected.
Again, this practice is more than just trying to visualize something: see the dakinis with your mind but also use your imagination to feel their presence. Creating a protective, sacred environment in this way is calming and relaxing and promotes restful sleep. This is how the mystic lives: seeing the magic, changing the environment with the mind, and allowing actions, even actions of the imagination, to have significance.
You can enhance the sense of peace in your sleeping environment by keeping objects of a sacred nature in the bedroom: peaceful, loving images, sacred and religious symbols, and other objects that direct your mind toward the path.
The Mother Tantra tells us that as we prepare for sleep we should maintain awareness of the causes of dream, the object to focus upon, the protectors, and of ourselves. Hold these together inawareness, not as many things, but as a single environment, and this will have a great effect in dream and sleep.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#KEYS
124:GURU YOGA
Guru yoga is an essential practice in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. This is true in sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen. It develops the heart connection with the masteR By continually strengthening our devotion, we come to the place of pure devotion in ourselves, which is the unshakeable, powerful base of the practice. The essence of guru yoga is to merge the practitioner's mind with the mind of the master.
What is the true master? It is the formless, fundamental nature of mind, the primordial awareness of the base of everything, but because we exist in dualism, it is helpful for us to visualize this in a form. Doing so makes skillful use of the dualisms of the conceptual mind, to further strengthen devotion and help us stay directed toward practice and the generation of positive qualities.
In the Bon tradition, we often visualize either Tapihritsa* as the master, or the Buddha ShenlaOdker*, who represents the union of all the masters. If you are already a practitioner, you may have another deity to visualize, like Guru Rinpoche or a yidam or dakini. While it is important to work with a lineage with which you have a connection, you should understand that the master you visualize is the embodiment of all the masters with whom you are connected, all the teachers with whom you have studied, all the deities to whom you have commitments. The master in guru yoga is not just one individual, but the essence of enlightenment, the primordial awareness that is your true nature.
The master is also the teacher from whom you receive the teachings. In the Tibetan tradition, we say the master is more important than the Buddha. Why? Because the master is the immediate messenger of the teachings, the one who brings the Buddha's wisdom to the student. Without the master we could not find our way to the Buddha. So we should feel as much devotion to the master as we would to the Buddha if the Buddha suddenly appeared in front of us.
Guru yoga is not just about generating some feeling toward a visualized image. It is done to find the fundamental mind in yourself that is the same as the fundamental mind of all your teachers, and of all the Buddhas and realized beings that have ever lived. When you merge with the guru, you merge with your pristine true nature, which is the real guide and masteR But this should not be an abstract practice. When you do guru yoga, try to feel such intense devotion that the hair stands upon your neck, tears start down your face, and your heart opens and fills with great love. Let yourself merge in union with the guru's mind, which is your enlightened Buddha-nature. This is the way to practice guru yoga.
The Practice
After the nine breaths, still seated in meditation posture, visualize the master above and in front of you. This should not be a flat, two dimensional picture-let a real being exist there, in three dimensions, made of light, pure, and with a strong presence that affects the feeling in your body,your energy, and your mind. Generate strong devotion and reflect on the great gift of the teachings and the tremendous good fortune you enjoy in having made a connection to them. Offer a sincere prayer, asking that your negativities and obscurations be removed, that your positive qualities develop, and that you accomplish dream yoga.
Then imagine receiving blessings from the master in the form of three colored lights that stream from his or her three wisdom doors- of body, speech, and mind-into yours. The lights should be transmitted in the following sequence: White light streams from the master's brow chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your entire body and physical dimension. Then red light streams from the master's throat chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your energetic dimension. Finally, blue light streams from the master's heart chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your mind.
When the lights enter your body, feel them. Let your body, energy, and mind relax, suffused inwisdom light. Use your imagination to make the blessing real in your full experience, in your body and energy as well as in the images in your mind.
After receiving the blessing, imagine the master dissolving into light that enters your heart and resides there as your innermost essence. Imagine that you dissolve into that light, and remain inpure awareness, rigpa.
There are more elaborate instructions for guru yoga that can involve prostrations, offerings, gestures, mantras, and more complicated visualizations, but the essence of the practice is mingling your mind with the mind of the master, which is pure, non-dual awareness. Guru yoga can be done any time during the day; the more often the better. Many masters say that of all the practices it is guru yoga that is the most important. It confers the blessings of the lineage and can open and soften the heart and quiet the unruly mind. To completely accomplish guru yoga is to accomplish the path.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep, [T3],#KEYS
125:Death & Fame
When I die
I don't care what happens to my body throw ashes in the air, scatter 'em in East River bury an urn in Elizabeth New Jersey, B'nai Israel Cemetery
But I want a big funeral St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Mark's Church, the largest synagogue in Manhattan
First, there's family, brother, nephews, spry aged Edith stepmother 96, Aunt Honey from old Newark,
Doctor Joel, cousin Mindy, brother Gene one eyed one ear'd, sister-in-law blonde Connie, five nephews, stepbrothers & sisters their grandchildren, companion Peter Orlovsky, caretakers Rosenthal & Hale, Bill Morgan--
Next, teacher Trungpa Vajracharya's ghost mind, Gelek Rinpoche, there Sakyong Mipham, Dalai Lama alert, chance visiting America, Satchitananda Swami Shivananda, Dehorahava Baba, Karmapa XVI, Dudjom Rinpoche, Katagiri & Suzuki Roshi's phantoms Baker, Whalen, Daido Loorie, Qwong, Frail White-haired Kapleau Roshis, Lama Tarchen --
Then, most important, lovers over half-century Dozens, a hundred, more, older fellows bald & rich young boys met naked recently in bed, crowds surprised to see each other, innumerable, intimate, exchanging memories
"He taught me to meditate, now I'm an old veteran of the thousandday retreat --"
"I played music on subway platforms, I'm straight but loved him he loved me"
"I felt more love from him at 19 than ever from anyone"
"We'd lie under covers gossip, read my poetry, hug & kiss belly to belly arms round each other"
"I'd always get into his bed with underwear on & by morning my skivvies would be on the floor"
"Japanese, always wanted take it up my bum with a master"
"We'd talk all night about Kerouac & Cassady sit Buddhalike then sleep in his captain's bed."
"He seemed to need so much affection, a shame not to make him happy"
"I was lonely never in bed nude with anyone before, he was so gentle my stomach shuddered when he traced his finger along my abdomen nipple to hips-- "
"All I did was lay back eyes closed, he'd bring me to come with mouth & fingers along my waist"
"He gave great head"
So there be gossip from loves of 1948, ghost of Neal Cassady commin-gling with flesh and youthful blood of 1997 and surprise -- "You too? But I thought you were straight!"
"I am but Ginsberg an exception, for some reason he pleased me."
"I forgot whether I was straight gay queer or funny, was myself, tender and affectionate to be kissed on the top of my head, my forehead throat heart & solar plexus, mid-belly. on my prick, tickled with his tongue my behind"
"I loved the way he'd recite 'But at my back allways hear/ time's winged chariot hurrying near,' heads together, eye to eye, on a pillow --"
Among lovers one handsome youth straggling the rear
"I studied his poetry class, 17 year-old kid, ran some errands to his walk-up flat, seduced me didn't want to, made me come, went home, never saw him again never wanted to... "
"He couldn't get it up but loved me," "A clean old man." "He made sure I came first"
This the crowd most surprised proud at ceremonial place of honor--
Then poets & musicians -- college boys' grunge bands -- age-old rock star Beatles, faithful guitar accompanists, gay classical con-ductors, unknown high Jazz music composers, funky trum-peters, bowed bass & french horn black geniuses, folksinger fiddlers with dobro tamborine harmonica mandolin auto-harp pennywhistles & kazoos
Next, artist Italian romantic realists schooled in mystic 60's India, Late fauve Tuscan painter-poets, Classic draftsman Massa-chusets surreal jackanapes with continental wives, poverty sketchbook gesso oil watercolor masters from American provinces
Then highschool teachers, lonely Irish librarians, delicate biblio-philes, sex liberation troops nay armies, ladies of either sex
"I met him dozens of times he never remembered my name I loved him anyway, true artist"
"Nervous breakdown after menopause, his poetry humor saved me from suicide hospitals"
"Charmant, genius with modest manners, washed sink, dishes my studio guest a week in Budapest"
Thousands of readers, "Howl changed my life in Libertyville Illinois"
"I saw him read Montclair State Teachers College decided be a poet-- "
"He turned me on, I started with garage rock sang my songs in Kansas City"
"Kaddish made me weep for myself & father alive in Nevada City"
"Father Death comforted me when my sister died Boston l982"
"I read what he said in a newsmagazine, blew my mind, realized others like me out there"
Deaf & Dumb bards with hand signing quick brilliant gestures
Then Journalists, editors's secretaries, agents, portraitists & photo-graphy aficionados, rock critics, cultured laborors, cultural historians come to witness the historic funeral Super-fans, poetasters, aging Beatnicks & Deadheads, autograph-hunters, distinguished paparazzi, intelligent gawkers
Everyone knew they were part of 'History" except the deceased who never knew exactly what was happening even when I was alive
February 22, 1997
~ Allen Ginsberg,#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. —Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche ~ rick-hanson, @wisdomtrove 2:Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. —Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Some ~ rick-hanson, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:exist. If you were ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
2:Be happy; without reason." ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
3:"Be happy; without reason." ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
4:"Light must come from inside." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
5:Only the impossible is worth doing. ~ Akong Rinpoche, #NFDB
6:Only the impossible is worth doing. ~ Akong Rinpoche, #NFDB
7:"Relax in everything you do!" ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, #NFDB
8:There is no armor like perseverance. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
9:Meditation is bringing the mind home. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
10:OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
11:learning to live is learning to let go ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
12:Learning to live is learning to let go. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
13:"Our real nature is infinite in scope." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
14:The act of meditation is being spacious. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
15:"Everybody has Buddha-nature." ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
16:The point is to be free, not to be crazy. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
17:"A compassionate mind is a diligent mind." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
18:Fear appears from a false vision of reality. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
19:A disciplined mind invites true joy. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
20:Aprender a vivir es aprender a desprenderse. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
21:"The narrow mind rejects; wisdom accepts." ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
22:"If your mind is pure, everyone is a Buddha." ~ Trulshik Rinpoche, #NFDB
23:Dream, rather than let yourself be dreamt ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
24:Let the sky outside awake a sky inside your mind. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
25:Life and death are in the mind, and nowhere else. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
26:The entire path is a shift in perception. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
27:Thoughts and emotions will always arise. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
28:"We're all Buddhas. We just don't recognize it." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
29:All phenomena are expressions of the mind. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
30:"In a sense, we're homesick for our true nature." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
31:People will die as they have lived, as themselves. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
32:TO CUT THROUGH problems, we need problems. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
33:May the suffering of all beings be pacified. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
34:Thich Nhat Hanh writes with the voice of the Buddha. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
35:True confidence comes from realizing the view. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
36:Everything can be used as an invitation to meditation ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
37:Real devotion is an unbroken receptivity to the truth ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
38:The future is very much in our hands--in our actions. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
39:"The supreme form of wealth is contentment." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
40:We're all buddhas. We just don't recognize it. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
41:You see, we are all dying. It’s only a matter of time. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
42:To go beyond samsara and nirvana, we will need ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
43:Meditation is simply getting to know your mind. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
44:Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
45:"Since there is no self, there is also no other." ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
46:Compassion is the spontaneous wisdom of the heart. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
47:Our top priority is to relieve suffering of human beings. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
48:It’s never too early or too late to benefit beings. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
49:Our buddha nature is as good as any buddha’s buddha nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
50:Praying is not about asking; it's about listening... ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
51:"Understanding karma makes our life meaningful right now." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
52:Sitting like a mountain let your mind rise and fly and soar. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
53:"The absolute can only be comprehended through experience." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
54:There is no thing to see: you simply need to see that. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
55:"When will you perform perfect work for sentient beings?" ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
56:"When you cherish others, all your wishes are fulfilled." ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
57:Don’t get too excited. In the end, it’s neither good nor bad. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
58:The longing for happiness and freedom from suffering ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
59:Tomorrow or the next life - which comes first, we never know. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
60:"No living being wishes to suffer; we all want to be happy." ~ Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
61:If you marry the dharma, realizations will be your children. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
62:In this complex world, the best way to survive is to be genuine. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
63:Love and nonattachment are the basis of true generosity. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
64:Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality; Rely ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
65:Theories are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
66:Tibetan thangka paintings and derive strength from their beauty. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
67:Knowing that I cannot escape it, I see no point in worrying about ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
68:Let your heart go out in spontaneous and immeasurable compassion. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
69:The key to finding a happy balance in modern lives is simplicity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
70:Confusion, I was taught, is the beginning of understanding, ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
71:Death is a mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
72:If one does not remember death, one does not remember Dharma. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
73:In the end, we have nothing to lose by opening our hearts. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
74:"Meditation. There is nothing to do. It is about undoing." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
75:Meditation: There is nothing to do. It is about undoing
~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche,#NFDB
76:"When we appreciate every moment, the world is beautiful." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
77:"You cannot ask the darkness to leave; you must turn on the light." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
78:A mantra is like meeting the Buddha or Bodhisattva himself. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
79:Practice is personal; no two people's experiences are alike. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
80:The root of dissatisfaction: always looking for the next thing.
~ Dzogchen Rinpoche,#NFDB
81:The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
82:Never underestimate your potential. Buddha nature is always there. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
83:Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
84:If we allow our thoughts to arise and dissolve by themselves, ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
85:using an object as support allows awareness to realize itself. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
86:We are acting as if we were the last generation on the planet. Without ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
87:When we become fixed in our perceptions, we lose our ability to fly." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
88:"When we become fixed in our perceptions we lose our ability to fly." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
89:It is our mind, and that alone, that chains us or sets us free. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
90:"The only thing we really have any control over is our own experience." ~ Traleg Rinpoche, #NFDB
91:Any daily activity can be used as an opportunity for meditation. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
92:"Find hope where there is none because no one is going to give it to you." ~ Tsem Rinpoche, #NFDB
93:"There's no difference between what is seen and the mind that sees it." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
94:"It is our mind, and that alone, that chains us or sets us free." ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
95:"It takes courage to accept life fully, to say yes to our life." ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
96:When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen, ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
97:"The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
98:"The root of dissatisfaction: always looking for the next thing." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
99:"When you transform your mind, everything you experience is transformed." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
100:The greatest gift that you can give your teacher is doing your practice. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
101:Two aspects to the relative world: relaxation and time management. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
102:When we become fixed in our perceptions we lose our ability to fly. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
103:If you vanquish ego-clinging today, tonight you will be enlightened. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
104:When we become fixed in our perceptions, we lose our ability to fly. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
105:If you do not let go of what binds you to samsara, you will never be free. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
106:If you have devotion, the Buddha is always right in front of you. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
107:"Liberation is not something you have to create; liberation is inside you." ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche, #NFDB
108:life is inherently sacred and must be lived with sacred intensity and purpose ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
109:There's no difference between what is seen and the mind that sees it. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
110:This unconditional wakefulness is described in the Sanskrit term bodhicitta, ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
111:When the right causes and conditions come together, anything can appear.
~ Khyentse Rinpoche,#NFDB
112:If what happened cannot be changed, why worry? If it can be changed, why worry? ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
113:"Recognizing that we will die energizes our aspiration to create good karma." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
114:The simplicity of total trust is one of the most powerful forces in the world. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
115:"The things that obscure have an inherent capacity to reveal as well." ~ Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, #NFDB
116:Tomorrow or your next existence,
Who knows which will come first? ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#NFDB
117:What is the use of a realization that fails to reduce your disturbing emotions? ~ Guru Rinpoche, #NFDB
118:Attachment is the main thing that is blocking your path towards enlightenment. ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
119:Don't even think for a moment that you are not going to die. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
120:Let yourself become that space that welcomes any experience without judgement. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
121:The basic nature of all conscious beings is 'self-existing wakefulness'. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
122:The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
123:When you transform your mind, everything you experience is transformed. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
124:You fall in love with your heart; you fall out of love with your head. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
125:Of course, now as a woman you can do so much, without being necessarily a rinpoche. ~ Tenzin Palmo, #NFDB
126:The attempt to satisfy greed is like drinking salty water when thirsty. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
127:"The best form of security we can offer ourselves is to develop an open heart." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
128:The essence of the highest teachings lies within a simple moment of awareness. ~ Khandro Rinpoche, #NFDB
129:When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
130:"Mindfulness should guide all your actions and your spiritual endeavors." ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
131:"Spiritual experiences are like mist, they will evaporate." ~ Dudjom Rinpoche (Jigdral Yeshe Dorje), #NFDB
132:The Buddha said that all conscious beings possess an enlightened nature. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
133:There would be no chance to get to know death at all ...if it happened only once. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
134:"When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
135:The only cause of happiness is love. The only cause of suffering is self grasping. ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
136:Sometimes even when the cell door is flung open, the prisoner chooses not to escape. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
137:"The sun of real happiness shines in your life when you start to cherish others." ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
138:If everything were permanent, singular, or independent, nothing would change. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
139:"Just like the lotus among flowers is bodhicitta supreme among all virtuous thoughts." ~ Khunu Rinpoche, #NFDB
140:"Most people want to live long but don't want to age. I see a problem here." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
141:The natural purity of our mind is of no use to us if we are not aware of it, ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
142:We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
143:"When the right causes and conditions come together, anything can appear." ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
144:...with the power of compassion there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
145:A real miracle, he said, was if someone could liberate just one negative emotion. More ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
146:Examine the nature of hatred; you will find that it is no more than a thought. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
147:True freedom comes about through confidence in liberating any and all thought states. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
148:"Use every distraction as an object of meditation and they cease to be distractions." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
149:It is impossible to have complete control over the world. Control your mind instead. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
150:You never receive blessings just from asking. Blessings come when you have got devotion. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #NFDB
151:Kagyu school lies in the tradition of passing instructions orally from master to ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
152:True freedom comes about through confidence in liberating any & all thought states. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
153:Meditation is one of the rare occasions when we're not doing anything. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
154:Sometimes we are too polite with our suffering and allow it to dominate our life. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
155:Theoretical knowledge has no end. Take to heart and practice what you have learned. ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #NFDB
156:What should we "do" with the mind in meditation? Nothing. Just leave it, simply, as it is. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
157:More important than finding the teacher is finding and following the truth of the teaching. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
158:On the day that you were born, you began to die. Do not waste a single moment more! ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
159:Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
160:"Sometimes we are too polite with our suffering and allow it to dominate our life." ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
161:The young grasp at the future. The old grasp at the past. The wise remain in the present. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
162:The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
163:"Thoughts aren't really fixed realities, but simply movements of the mind that is thinking." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
164:As Trungpa Rinpoche put it, “Everybody loves something, even if it’s only tortillas.” Bodhichitta ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
165:Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation. Shambhala: Boston, 1976, ~ Stephen Cope, #NFDB
166:Light must come from inside. You cannot ask the darkness to leave; you must turn on the light. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
167:As long as we are mindful and aware, no one practice is better than another. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
168:Being human means having power; specifically, the power to accomplish whatever we want. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
169:"Conditions are always changing, and real peace lies in the ability to adapt to this changes." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
170:It is not about how much you give, it is about how much you can let go with your mind. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
171:Offer up every joy, be awake at all moments to the news that is always arriving out of silence. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
172:The truth about who we really are, beyond all appearances, is knowledge worth seeking. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
173:We must never forget that it is through our actions, words, and thoughts that we have a choice. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
174:Even though the meditator may leave the meditation, the meditation will not leave the meditator. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
175:For anyone, man or woman, who has faith in me, I have never departed. I sleep on their threshold. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #NFDB
176:Vuestra vida se aleja como el sol poniente,
la muerte se acerca como las sombras de la noche. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
177:Simply allow your thoughts and experiences to come and go, without ever grasping at them. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
178:"The nature of the mind is emptiness, the unified state of being both cognizant and empty." ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #NFDB
179:Anything is possible. The point is to keep your heart and mind open to the likelihood of change. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
180:As the Buddha said: "I have shown you the way to liberation,
now you must take it for yourself. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
181:"If we could see the whole truth of any situation, our only response would be one of compassion." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
182:Stupas protect beings from 5 major disasters: war, epidemic diseases, famine, pollution, n poverty. ~ Akong Rinpoche, #NFDB
183:The most essential thing in life is to establish an unafraid, heartfelt communication with others. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
184:...we and all sentient beings fundamentally have the buddha nature as our innermost essence. . . . ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
185:how hollow and futile life can be when it's founded on a false belief in continuity and permanence. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
186:"It doesn't matter whether one calls themselves a Buddhist or not a Buddhist. The dharma is love." ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
187:When we look in the mirror, the one thing we don't want to see is an ordinary human being. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
188:When you see your own desire to be happy, you can't avoid seeing the same desire in others. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
189:Anyone looking honestly at life will see that we live in a constant state of suspense and ambiguity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
190:"The development of loving-kindness and compassion begins with learning how to appreciate oneself." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
191:"Whenever we see something which would benefit others, no matter how small, then we should do it." ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche, #NFDB
192:"Once we know that we hold the key to the self-created cage of samsara...denial turns into courage." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
193:Seeing that nothing is solid or permanent you begin to make yourself at home in the unknown. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
194:In the garden of gentle sanity May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness. —CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
195:Within our perceived weaknesses and imperfections lies the key to realizing our true strength. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
196:If we could see the whole truth of any situation, our only response would be one of compassion. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
197:Our problems, all come from nothing; they are all based on a misunderstanding that does not even exist. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
198:"Everyone wants happiness, but the true way to reach perfect happiness is to bring happiness to others." ~ Patrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
199:Whenever ego suffers from fear of death & your practice turns to seeing impermanence, ego settles down. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
200:"The expectation that you bring to your meditation are often the greatest obstacles you will encounter." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
201:Death is a mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #NFDB
202:Just as the ocean has waves or the sun has rays, so the minds's own radiance is its thoughts and emotions. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
203:responsabilité. Parfois, lorsque la porte de la cellule s’ouvre, le prisonnier choisit de ne pas s’évader. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
204:Being aggressive, you can accomplish some things, but with gentleness, you can accomplish all things. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
205:"There is no friend more sublime, more beneficial, than giving. It ripens effects that are inexhaustible." ~ Kangyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
206:This dying forces you to look into yourself. And in this, compassion is the only way. Love is the only way. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
207:And being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
208:Of all footprints That of the elephant is supreme; Of all mindfulness meditations That on death is supreme.7 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
209:The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
210:What is really baffling about life is that sometimes, despite all our confusion, we can also be really wise! ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
211:Whenever ego suffers from fear of death & your practice turns to seeing impermanence, ego settles down. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
212:Love is the only cause of happiness. Its nature is all-pervasive like space. Love is the sunlight of the mind ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
213:The expectations you bring to meditation practice are often the greatest obstacles you will encounter. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
214:"Find the cause of suffering and remove it. Then you can attain peace. Is that religion? No. It's reality." ~ Lama Chime Rinpoche, #NFDB
215:What good are thoughts and emotions-in fact all of our experiences-if not to increase our realization? ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
216:Meditation could be said to be the Art of Simplicity: simply sitting, simply breathing and simply being. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
217:When remaining in awareness itself, every thought movement, no matter what kind, is like a drawing in air. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
218:Like a robe wears out over time and turns to rags, life wears out from day to day, from second to second. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
219:This world can seem marvelously convincing until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
220:We actually need intelligent doubt and skepticism; they protect us against mistaken views and propaganda. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
221:"Don't follow the past.Don't anticipate the future.Remain in the present moment.Leave your mind alone." ~ Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava, #NFDB
222:To wish happiness for others, even for those who want to do us harm, is the source of consummate happiness. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
223:Why, if we are as pragmatic as we claim, don't we begin to ask ourselves seriously: Where does our real future lie? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
224:The Western poet Rainer Maria Rilke has said that our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure.12 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
225:Whatever we have done with our lives makes us what we are when we die. And everything, absolutely everything, counts. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
226:Ce que vous êtes est ce que vous avez été », disait le Bouddha ; « ce que vous serez est ce que vous faites maintenant ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
227:One very special piece of advice that Longchenpa gives is to forget yesterday’s suffering just like last night’s dream. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
228:When your fear touches someone’s pain it becomes pity; when your love touches someone’s pain, it becomes compassion.”4 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
229:Not recognizing natural mind is simply an example of the mind's unlimited capacity to create whatever it wants. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
230:There is only one law in the universe that never changes-- that all things change, and that all things are impermanent. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
231:Ultimately we want to use dream to liberate ourselves from all relative conditions, not simply to improve them. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
232:Well there were other Maharajis, so Neem Karoli Baba was his technical name, like there are a thousand Lamas called Rinpoche. ~ Surya Das, #NFDB
233:When I came to the West, I realized there was much hunger for spiritual teachings, but no environment for spirituality. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
234:Living with the immediacy of death helps you sort out your priorities in life. It helps you to live a less trivial life. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
235:I can't say it strongly enough; to integrate meditation in action is the whole ground and point and purpose of meditation ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
236:The funny thing about the mind is that if you ask a question and then listen quietly, the answer usually appears. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
237:Simply let experience take place very freely, so that your open heart is suffused with the tenderness of true compassion. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
238:True wisdom is free of the dramas of culture or religion and should bring us only a sense of peace and happiness. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
239:Ideally the ultimate retreat is to retreat from the past and the future to always remain in the present. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
240:MY teacher Trungpa Rinpoche encouraged us to lead our lives as an experiment, a suggestion that has been very important to me. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
241:Your emotional understanding about the preciousness of your human birth comes through conscious, repetitive mind training. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
242:dawning of compassion, the awakening of an inborn capacity to identify with and understand the experience of others. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
243:"If you're content, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. If you can calm and clear your mind, then you're content." ~ Lama Chime Rinpoche, #NFDB
244:"In a natural state of rest, all the time and in any situation, let your meditation be like the continuous flow of a river." ~ Patrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
245:The whole of meditation practice can be essentialized into these 3 crucial points: Bring your mind home. Release. And relax! ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
246:We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #NFDB
247:whatever state of mind we are in now, whatever kind of person we are now: that’s what we will be like at the moment of death, ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
248:"All the qualities of your natural mind - peace, openness, relaxation, and clarity - are present in your mind just as it is." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
249:Melting our attachment to self is the most powerful medication for bringing mental and emotional imbalances in check. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
250:Through recognizing and realizing the empty essence, instead of being selfish and self-centered, one feels very open and free ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
251:"Nirvana is not another place and time. It's here and everywhere, a timeless present in which past and future are included." ~ Lama Chime Rinpoche, #NFDB
252:Samsara is the mind turned outwardly, lost in its projections. Nirvana is the mind turned inwardly, recognizing its true nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
253:A sick body with a good heart is more beneficial to future lives than a fit, healthy body that is used for self-cherishing. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
254:If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
255:Buddhism is filled with many wonderful ideas, but it is the recognition of awareness that takes us from samara to nirvana. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
256:Those who accomplish me, accomplish all the buddhas; Those who see me, see all the buddhas. - Guru Rinpoche, Guru Yoga?
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche,#NFDB
257:Mindfulness meditation should be more than just watching what you are doing. What you really need to watch is your motivation. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
258:The most advanced technology and the most valuable asset that you will ever own is your mind. You will not find anything greater. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
259:All that we are looking for in life - all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind - is right here in the present moment. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
260:The fruit of meditation is not the absence of thoughts, but the fact that thoughts cease to harm us. Once enemies, they become friends. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
261:Western laziness consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so that there is no time at all to confront the real issues. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
262:The secret is not to “think” about thoughts, but to allow them to flow through the mind, while keeping your mind free of afterthoughts. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
263:"The fruit of meditation is not the absence of thoughts, but the fact that thoughts cease to harm us. Once enemies, they become friends." ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
264:There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; my philosophy is kindness. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
265:What most of us need, almost more than anything, is the
courage and humility really to ask for help, from the depths of
our hearts ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
266:If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
267:There is only one way of attaining liberation and of obtaining the omniscience of enlightenment: following an authentic spiritual master. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
268:So one moment you have lost something precious, and then, in the very next moment, you find your mind is resting in a deep state of peace. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
269:You might meet with many obstacles in your life. But if you are a true practitioner, you will use them as training grounds of the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
270:Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
271:"When you are practicing generosity, you should feel a little pinch when you give something away. That pinch is your stinginess protesting." ~ Gelek Rinpoche, #NFDB
272:Our society promotes cleverness instead of wisdom, and celebrates the most superficial, harsh, and least useful aspects of our intelligence. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
273:The absolute truth cannot be realized within the domain of the ordinary mind, and the path beyond the ordinary mind is the path of the heart. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
274:The mind is the source of all experience, and by changing the direction of the mind, we can change the quality of everything we experience. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
275:True compassion is undirected & holds no conceptual focus. That kind of genuine, true compassion is only possible after realizing emptiness. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
276:We do not need to get rid of the ego—this unchanging, solid, and unhealthy sense of self—because it never existed in the first place. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
277:William Blake: He who binds to himself a Joy, Does the winged life destroy; He who kisses the Joy as it flies, Lives in Eternity’s sunrise. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
278:As long as you cultivate stillness, you may enjoy peace, but whenever your mind is a little bit disturbed, deluded thoughts will set in again. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
279:William Blake: He who binds to himself a Joy, Does the winged life destroy; He who kisses the Joy as it flies, Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.7 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
280:As Stephen Levine says: “When your fear touches someone’s pain it becomes pity; when your love touches someone’s pain, it becomes compassion.”4 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
281:Day by day, be content with whatever you have and satisfied with whatever happens. Everything else will then fall naturally into place. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
282:It is compassion, then, that is the best protection; it is also, as the great masters of the past have always known, the source of all healing. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
283:There is no such thing as a bad mind. There is only a mind that is untrained, or trained. Every being has the same potential, including you. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
284:Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
285:Whenever you are in awe of an enlightened being, remember to be in awe of your own potential too. Because ultimately there is no difference. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
286:And when you talk about realization, accomplishment for that matter enlightenment is that when you realize the fundamental essence of your mind. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
287:"It takes courage to accept life fully, to say yes to our life, yes to our karma, yes to our mind, emotions and whatever else unfolds." ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
288:There is no emptiness without appearance, and there is no appearance without emptiness. That is what we call the interdependent nature. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
289:The masters say if you create an auspicious condition in your body and your environment then meditation and realization will automatically arise. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
290:True compassion is undirected & holds no conceptual focus. That kind of genuine, true compassion is only possible after realizing emptiness. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
291:The mind is the source of all experience, and by changing the direction of the mind, we can change the quality of everything we experience. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
292:Trungpa Rinpoche talked about holding the sadness of life in our heart while never forgetting the beauty of the world and the goodness of being alive. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
293:Meditation is not something that you can “do”; it is something that has to happen spontaneously, only when the practice has been perfected. However, ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
294:By renouncing samsara, we renounce our habitual grasping, unhappy minds. And by renouncing samsara, we embrace our potential for enlightenment. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
295:"If you are able, through your development of wisdom and skillful means, to unite the teachings with your life, then true results will be achieved." ~ Gyatrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
296:Train yourself, your mind, with the meditation techniques you have received, and don't twist the techniques to protect your delusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, #NFDB
297:What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of attachment to the good experiences and free of aversion to the negative ones. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
298:Everyone takes refuge in something, so once again we work with transforming ordinary tendencies into skillful means for spiritual development. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
299:What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of attachment to the good experiences, and free of aversion to the negative ones. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
300:When death finally comes you will welcome it like an old friend, being aware of how dreamlike and impermanent the pheneomenal world really is. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
301:When it is impossible for anger to arise within you, you find no outside enemies anywhere. An outside enemy exists only if there is anger inside. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
302:Just because we go through a difficult situation, it doesn’t mean that the future is predetermined. The future is very much in our hands, in our actions. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
303:The nature of mind is just too close to be recognized. Just as we are unable to see our own face, mind finds it difficult to look into its own nature. 2. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
304:What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of
attachment to the good experiences, and free of aversion to the negative ones. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
305:If you're determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
306:True success is not measured by the amount of money that you have made. It is measured by the amount of wisdom and compassion that you have cultivated. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
307:182. "You must constantly nourish openness, breadth of vision, willingness, enthusiasm, and reverence, that will change the whole atmosphere of your mind." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
308:Happiness and unhappiness are not primarily created by the material world or the physical body. First and foremost, they are decisions of the mind. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
309:If you meditate in perfect peace and then flash someone an irritable look because they make noise or their child cries, you are entirely missing the point. ~ Khandro Rinpoche, #NFDB
310:In those who lack faith
Nothing positive will grow
Just as from a burnt seed
No green shoot will ever sprout.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher,#NFDB
311:Once you overcome the hatred within your mind, you will discover that in the world outside, there is no longer any such thing as even a single enemy. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
312:There is a famous saying: "If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear". ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
313:You can enjoy your perceptions without actively engaging them, looking at them in the same way you’d look at the objects you’d experience in a dream. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
314:Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
315:Most of us have had the experience of sitting by the seashore or on a mountaintop, simply enjoying the beauty of nature, relaxed, content, and present. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
316:Para la persona que se ha preparado y ha practicado, la muerte llega no como una derrota, sino como un triunfo, el momento más glorioso que corona toda la vida. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
317:We believe deep down that we've lost something precious and are seeking it outside ourselves, never realizing that we are carrying it within us wherever we go. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
318:Your path may be different to your family, friends, and country. But despite what they may think, it does not mean that you are going in the wrong direction. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
319:Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life reveals just the opposite: that letting go is the real path to freedom. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
320:Because the dying also are unable to help themselves, we should relieve them of discomfort and anxiety, and assist them, as far as we can, to die with composure. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
321:Emotional states are fairly quick bursts of neuronal gossip. Traits, on the other hand, are more like the neuronal equivalent of committed relationships. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
322:In our own present world age, one thousand Buddhas will appear. Each one will be accompanied by an emanation of Guru Rinpoche to carry out the Buddha’s activities. ~ Padmasambhava, #NFDB
323:Becoming liberated from samsara is an inner journey. You can travel across the world and universe, and you will not find a way out. To get out, you must go in. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
324:Real devotion is an unbroken receptivity to the truth. Real devotion is rooted in an awed and reverent gratitude, but one that is lucid, grounded, and intelligent. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
325:The faith of total trust allows blessings to enter you.
When the mind is free of doubt, whatever you wish can be achieved.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher,#NFDB
326:The most precious gift that you could ever give to somebody is the Dharma.
The most precious gift that you could ever give to yourself is the practice of it. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
327:Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
328:For all who think of him with faith
The Buddha is there in front of them
And will give empowerments and blessings.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, [T5],#NFDB
329:I am never far from those with faith, or even from those without it, though they do not see me. My children will always, always, be protected by my compassion. ~ Guru Rinpoche, [T5], #NFDB
330:What the world needs more than anything are Bodhisattvas of peace, lawyers, politicians, teachers working tirelessly for the enlightenment of themselves and others. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
331:The best part of all is that no matter how long you practice, or what method you use, every technique of Buddhist meditation ultimately generates compassion. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
332:At times, just relax in places with rivers, flowers, and so on, focusing on the visualization and singing HUM in a melodious, drawn out fashion.
~ Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, 1759-1792,#NFDB
333:Buddha was once asked to describe the essence of his teachings," Rinpoche said. "Do you know what he replied? 'Abandon harmfulness. Cultivate goodness. Subdue your mind. ~ David Michie, #NFDB
334:If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
335:The past is the past, the future not yet risen, and even the present thought, as we experience it, becomes the past. The only thing we really have is nowness, is now. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
336:Your practice should be strengthened by the difficult situations you encounter, just as a bonfire in a strong wind is not blown out, but blazes even brighter. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
337:If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
338:The best time to practice, the best time to prepare for the reality of death, and the best time to clarify our own Dharma Visions, is the present. Don’t waste a moment. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
339:There is no logical reason why thoughts, which have no substance, should have so much power over you, nor is there any reason why you should become their slave ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
340:Like birds landing on a tree top together, and then dispersing, we are together for a very short time, so it makes sense to live in harmony, in unconditional friendship. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
341:Meditation practice is regarded as a good and in fact excellent way to overcome warfare in the world: our own warfare as well as greater warfare. —CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
342:When we recognize that the seemingly object nature of reality is nothing different than the subject nature of mind, which is rigpa, it is called enlightenment. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
343:In Tibet there were practitioners in retreat who so strongly reflected on impermanence that they would not wash their dishes after supper. —PALTRUL RINPOCHE’S SACRED WORD ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
344:Those who seek happiness in pleasure, wealth, glory, power, and heroics are as naive as the child who tries to catch a rain- bow and wear it as a coat. DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
345:We are acting as if we were the last generation on the planet. Without a radical change in heart, in mind, in vision, the earth will end up like Venus, charred and dead. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
346:Instead of allowing ourselves to be led and trapped by our feelings, we should let them disappear as soon as they form, like letters drawn on water with a finger. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
347:Of course you must study the dharma to know exactly what you have to do, but you must also understand that an inch of practice can sometimes be worth a mile of theory. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
348:The definition of mantra is "that which protects the mind." That which protects the mind from negativity, or that which protects you from your own mind, is called mantra. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
349:"When your only purpose for living is the benefit of others, it is very easy to make the right decision. It is easy because you are very clear about why you are alive." ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
350:Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future? Remain in the simplicity of the present moment. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
351:Each moment provides an opportunity to turn toward awakening; and we are more likely to take advantage of each moment once we accept that these moments are limited. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
352:Live with compassion. Work with compassion. Die with compassion. Meditate with compassion. Enjoy with compassion. When problems come, experience them with compassion. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
353:When we trust our creativity we encounter a supreme kind of enjoyment - an amazement at the natural unfolding of life beyond our ordinary way of looking at things. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
354:Those who seek happiness in pleasure, wealth, glory, power, and heroics are as naive as the child who tries to catch a rainbow and wear it as a coat. DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE ~ Matthieu Ricard, #NFDB
355:Ten presente el ejemplo de una vaca vieja, que se da por satisfecha durmiendo en un cobertizo. Tienes que comer, dormir y cagar, eso es inevitable, lo demás no es asunto tuyo. ~ Patrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
356:meditation is not supposed to be the fabrication or the reinforcement of some particular state, but simply the cultivation of the awareness of whatever is arising in the mind. ~ Thrangu Rinpoche, #NFDB
357:Modern society seems to be a celebration of all the things that lead away from the Truth, make Truth hard to live for, and discourage people from even believing that it exists. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
358:EMPTINESS: THE REALITY BEYOND REALITY Emptiness is described as the basis that makes everything possible. —THE TWELFTH TAI SITUPA RINPOCHE, Awakening the Sleeping Buddha ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
359:"When the true nature is revealed, the ability to transcend our constant attachment to 'self' spontaneously arises — thus allowing genuine compassion to spontaneously pervade." ~ Khandro Rinpoche, #NFDB
360:Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
361:will die, What has been gathered will be dispersed, What has been accumulated will be exhausted, What has been built up will collapse, And what has been high will be brought low. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
362:Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life itself reveals again and again the opposite: that letting go is the path to real freedom. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
363:As you start to see your own potential, you will also begin to recognize it in every being around you. Buddha nature is not a special quality available to just a privileged few. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
364:En fin de compte, la voie du bonheur revient à choisir entre l'inconfort de prendre conscience des afflictions mentales et l'inconfort d'être gouverné par elles (page 399) ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
365:"Treading the spiritual path is painful. It is a constant unmasking, peeling off of layer after layer of masks. It involves insult after insult." ~ Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, The Myth of Freedom, p.9, #NFDB
366:If we think of ourselves as cattle with ropes hanging from our noses, Dharma practitioners hold that rope in their own hands, whereas ordinary people are controlled by others. ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #NFDB
367:Just as space can accommodate the whole universe - the mountains, continents, and so forth - the nature of the mind is so vast that it can accommodate the whole of phenomena.~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
368:But Ponlop Rinpoche added something really important to this statement. He said that without having a direct experience of our emotions, we can never touch the heart of buddha nature. We ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
369:Daily life provides countless occasions for adapting to change and impermanence. Yet we squander these precious opportunities, assuming that we have all the time in the world. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
370:The speed and distance that you travel on the path is determined by the level of your courage to go in the opposite direction from what you have been doing since beginningless time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
371:This world can seem marvellously convincing until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place. What will happen to us then if we have no clue of any deeper reality? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
372:You as a salt-being, made of salt, go to fathom the depth of the ocean, and in the process you yourself dissolve. A great maharishi once said that true meditation is like this. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
373:A beautiful country is a dream-like illusion. It is senseless to cling to it. Unless the inner forces of negative emotions are conquered, strife with outer enemies will never end. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
374:Instead of focusing on some thoughts and feelings and pushing away others, just look at them as feathers flying in the wind. The wind is your awareness, your inborn openness and clarity. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
375:The purpose of reflecting on death is to make a real change in the depths of your heart, and to come to learn how to avoid the “hole in the sidewalk,” and how to “walk down another street. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
376:train in compassion is to know that all beings are the same and suffer in similar ways, to honor all those who suffer, and to know that you are neither separate from nor superior to anyone. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
377:We do not know where death awaits us: so let us wait for it everywhere. To practice death is to practice freedom. A man who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave. MONTAIGNE ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
378:Yet is our deepest desire is truly to live and go on living, why do we blindly insist that death is the end? Why not at least try and explore the possibility that there may be a life after? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
379:We need to make a very clear distinction between what is in our ego’s self-interest and what is in our ultimate interest; it is from mistaking one for the other that all our suffering comes. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
380:In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
381:...learn not to overstretch ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more. The key to finding a happy balance in modern lives is simplicity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
382:What is born will die, What has been gathered will be dispersed, What has been accumulated will be exhausted, What has been built up will collapse, And what has been high will be brought low. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
383:Generally we waste our lives, distracted from our true selves, in endless activity. Meditation is the way to bring us back to ourselves, where we can really experience and taste our full being. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
384:When desire or anger arise, the weakest practitioners immediately blame the outside world, and never practice. While the strongest practitioners immediately look inside, and always practice. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
385:But, in fact, impermanence is like some of the people we meet in life—difficult and disturbing at first, but on deeper acquaintance far friendlier and less unnerving than we could have imagined. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
386:Be kind to yourself as you proceed along this journey. This kindness, in itself, is a means of awakening the spark of love within you and helping others to discover that spark within themselves. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
387:The purpose of meditation is to awaken in us the sky-like nature of mind, and to introduce us to that which we really are, our unchanging pure awareness, which underlies the whole of life and death ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
388:An important characteristic of calm abiding meditation is to let go of any goal and simply sit for the sake of sitting. We breathe in and out, and we just watch that. Nothing else. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
389:As my father explained after we’d finished, the point of the exercise was to recognize that there really is no difference between the mind that thinks and thoughts that come and go in the mind. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
390:The greater the practitioner, the smaller their eight worldly concerns. (The eight worldly concerns: Attachment to gain, pleasure, praise, and fame. Aversion to loss, pain, blame, and bad reputation) ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
391:How many of us are swept away by what I have come to call an 'active laziness'?
It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so that there is no time at all to confront the real issues. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
392:No matter how long the room has been dark, an hour or a million years, the moment the lamp of awareness is lit the entire room becomes luminous. You are that luminosity. You are that clear light. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
393:No matter what you experience on the path, never give up. Because all of the buddhas became enlightened for you. They know your potential, and they will not stop helping until you are enlightened too. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
394:Compassion is the spontaneous wisdom of the heart. It's always with us. It always has been, and always will be. When it arises in us, we've simply learned to see how strong and safe we really are. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
395:Taking impermanence truly to heart is to be slowly freed from the idea of grasping, from our flawed and destructive view of permanence, from the false passion for security on which we have built everything. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
396:True spirituality is to be aware that if we are interdependent with everything and everyone else, even our smallest, least significant thought, word and action have real consequences throughout the universe. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
397:Just as if you put your finger into water, it will get wet, and if you put it into fire, it will burn, so if you invest your mind in the wisdom mind of the Buddhas, it will transform into their wisdom nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
398:Much of our planning is like waiting to swim in a dry ravine. Many of our activities are like housekeeping in a dream. Delirious with fever, one does not recognize the fever. —PALTRUL RINPOCHE’S SACRED WORD IF ~ Dalai Lama XIV, #NFDB
399:The experience of emptiness is not found outside the world of ordinary appearance, as many people mistakenly assume. In truth, we experience emptiness when the mind is free of grasping at appearance. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
400:That goodness is what survives death, a fundamental goodness that is in each and every one of us. The whole of our life is a teaching of how to uncover that strong goodness, and a training toward realizing it. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
401:Through applying intention as well as attention to an experience, a person is able to shift the meaning of an experience from a painful or intolerable context to one that is tolerable or pleasant. Over ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
402:A mantra is basically a means of talking with your thoughts and feelings. It's a time-honored method sometimes referred to as prayer, but really it's an opening of a conversation between the heart and the mind. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
403:Pour commencer à luy oster son plus grand avantage contre nous, prenons voye toute contraire à la commune. Ostons luy l’estrangeté, pratiquons-la, accoustumons-la, n’ayant rien si souvent en la teste que la mort… ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
404:When sunlight falls on a crystal, lights of all colors of the rainbow appear; yet they have no substance that you can grasp. Likewise, all thoughts in their infinite variety are utterly without substance. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
405:Anyen Rinpoche is a compassionate embodiment of wisdom. The skillful teachings in The Tibetan Yoga of Breath will be a source of peace and happiness for many in these troubled times, for which I am very grateful. ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
406:It is all up to us. We are the ones who have to keep looking at our thoughts, looking for the nature of our mind. there is nobody else in control of our lives, our experiences, our freedom or our bondage. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
407:Never forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
408:Our lives are lived in intense and anxious struggle, in a swirl of speed and aggression, in competing, grasping, possessing and achieving, forever burdening ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
409:There are three main parts to the actual practice of Guru Yoga: first there is the visualization, next the fervent prayer to the guru, and lastly the receiving of the four empowerments.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga, [T2],#NFDB
410:"Realization is not knowledge about the universe, but the living experience of the nature of the universe. Until we have such living experience, we remain dependent on examples, and subject to their limits." ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, #NFDB
411:"We breathe in and out, and we just watch that. Nothing else. It doesn't matter if we get enlightenment or not. It doesn't matter if our friends get enlightened faster. Who cares? We are just breathing." ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
412:Every person whose heart is moved by love and compassion, who deeply and sincerely acts for the benefit of others without concern for fame, profit, social position, or recognition expresses the activity of Chenrezig. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
413:In each meditation session, we gather knowledge about the mind through observation, questioning, and testing. We do this over and over, until we gradually develop a meaningful understanding of our own mind. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
414:Meditation is actually a very simple exercise in resting in the natural state of your present mind, and allowing yourself to be simply and clearly present to whatever thoughts, sensations, or emotions occur. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
415:The Dalai Lama has warned: ‘Too many people have the Dharma only on their lips. Instead of using the Dharma to destroy their own negative thoughts, they regard the Dharma as a possession and themselves as the owner. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
416:The great masters of the Buddhist tradition, as well as the Buddhist teachings on bodhichitta and lojong, teach us that self-protection is a tendency that needs to be reversed in order to experience genuine happiness ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
417:Until you perfect the view, do not count your practice in years or months. But instead decide to dedicate the whole remainder of your life to Dharma practice. This is the approach of the very best practitioners. ~ Yangthang Rinpoche, #NFDB
418:That is the essence and mission of 'rebel buddha': to free us from the illusions we create by ourselves, about ourselves, and from those that masquerade as reality in our cultural and religious institutions. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
419:We fail to see that recognizing, admitting, and clearly understanding the patterns we experience in our own lives can have a transformative effect on the way we function in the world and the way we relate to others. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
420:"The notion of enlightenment means, "not bound". Not bound to what? Not bound to one's own mind in ordinary ways; not bound in confusion to all the suffering that one's mind has produced and is experiencing." ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
421:Life begins with love, is maintained with love, and ends with love. Right now, while we're alive, is the time to practice and express love. So please take care of your love. Love is capable of reaching so many people. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
422:Notre société est vouée presque exclusivement au culte de l’ego et à ses tristes fantasmes de réussite et de pouvoir ; elle célèbre les forces mêmes d’avidité et d’ignorance qui sont en train de détruire notre planète. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
423:To make things as easy as possible to under stand, we can summarize the four boundless qualities in the single phrase “a kind heart.” Just train yourself to have a kind heart always and in all situations. —PATRUL RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
424:How should you practice these instructions? Be like a hungry yak, browsing on one tuft of grass with its eyes already fixed on the next. Practice with joy and enthusiasm, and never fall into laziness or apathy. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
425:I still noticed that little streak of rebelliousness coming up in me again - the same sense of dissatisfaction I had felt earlier with the empty rituals and institutionalized values of all religious traditions. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
426:When you are away from your spiritual friends, and you feel lonely on the path, and you feel a lack of encouragement to go on, just remember that all of the enlightened beings are always with you. You are never alone. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
427:Never underestimate the importance of keeping your vows. Just how a castle will protect the king from being attacked by the enemy, the vows will protect your mind from being attacked by your mental afflictions. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #index, #NFDB
428:Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
429:As long as the mind is unsubdued, there is always outside harm. Once the mind is subdued, once there is no anger in the mental continuum, there is no outside enemy. An outside enemy exists only if there is anger inside. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
430:Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
431:Don’t worry about anything. Even if you find your attention wandering, there is no particular ‘thing’ you have to hold onto. Just let go, and drift in the awareness of the blessing. Don’t let small, niggling questions distract ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
432:He who has made the Buddha his refuge
Cannot be killed by ten million demons;
Through he transgress his vows or be tormented in mind,
It is certain that he will go beyond rebirth.
~ Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher,#NFDB
433:If you're determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so. The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
434:Rest in natural great peace, this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace. ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#NFDB
435:Do not keep putting off practice, thinking that another location or another time would be more suitable.
Nothing is better than the present moment. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, bring your life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
436:It is great that even before we become enlightened or generate any lam-rim realizations we are able to offer incredible benefit to others. The person who does this is a very fortunate person and should rejoice very often. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
437:Saints and mystics throughout history have adorned their realisations with different names and given them different faces and interpretations, but what they are all fundamentally experiencing is the essential nature of the mind. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
438:Tertön Sogyal, the Tibetan Mystic, said that he was not really impressed by someone who could turn the floor into the ceiling or fire into water. A real miracle, he said, was if someone could liberate just one negative emotion. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
439:Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest enemy, habit, against itself. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
440:Whenever you hear that someone else has been successful, rejoice. Always practice rejoicing for others-whether your friend or your enemy. If you cannot practice rejoicing, no matter how long you live, you will not be happy. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
441:So overall, though my life is far from perfect, I'm contented with it. And in a peculiar way, I'm grateful for the troubling emotions I experienced. The obstacles we face in life can provide powerful incentives for change. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
442:"Since the time we were born from our mother's womb, the only thing we have seen is the present. We have never seen the past and we have never seen the future. Wherever we are, whatever time it is, it is only the present." ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche, #NFDB
443:The outer world in all its variety and our inner world of thoughts and emotions are not as they seem. All phenomena appear to exist objectively, but their true mode of existence is like a dream: apparent yet insubstantial. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
444:gewa significa hacer elecciones que aumenten nuestra fuerza emocional e intelectual, que iluminen nuestra potencial grandeza, que construyan nuestra confianza y que refuercen nuestra habilidad para ayudar a aquellos que lo necesiten. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
445:If you can practice the dharma with as much energy that you have been giving to your samsaric existence, sooner or later you will definitely become a buddha. It is your choice. You have been shown the way. Nobody can do it for you. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
446:Planning for the future is like going fishing in a dry gulch; Nothing ever works out as you wanted, so give up all your schemes and ambitions. If you have got to think about something— Make it the uncertainty of the hour of your death ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
447:Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a great Dzogchen master of the last century, taught, “There is one thing we always need, and that is the watchman named mindfulness, the guard who is on the lookout for when we get carried away in mindlessness. ~ Joseph Goldstein, #NFDB
448:You don't have to say anything. You don't have to teach anything. You just have to be who you are: a bright flame shining in the darkness of despair, a shining example of a person able to cross bridges by opening your heart and mind. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
449:discover and develop, naturally and spontaneously, a compassionate desire to serve all beings, as well as a direct knowledge of how best you can do so, with whatever skill or ability you have, in whatever circumstances you find yourself. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
450:Planning for the future is like going fishing in a dry gulch; Nothing ever works out as you wanted, so give up all your schemes and ambitions. If you have got to think about something— Make it the uncertainty of the hour of your death . . ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
451:When I was going into one of my first meditation retreats, I asked my father, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, for some advice. He said, "How you act when you're alone affects the rest of your life." Even in solitude, the ruler engages in virtue. ~ Sakyong Mipham, #NFDB
452:"... you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce a perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited, or to remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
453:From the body of the unborn essence arises the sphere of light, and from that sphere of light arises wisdom. From the wisdom arises the seed syllable and from the seed syllable arises the complete Mandala, the deity and the retinue. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
454:I shall never forget when Dudjom Rinpoche, in a moment of intimacy, leaned toward me and said in his soft, hoarse, slightly high-pitched voice: “You know, don’t you, that actually all these things around us go away, just go away . . .” With ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
455:Right here, I thought, right now, is where the suffering arises. Between the sound and the projection, between things as-they-are and things as-we-want-them-to-be. This is what the Buddha taught: To misperceive reality is to suffer. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
456:By approaching everything with a sense of suspicion and struggle, we like to think we're in control of things. But in truth our past karma is simply playing itself out. Instead of struggling with it, however, we can choose to dance. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
457:Don't you notice that there are particular moments when you are naturally inspired to introspection? Work with them gently, for these are the moments when you can go through a powerful experience, and your whole worldview can change quickly. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
458:Without any possessions, and locked inside a prison, an experienced meditator could still feel joyful and free. While so many people who may travel the world, and who have every luxury and freedom, are still feeling joyless and imprisoned. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
459:"Acknowledging our delusion is a very important step, but just to leave it at that will not suffice. There's no greater foolishness than to spend one's lifetime acknowledging that one is deluded and yet doing nothing whatsoever about it." ~ Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, #NFDB
460:Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overextend ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more. The key to finding a happy balance in modern life is simplicity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
461:When the wind blows the clouds disappear, and all of space is filled with the light of the sun. Likewise, through the power of dharma practice, our obscurations will disappear, revealing what has been there since beginningless time; a buddha. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
462:Do not make the mistake of imagining that the nature of
mind is exclusive to our mind only. It is in fact the nature of
everything. It can never be said too often that to realize the
nature of mind is to realize the nature of all things. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
463:I thought I heard a cow mooing in Seese's back yard. Later on, later down the road, as they say, I would learn that this was the sound of the Rinpoche chanting some ancient prayer. But, at that moment, it sounded to me very much like a mooing cow. ~ Roland Merullo, #NFDB
464:We live under threat from painful emotions: anger, desire, pride, jealousy and so on. Therefore we should always be ready to counter these with the appropriate antidote. True practitioners may be recognized by their unfailing mindfulness. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
465:Just as light destroys darkness,
Generosity destroys miserliness,
Discipline destroys harmfulness.
Patience destroys intolerance,
Perseverance destroys laziness,
Concentration destroys distraction,
Wisdom destroys ignorance. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
466:Ask yourself: Do I want to continue being a great practitioner of ignorance, anger, and desire? Or do I want to become a great practitioner of wisdom and compassion instead?
Do not waste your precious human rebirth by making the wrong decision. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
467:If we can allow some space within our awareness and rest there, we can respect our troubling thoughts and emotions, allow them to come, and let them go. Our lives may be complicated on the outside, but we remain simple, easy, and open on the inside. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
468:The posture we take when we meditate signifies that we are linking absolute and relative, sky and ground, heaven and earth, like two wings of a bird, integrating the skylike, deathless nature of mind and the ground of our transient, mortal nature. The ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
469:The towns and countryside that the traveller sees through a train window do not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them. Neither disturbs the other. This is how you should see the thoughts that pass through your mind when you meditate. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
470:When you realize the nature of mind, layers of confusion peel away. You don't actually "become" a buddha, you simply cease, slowly, to be deluded. And being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
471:Whether a Buddha comes into the world or not, the nature of things is still the nature of things. The Buddha is someone who realizes what is true, what actually exists. If we want to become enlightened, we simply have to acknowledge or recognize what is. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
472:The past is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is only a projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes as soon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to establish an illusion of solid ground? ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
473:Why exactly are we so frightened of death that we avoid looking at it altogether? Somewhere, deep down, we know we cannot avoid facing death forever. We know, in Milarepa's words: "This thing called 'corpse' we dread so much is living with us here and now." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
474:If anyone - superior or inferior - comes to hinder your practice, you should be unshakable, like an iron boulder pulled by a silk scarf. It won't do to be a weak character whose head bends in whichever direction the wind blows, like grass on a mountain pass. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche, #NFDB
475:So often we want happiness, but the very way we pursue it is so clumsy and unskillful that it brings only more sorrow. Usually we assume we must grasp in order to have that something that will ensure our happiness. [...] Learning to live is learning to let go. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
476:We can begin anything we do—start our day, eat a meal, or walk into a meeting—with the intention to be open, flexible, and kind. Then we can proceed with an inquisitive attitude. As my teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche used to say, “Live your life as an experiment. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
477:We cannot be fearful all the time; we have to rise above our fear, whatever is to happen to us, however our conditions may challenge us. To be fearless is a decision that one must make. And this fearlessness becomes the fundamental ground of nonviolence. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
478:Beings living in the modern, degenerate age are continually tormented by five lethal poisons and drunk on the five sense objects following after fleeting worldly phenomena; distracted by unattainable worldly actions; believing that the insubstantial is substantial. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
479:Each one of us is responsible for other living beings' happiness, besides our own. As a result, your loving kindness is the most wish-fulfilling thing in life, more precious than anything else in this world. That makes for a most satisfying, fulfilling life. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
480:When you give in to aversion and anger, it’s as though, having decided to kill someone by throwing him into a river, you wrap your arms around his neck, jump into the water with him, and you both drown. In destroying your enemy, you destroy yourself as well. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
481:Contemplate the Importance of Mastering the Mind Your mind must deal with every experience. Think about how attaining mastery over the mind will enable you to lose any fear of death. Come to the certainty that you must master your mind in order to die with confidence. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
482:Don’t burden others with your expectations. Understanding their limitations can inspire compassion instead of disappointment, ensuring beneficial and workable relationships. Remember that you have only a short time together. Be grateful for each day you share. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
483:The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, Those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, Like they who lick the honey from a razor’s edge. How pitiful they who cling strongly to concrete reality: Turn your attention within, my heart friends.5 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
484:The towns and countryside that the traveler sees through a train window do not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them. Neither disturbs the other. This is how you should see the thoughts that pass through your mind when you meditate. —DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
485:A fresh attitude starts to happen when we look to see that yesterday was yesterday, and now it is gone; today is today and now it is new. It is like that - every hour, every minute is changing. If we stop observing change, then we stop seeing everything as new ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
486:The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
487:All too often people come to meditation in the hope of extraordinary results, like visions, lights, or some supernatural miracle. When no such thing occurs, they feel extremely disappointed. But the real miracle of meditation is more ordinary and much more useful. . . . ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
488:Instead of thinking of this and that, one thing after the other, let your mind recognize itself in a single moment. When the mind recognizes itself, there is no thing to see there. It’s just wide open. That’s because the essence of mind is empty. It’s wide open and free ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
489:It is important to remember always that the principle of egolessness does not mean that there was an ego in the first place, and the Buddhists did away with it. On the contrary, it means there was never any ego at all to begin with. To realize that is called "egolessness. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
490:Peaceful death is really an essential human right, more essential perhaps even than the right to vote or the right to justice; it is a right on which, all religious traditions tell us, a great deal depends for the well-being and spiritual future of the dying person. There ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
491:Once an old woman came to Buddha and asked him how to meditate. He told her to remain aware of every movement of her hands as she drew the water from the well, knowing that if she did, she would soon find herself in that state of alert and spacious calm that is meditation. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
492:If you could take the bliss and happiness that comes from meditation, and put it into a bottle, it would be the most popular drink in the world. Of course, this is not possible. But the good news is that it is free, it is good for your health, and it is always available. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
493:If you know the psychological nature of your own mind, depression is spontaneously dispelled; instead of being enemies and strangers, all living beings become your friends. The narrow mind rejects; wisdom accepts. Check your own mind to see whether or not this is true. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
494:No matter how insignificant you feel, no matter what problems you have, and no matter how many afflictive emotions fill your mind, never underestimate your potential for a single moment. Like a diamond covered by dirt, your buddha nature is there, waiting to be discovered. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
495:If you can remember that all beings have buddha nature, it will help you cultivate equanimity, because it will feel like everybody is your family. The greater your equanimity, the greater your love and compassion towards them, no matter who they are, or what they have done. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
496:Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and best-selling author, said in his book The Joy of Living: “Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. ~ Tammy Strobel, #NFDB
497:How often attachment is mistaken for love! Even when the relationship is a good one, love is spoiled by attachment, with its insecurity, possessiveness, and pride; and then when love is gone, all you have left to show for it are the “souvenirs” of love, the scars of attachment. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
498:Just look at your mind for a few minutes. You will see that it is like a flea, constantly hopping to and fro. You will see that thoughts arise without any reason, without any connection. Swept along by the chaos of every moment, we are the victims of the fickleness of our mind. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
499:Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating - the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to - you have uncovered in yourself your own wise guide. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
500:When we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
501:when we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
502:With enough heat, ice will turn into water, and then water will turn into steam. Likewise, with the heat of practice, intellectually understanding the nature of reality will eventually turn into the direct experience of it. As long as you keep practicing, this is guaranteed. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
503:Practicing discipline involves continually working to find space in our patterns, to find the gaps in the images we hold about ourselves. It also means finding the gaps in our ideas about others, releasing images that we hold about a manager, a coworker, a friend, or a partner. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
504:To have fearless confidence upon which we can rely in the Bardo of Suchness, we must have practiced diligently in the Bardo of Birth and Living. We cannot naively think that meditative stability will somehow be naturally possible in this bardo. That is a fantasy we should abandon. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
505:The Mother Tantra says that if one is not aware in vision, it is unlikely that one will be aware in behavior. If one is not aware in behavior, one is unlikely to be aware in dream. And if one is not aware in dream, then one is unlikely to be aware in the bardo after death. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
506:Whatever we do, with our body, speech or mind, will have a corresponding result. Each action, even the smallest, is pregnant with its consequences.
The results of our actions are often delayed.
What you are is what you have been, what you will be is what you do now. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
507:When you have achieved a state of calmness and readiness, then you are ready to know, ready to understand in a deep way the dance between emptiness and appearance. Once you catch a glimpse of that dance, don't hang on to it. Just let it go, like your first glimpse of essence love. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
508:A fresh attitude starts to happen when we look to see that yesterday was yesterday, and now it is gone; today is today and now it is new. It is like that—every hour, every minute is changing. If we stop observing change, then we stop seeing everything as new. —DZIGAR KONGTRUL RINPOCHE T ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
509:The more you are preoccupied by your own physical aging, the more anxious you will become. Do not worry so much about your physical appearance. Concentrate, rather, on not wasting your life. Practise the Dharma. The more you engage in it, the more your satisfaction will grow. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
510:Understanding that everything is impermanent, that happiness is transformed into suffering, and that all phenomena are lacking reality in themselves and are only projections of our mind, will permit us to counteract the first hindrance to meditation, that is, our attachment to this world. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
511:Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do. Sometimes I think we don’t want to ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
512:Like a feather that is blown wherever the wind takes it, a weak and undisciplined mind is easily influenced by its environment and can be blown off the path.
Until your mind becomes like a mountain that no wind can move, take care of who you mix with, and how you spend your time. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
513:Studying the dharma is a vital part of our path. But if we never practice what we have studied, it is as if we have built a great ship, and then left it on dry land. The ship must set sail. That is the only way that we can cross the ocean of samsara to the enlightened state of a buddha. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
514:Simply notice that you're aware. At any given moment, you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce a perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited, or to remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
515:The higher you go up the ladder, the more painful the fall. The lower you go down the ladder, the less painful the fall. If you are not on the ladder, you can not fall.
Likewise, big ego, big fall, big suffering. Less ego, less fall, less suffering. No ego, no fall, no suffering. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
516:Confusion, I was taught, is the beginning of understanding, the first stage of letting go of the neuronal gossip that used to keep you chained to very specific ideas about who you are and what you’re capable of. Confusion, in other words, is the first step on the path to real well-being. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
517:It's very important to understand what creates samsara, also called the realm of confusion. Samsara does not arise from external circumstances. It's not tied to any particular object in the world around us. What creates samsara is how the mind habitually clings to its misperceptions of reality. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
518:Even if death were to fall upon you today like lightning, you must be ready to die without sadness and regret, without any residue of clinging for what is left behind. Remaining in the recognition of the absolute view, you should leave this life like an eagle soaring up into the blue sky. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
519:How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his own experience - free from the clouds of religiosity that often surround them Yet it's difficult to distinguish the tools themselves from their cultural packaging. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
520:ego, then, is the absence of true knowledge of who we really are, together with its result: a doomed clutching on, at all costs, to a cobbled together and makeshift image of ourselves, an inevitably chameleon charlatan self that keeps changing and has to, to keep alive the fiction of its existence. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
521:Self-reflection is the gateway to freedom. It also brings greater appreciation and enjoyment. We begin to enjoy spending time with our own mind, and we enjoy reflecting on our experience of the teachings. Like the sun emerging from behind the clouds, the teachings of the dharma become clear. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
522:To discover your real questions, simply take a time-out. Stop looking ahead of yourself at where you’re going or backward at where you’ve been. When you do stop, there’s a sense of going nowhere. There’s a sense of gap, which is a tremendous relief. You can simply breathe and be who you are. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
523:The habit of thinking that things exist “out there” in the world or “in here” is hard to give up, though. It means letting go of all the illusions you cherish, and recognizing that everything you project, everything you think of as “other,” is in fact a spontaneous expression of your own mind. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
524:Sometimes I think the greatest achievement of modern culture its its brilliant selling of samsara and its barren distractions. Modern society seems to me a celebration of all the things that lead away from the truth, make truth hard to live for, and discourage people from even believing that it exists. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
525:If you receive empowerment, it's about bodhicitta. If you receive teachings, it's about bodhicitta. If you practice teachings, it's about bodhicitta. Everything comes down to bodhicitta. The essence of practice is about bodhicitta. When you sit down to do your practice, what you practice is bodhicitta. ~ Garchen Rinpoche, #NFDB
526:Always remember that how we react to every moment of our life will reinforce either our negative habits or positive habits. No matter how challenging life may be, each moment can be seen as either a problem or an opportunity. If we can understand this, we can start to bring our entire life to the path. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
527:Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life. Why reflect on death? When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life now... and come to face the truth of your self. Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
528:Then, he spoke these final words, “At the moment of death, the ability to abide in the nature of mind, the indivisible three kayas—with its empty essence, clear nature and all-pervasive compassion—is extremely important.” He spoke the seed syllable AH while seated in the vajra posture and then passed away. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
529:We enter the bardo, the intermediate state after # death , just as we enter dream after falling asleep. If our experience of # dream lacks clarity and is of confused emotional states and habitual reactivity, we will have trained ourselves to experience the processes of death in the same way. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
530:Meditation is really quite simple. All we have to do is embrace each experience with awareness and open our hearts fully to the present moment. When we are completely at ease with our own being, the ripples of awareness naturally spread out in all directions, touching the lives of everyone we meet. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
531:Within the sky-like empty mind, habitual tendencies and disturbing emotions are just like clouds and mist. When they appear, they appear within the expanse of empty mind. When they remain, they remain within the expanse of empty mind. And when they dissolve, they dissolve in that same expanse of empty mind. ~ Guru Rinpoche, #NFDB
532:The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well; Meditation is the road to enlightenment. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
533:When there is hallucination, there is the truth, by recognising it as hallucination. Where there is suffering, there is peace and bliss, by letting go and experiencing it for numberless suffering sentient beings. Always think of how others are kind and precious Treat them as you would like to be treated. ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
534:Meditation does offer a sane way to work with our mind. But we do not meditate to get rid of thoughts. This is the number one misunderstanding. Thinking, like breathing, is a natural activity. Trying to impose an artificial blankness is the exact opposite of how we work with the natural clarity of mind. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
535:What a beautiful and what a healing mystery it is that from
contemplating, continually and fearlessly, the truth of change
and impermanence, we come slowly to find ourselves face to
face, in gratitude and joy, with the truth of the changeless,
with the truth of the deathless, unending nature of mind! ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
536:The point is not how long you meditate; the point is whether the practice actually brings you to a certain state of mindfulness and presence, where you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence. And five minutes of wakeful sitting practice is of far greater value than twenty minutes of dozing! ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
537:If you don’t try to stop whatever is going on in your mind, but merely observe it, eventually you’ll begin to feel a tremendous sense of relaxation, a vast sense of openness within your mind - which is in fact your natural mind, the naturally unperturbed background against which various thoughts come and go. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
538:Looking at the world today, we might easily forget that the main purpose of our life - you could call it the heart of being human - is to be happy. All of us share the same wish, and the same right, to seek happiness and avoid suffering. Even following a spiritual path, or the religious life, is a quest for happiness. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
539:Sit, then, as if you were a mountain, with all the unshakeable, steadfast majesty of a mountain. A mountain is completely natural and at ease with itself, however strong the winds that try to bother it, however thick the dark clouds that swirl around its peak. Sitting like a mountain, let your mind rise and fly and soar ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
540:The context of the general teachings is one of talking to a sentient being who is experiencing uninterrupted bewilderment one thought or emotion after another like the surface of the ocean in turmoil, without any recognition of mind essence. This confusion is continuous, without almost any break, life after life. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
541:It is crucial that practitioners not simply adopt an intellectual approach to the dharma, but rather understand the immense importance of engaging in actions of merit and virtue. Each practitioner is encouraged to examine whether there is a meeting of the view of the dharma in one's daily conduct and activities. ~ Minling Trichen Rinpoche, #NFDB
542:Taking the . . . vow to help others implies that instead of holding our own individual territory and defending it tooth and nail, we become open to the world that we are living in. It means we are willing to take on greater responsibility, immense responsibility. In fact, it means taking a big chance. —CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
543:The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow. The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes, because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death becomes more and more acute. What bitterness! He lives for what is always out of reach! His thirst for survival in the future makes him incapable of living in the present. CHUANG TZU ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
544:There are so many ways of making the approach to meditation as joyful as possible. You can find the music that most exalts you and use it to open your heart and mind. You can collect pieces of poetry, or quotations of lines of teachings that over the years have moved you, and keep them always at hand to elevate your spirit. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
545:if, as the Buddha proposed in the first teachings he gave upon attaining enlightenment, the essence of ordinary life is suffering, then one of the most effective antidotes is laughter—particularly laughter at oneself. Every aspect of experience assumes a certain kind of brightness once you learn to laugh at yourself. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
546:There are so many ways of making the approach to meditation as joyful as possible. You can find the music that most exalts you and use it to open your heart and mind. You can collect pieces of poetry, or quotations of lines of teachings that over the years have moved you, and keep them always at hand to elevate your spirit. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
547:La naissance d’un homme est la naissance de sa douleur. Plus il vit longtemps et plus il devient stupide, parce que son angoisse d’éviter une mort inévitable s’intensifie sans relâche. Quelle amertume ! Il vit pour ce qui est toujours hors de portée ! Sa soif de survie dans le futur le rend incapable de vivre dans le présent. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
548:The dharma, whether it is sutra, tantra, mahamudra, or dzogchen, is like pure gold. No matter how many other metals that mix with it, pure gold can always be extracted. Likewise, any culture can easily absorb the dharma, whether it is in ancient Tibet or the modern day West, as the dharma is beyond culture, time, and place. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
549:Whatever you find yourself thinking, let that thought rise and settle, without any constraint. Don’t grasp at it, feed it, or indulge it; don’t cling to it and don’t try to solidify it. Neither follow thoughts nor invite them; be like the ocean looking at its own waves, or the sky gazing down on the clouds that pass through it. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
550:After a few years of asking some very pointed questions in public teachings and in private counseling sessions, I began to see that when the pace of external or material progress exceeded the development of inner knowledge, people seemed to suffer deep emotional conflicts without any internal method of dealing with them. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
551:We are fragmented into so many different aspects. We don't know who we really are, or what aspects of ourselves we should identify with or believe in. So many contradictory voices, dictates, and feelings fight for control over our inner lives that we find ourselves scattered everywhere, in all directions, leaving nobody at home. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
552:It’s so easy to think that we’re the only ones who suffer, while other people are somehow immune to pain, as though they’d been born with some kind of special knowledge about being happy, that, through some cosmic accident, we never received. Thinking in this way, we make our own problems seem much bigger than they really are. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
553:To be a spiritual warrior means to develop a special kind of courage, one that is innately intelligent, gentle, and fearless. Spiritual warriors can still be frightened, but even so they are courageous enough to taste suffering, to relate clearly to their fundamental fear, and to draw out without evasion the lessons from difficulties. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
554:When you first start out don't set yourself a lofty goal of sitting down to meditate for twenty minutes. Aim instead for ten minutes or even five minutes - utilizing those few moments when you find yourself willing or even desiring just to take a break from the daily grind to observe your mind rather than drifting off into daydreams. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
555:The nature
of mind is the nature of everything." I wonder if this threefold
process the bardos reveal is true not only, as we discovered, of
all the different levels of consciousness and of all the different
experiences of consciousness, both in life and death, but also
perhaps of the actual nature of the universe itself ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
556:What makes an action positive or negative? Not how it looks, not whether it is big or small, but it is the positive or negative motivation that is behind it.
No matter how many teachings that you have heard, to be motivated by ordinary concerns, such as a desire for greatness, fame or whatever, is not the way of the true Dharma. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
557:The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection and motivation. If one participates in a stupa's construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
558:limited by what is commonly referred to as dualism—the idea of a distinct and inherently real “self” that is separate from an apparently distinct and inherently real “other.” As we’ll explore later, dualism is not a “character flaw” or defect. It’s a complex survival mechanism deeply rooted in the structure and function of the brain— ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
559:No amount of intellectual knowledge can satisfy the need for the direct experience that is beyond concepts and duality. Do not be a fool and spend your whole life in a book.
Of course you must study the teachings, but you must also know when it is time to put what you have learnt into practice. Only direct experience can set you free. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
560:At every moment in our lives we need compassion, but what more urgent moment could there be than when we are dying? What more wonderful and consoling gift could you give to dying people than the knowledge that they are being prayed for, and that you are taking on their suffering and purifying their negative karma through your practice for them? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
561:What's recommended is that if you have a good experience, don't get too excited. And if you have a bad experience, don't mistake it for a serious deviation or a sidetrack that you have to find your way back from. If you have a bad experience, just continue practicing as you were. In other words, whatever happens, just keep looking at your mind. ~ Thrangu Rinpoche, #NFDB
562:Spending your time with true spiritual friends will fill you with love for all beings and help you to see how negative attachment and hatred are. Being with such friends, and following their example, will naturally imbue you with their good qualities, just as all the birds flying around a golden mountain are bathed in its golden radiance. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
563:Even if they don't know that you are practicing for them, you are helping them and in turn they are helping you. They are actively helping you to develop your compassion, and so to purify and heal yourself. For me, all dying people are teachers, giving to all those who help them a chance to transform themselves through developing their compassion. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
564:Spiritual truth is not something elaborate and esoteric, it is in fact profound common sense. When you realize the nature of mind, layers of confusion peel away. You don’t actually “become” a buddha, you simply cease, slowly, to be deluded. And being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
565:Let your own experience serve as your guide and inspiration. Let yourself enjoy the view as you travel along the path. The view is your own mind, and because your mind is already enlightened, if you take the opportunity to rest awhile along the journey, eventually you’ll realize that the place you want to reach is the place you already are. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
566:There is a metaphor in the Tibetan texts that says that one who receives teachings but does not gain experience through practice is like a farmer who doesn’t tend his own fields—even as he constantly tells others how they should tend theirs. People today receive many teachings, but at the time of death have they gained enough experience to die well? ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
567:...I began to see that when the pace of external of material progress exceeded the development of inner knowledge, people seemed to suffer deep emotional conflicts without any internal method of dealing with them. An abundance of material items provides such a variety of external distractions that peolpe lose the connection ito their inner lives. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
568:I was reading a transcript of a talk by Ponlop Rinpoche, and he said, “In the process of uncovering buddha nature, in the process of uncovering our open, unfixated quality of our mind, we have to be willing to get our hands dirty.” In other words, he was saying that we need to be willing to work with our disturbing emotions, the ones that feel entirely dark. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
569:We often wonder: "How will I be when I die?" The answer to that is that whatever state of mind we are in now, whatever kind of person we are now, that's what we will be like at the moment of death, if we do not change. This is why it is so absolutely important to use this lifetime to purify our mindstream, and so our basic being and character, while we can. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
570:{While meditating} I sit quietly and rest in the nature of mind; I don't question or doubt whether I am in the "correct" state or not. There is no effort, only rich understanding, wakefulness, and unshakable certainty. When I am in the nature of mind, the ordinary mind is no longer there. There is no need to sustain or confirm a sense of being: I simply am. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
571:Every subatomic interaction consists of the annihilation of the original particles and the creation of new subatomic particles. The subatomic world is a continual dance of creation and annihilation, of mass changing into energy and energy changing to mass. Transient forms sparkle in and out of existence, creating a never-ending, forever newly created reality. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
572:I often think of the words of the great Buddhist master Padmasambhava: "Those who believe they have plenty of time get ready only at the time of death. Then they are ravaged by regret. But isn't it far too late?" What more chilling commentary on the modern world could there be than most people die unprepared for death, as they have lived, unprepared for life? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
573:Every subatomic interaction consists of the annihilation of the original particles and the creation of new subatomic particles. The subatomic world is a continual dance of creation and annihilation, of mass changing into energy and energy changing to mass. Transient forms sparkle in and out of existence, creating a never-ending, forever newly created reality.8 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
574:More and more, I have come to realize how thoughts and concepts are all that block us from always being . . . in the absolute. . . . When the view is there, thoughts are seen for what they truly are: fleeting and transparent, and only relative. . . . You do not cling to thoughts and emotions or reject them, but welcome them all within the vast embrace of Rigpa. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
575:When we let our mind relax, a moment will come when we rest without thoughts. This stable state is like an ocean without waves. Within this stability a thought arises. This thought is like a wave which forms on the surface of the ocean. When we leave this thought alone, do nothing with it, not "seizing" it, it subsides by itself into the mind where it came from. ~ Bokar Rinpoche, #NFDB
576:Each time the losses and deceptions of life teach us about impermanence, they bring us closer to the truth. When you fall from a great height, there is only one possible place to land: on the ground-the ground of truth. And if you have the understanding that comes from spiritual practice, then falling is in no way a disaster, but the discovery of an inner refuge. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
577:You don't want to block your thoughts, emotions, and so on; nor do you want to chase after them. If you chase after them, if you let them lead you, they begin to define you, and you lose your ability to respond openly and spontaneously in the present moment. On the other hand, if you attempt to block your thoughts, your mind can become quite tight and small. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
578:Saya bertanya bagaimana Rinpoche tau bahwa semua ini benar, karena tidak ada bukti atas hal-hal ini.
"Anda melihat cahaya itu?" dia bertanya, menunjuk lampu diatas.
"Ya, saya melihatnya."
"Tetapi Anda tidak dapat membuktikannya. Jika Anda buta sejak lahir, Anda tidak dapat melihatnya. Jika Anda ingin bukti, Anda tidak akan pernah mendapatkan pencerahan. ~ Eric Weiner,#NFDB
579:Without our familiar props, we are faced with just ourselves, a person we do not know, an unnerving stranger with whom we have been living all the time but we never really wanted to meet. Isn't that why we have tried to fill every moment of time with noise and activity, however boring or trivial, to ensure that we are never left in silence with this stranger on our own? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
580:Don’t let any emotional thought concerning success or failure, fame or gain, overtake you, and don’t dwell upon them. Give up your personal shortcomings, such as foolish talk, distracting activities, and absentmindedness. Train in being totally gentle in all physical, verbal, or mental activities. Don’t ponder the flaws of others; think instead of their good sides. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
581:The teachings of the Buddha—and the lesson inherent in this exercise in non-meditation—is that if we allow ourselves to relax and take a mental step back, we can begin to recognize that all these different thoughts are simply coming and going within the context of an unlimited mind, which, like space, remains fundamentally unperturbed by whatever occurs within it. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
582:However, the common usage of ego, both within Buddhist teachings and in the world at large, makes ego sound like an entity that has a shape and a size, and that can be extracted like a tooth. It doesn’t work that way. Ego is not an object; it’s more like a process that follows through on the proclivity for grasping, and for holding on to fixed ideas and identities. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
583:Quoting Dudjom Rinpoche on the buddha-nature: No words can describe it No example can point to it Samsara does not make it worse Nirvana does not make it better It has never been born It has never ceased It has never been liberated It has never been deluded It has never existed It has never been nonexistent It has no limits at all It does not fall into any kind of category ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
584:Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice goodheartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
585:Quoting Dudjom Rinpoche on the buddha-nature: No words can describe it No example can point to it Samsara does not make it worse Nirvana does not make it better It has never been born It has never ceased It has never been liberated It has never been deluded It has never existed It has never been nonexistent It has no limits at all It does not fall into any kind of category ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
586:Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.10 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
587:We are fragmented into so many different aspects. We don´t know who we really are, or what aspects of ourselves we should identify with or believe in. So many contradictory voices, dictates, and feelings fight for control over our inner lives that we find ourselves scattered everywhere, in all directions, leaving nobody at home.
Meditation, then, is bringing the mind home. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
588:Again and again we need to appreciate the subtle workings of the teachings and the practice, and even when there is no extraordinary, dramatic change, to persevere with calm and patience. How important it is to be skillful and gentle with ourselves, without becoming disheartened or giving up, but trusting the spiritual path and knowing that it has its own laws and its own dynamics. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
589:The successive existences in a series of rebirths are not like the pearls in a pearl necklace, held together by a string, the “soul,” which passes through all the pearls; rather they are like dice piled one on top of the other. Each die is separate, but it supports the one above it, with which it is functionally connected. Between the dice there is no identity, but conditionality.14 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
590:He said that a yogi must seriously examine the origin of the arising of fear, where fear abides, and where it ceases, in order to be completely free from the fear of death. When we examine the place of arising, abiding, and cessation of fear (or any afflictive emotion) and cannot find them, we should rest in the confidence that all phenomena are beyond arising, abiding, and cessation. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
591:At the beginning of meditation training thoughts will arrive one on top of another, uninterrupted, like a steep mountain waterfall. Gradually, as you perfect meditation, thoughts become like the water in a deep, narrow gorge, then a great river slowly winding its way down to the sea; finally the mind becomes like a still and placid ocean, ruffled by only the occasional ripple or wave. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
592:Ignorance, vulnerability, fear, anger, and desire are expressions of the infinite potential of your buddha nature. There's nothing inherently wrong or right with making such choices. The fruit of Buddhist practice is simply the recognition that these and other mental afflictions are nothing more or less than choices available to us because our real nature is infinite in scope. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
593:There are many people who are more learned than I and more elevated in their wisdom. However, I have never made a separation between the spiritual and the worldly. If you understand the ultimate aspect of the dharma, this is the ultimate aspect of the world. And if you should cultivate the ultimate aspect of the world, this should be in harmony with the dharma. —CHOGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Ethan Nichtern, #NFDB
594:Sentient beings, self and others, enemies and dear ones-all are made by thoughts. It is like seeing a rope and mistaking it for a snake. When we think that the rope is a snake, we are scared, but once we see that we are looking at a rope, our fear dissipates. We have been deluded by our thoughts. Likewise, mentally fabricating self and others, we generate attachment and aversion. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
595:To feel overflowing love and almost unbearable compassion for all living creatures is the best way to fulfil the wishes of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Even if for the moment you cannot actually help a sentient being in an external way, meditate on love and compassion constantly over the months and years until compassion is knit inseparably into the very fabric of your mind. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
596:Now when the bardo of this life is dawning upon me, I will abandon laziness for which life has no time, Enter, undistracted, the path of listening and hearing, reflection and contemplation, and meditation, Making perceptions and mind the path, and realize the “three kayas”: the enlightened mind;4 Now that I have once attained a human body, There is no time on the path for the mind to wander. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
597:Any attempt to capture the direct experience of the nature of mind in words is impossible. The best that can be said is that it is immeasurably peaceful and, once stabilized through repeated experience, virtually unshakable. It's an experience of absolute well-being that radiates through all physical, emotional and mental states-even those that might ordinarily be labeled as unpleasant. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
598:Ask yourself these two questions: Do I remember at every moment that I am dying, and that everyone and everything else is, and so treat all beings at all times with compassion? Has my understanding of death and impermanence become so keen and so urgent that I am devoting every second to the pursuit of enlightenment? If you can answer "yes" to both of these, then you really understand impermanence. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
599:Wrong views and wrong convictions can be the most devastating of all our delusions. Surely both Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot must have been convinced that they were right? And yet each and every one of us has that same dangerous tendency as they had: to form convictions, believe them without question and act on them, so bringing down suffering not only on ourselves, but also on all those around us. On ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
600:The great protector Maitreya said that when one realizes the state of equality, or the nature of mind, there are no lower realms or lower births. All is the expression of a pure land. We often think of the pure realms of realized beings as existing somewhere outside of us. It is important to realize that, in regards to a pure land, there is no place to go. The only pure realm is mastery of the mind. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
601:on a strictly cellular level, repeated experience can change the way the brain works. This is the why behind the how of the Buddhist teachings that deal with eliminating mental habits conducive to unhappiness.
...
because experience changes the neuronal structure of the brain, when we observe the mind this way, we can change the cellular gossip that perpetuates our experience of our “self. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche,#NFDB
602:Just calling one's practice "approach and accomplishment" and staying in retreat for years will produce nothing but hardship. Completing hundreds of millions of mantras will not even bring the warmth of the ordinary qualities that mark one's progress on the path! In other words, if the essential points of the path are not taken into account, perseverance will amount to nothing more than chasing a mirage. ~ Patrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
603:Death is a vast mystery, but there are two things we can layabout it: It is absolutely certain that we will die, and it is uncertain when or how we will die. The only surety we have, then, is this uncertainty about the hour of our death, which we seize on as the excuse to postpone facing death directly. We are like children who cover their eyes in a game of hide-and-seek and think that no one can see them. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
604:Death is a vast mystery, but there are two things we can say about it: It is absolutely certain that we will die, and it is uncertain when or how we will die. The only surety we have, then, is this uncertainty about the hour of our death, which we seize on as the excuse to postpone facing death directly. We are like children who cover their eyes in a game of hide and seek and think that no one can see them. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
605:Obstacles can arise from good as well as bad circumstances, but they should never deter or overpower you. Be like the earth, which supports all living creatures indiscriminately, without distinguishing good from bad. The earth is simply there. Your practice should be strengthened by the difficult situations you encounter, just as a bonfire in a strong wind is not blown out, but blazes even brighter. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
606:This is the real and urgent reason why we must prepare now to meet death wisely, to transform our karmic future, and to avoid the tragedy of falling into delusion again and again and repeating the painful round of birth and death. This life is the only time and place we can prepare in, and we can only truly prepare through spiritual practice: This is the inescapable message of the natural bardo of this life. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
607:The opportunity to receive these transmissions also taught me, in an indirect way, the extremely valuable lesson that to whatever degree a person commits himself or herself to the welfare of others, he or she is repaid a thousandfold by opportunities for learning and advancement. Every kind word, every smile you offer someone who might be having a bad day, comes back to you in ways you'd never expect. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
608:The true bodhisattva spirit grows out of this personal sense of freedom. You discover that you don't feel so needy anymore. You don't crave another refueling - with shamatha or with other people's love and attention - because you know within yourself how to be free, how to be confident. With this sense of security and freedom, you begin to direct your attention to the needs of others. The compassion expands. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
609:To meet someone who really hurts you is to meet a rare and precious treasure. Hold that person in high esteem, and make full use of the opportunity to eradicate your defects and make progress on the path. If you cannot yet feel love and compassion for those who treat you badly, it is a sign that your mind has not been fully transformed and that you need to keep working on it with increased application. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
610:In meditation take care not to impose anything on the mind, or to tax it. When you meditate there should be no effort to control, and no attempt to be peaceful. Don't be overly solemn or feel that you are taking part in some special ritual; let go even of the idea that you are meditating. Let your body remain as it is, your breath as you find it, and remain in your natural condition of unchanging pure awareness. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
611:At the moment of death, there are two things that count: whatever we have done in our lives, and what state of mind we are in at that very moment. Even if we have accumulated a lot of negative karma, if we are able to make a real change of heart at the moment of death, it can decisively influence our future, and transform our karma, for the moment of death is an exceptionally powerful opportunity to purify karma. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
612:The guru is the equal of all the buddhas. To make any connection with him, whether through seeing him, hearing his voice, remembering him or being touched by his hand, will lead us toward liberation. To have full confidence in him is the sure way to progress toward enlightenment. The warmth of his wisdom and compassion will melt the ore of our being and release the gold of the buddha-nature within. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #index, #NFDB
613:Death can not be fought off by any warrior, ordered away by the powerful, or paid off by the rich. Death leaves nowhere to run to, no place to hide, no refuge, no defender or guide.
So, reflect sincerely and meditate on how important it is from this very moment onwards never to slip into laziness and procrastination, but to practice the true Dharma, the only thing you can be sure will help at the moment of death. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
614:Reflita no seguinte: a compreensão da impermanência é paradoxalmente a única coisa a que nos podemos agarrar, talvez a nossa única posse duradoura. Ela é como o céu ou a terra. Independentemente de quanto tudo à nossa volta possa mudar ou desmoronar-se, eles perduram (...) A terra ainda existe; o céu ainda lá está. Obviamente, até mesmo a terra estremece de vez em quando, só para nos lembrar que nada está garantido. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
615:When you have learned, through discipline, to simplify your life, and so practiced the mindfulness of meditation, and through it loosened the hold of aggression, clinging, and negativity on your whole being, the wisdom of insight can slowly dawn. And in the all-revealing clarity of its sunlight, this insight can show you, distinctly and directly, both the subtlest workings of your own mind and the nature of reality. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
616:Activities are endless, like ripples on a stream. They end only when you drop them.
Human moods are like the changing highlights and shadows on a sunlit mountain range.
All activities are like the games children play, like castles being made of sand.
View them with delight and equanimity, like grandparents overseeing their grandchildren, or a shepherd resting on a hill watching over his grazing flock. ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche,#NFDB
617:All experience and phenomena are understood to be a dream, this should not be just an intellectual understanding, but a vivid and lucid experience...Genuine integration of this point produces a profound change in the individual's response to the world. Grasping and aversion is greatly diminished, and the emotional tangles that once seemed so compelling are experienced as the tug of dream stories, and no more. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
618:Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we´re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that, with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, our mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
619:Although some Western psychologies believe that the dreamer should not control the dream, according to Tibetan teachings this is a wrong view. It is better for the lucid and aware dreamer to control the dream than for the dreamer to be dreamed. The same is true with thoughts: it is better for the thinker to control the thoughts than for the thoughts to control the thinker. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep, #NFDB
620:As Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche puts it, you can tell what the most important building is within a society by which is the tallest. Within ancient Europe, cathedrals often reached the most soaring heights, as did mosques in the ancient Middle East. Now, in our Western metropolises, we all bow before cathedrals of financial commerce. Our sacred values are implied by our ritualistic choices, whether we agree to them or not. We ~ Ethan Nichtern, #NFDB
621:–Rimpoché, mira qué pulcro y qué limpio lo tienen todo en Occidente. Hasta los lugares donde depositan los cadáveres están inmaculados. En Oriente, ni siquiera las casas donde vive la gente están tan limpias.
–Ah, sí – replicó él–, es verdad; es un país muy civilizado. Tienen casas maravillosas para los cadáveres de los muertos. Pero, ¿no te has fijado? También tienen casas muy bonitas para los cadáveres de los vivos. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
622:If we cannot remain present during sleep, if we lose ourselves every night, what chance do we have to be aware when death comes? If we enter our dreams and interact with the mind's images as if they are real, we should not expect to be free in the state after death. Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
623:Practice in a straightforward way. There is no need to live in fantasy and 'pretend' to be anything other than what you are. Be honest and open with yourself - if you are a good person, recognize that goodness and build upon it. If you are a deluded person, recognize that delusion and begin to disentangle yourself from it, be rid of it. It is essential that your practice be pure, straightforward and honest. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, #NFDB
624:Action is being truly observant of your own thoughts, good or bad,
looking into the true nature of whatever thoughts may arise, neither
tracing the past nor inviting the future, neither allowing any
clinging to experiences of joy, nor being overcome by sad situations.
In so doing, you try to reach and remain in the state of great equilibrium, where all good and bad, peace and distress, are
devoid of true identity. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
625:As we contemplate the enormous variety of factors that must come together to produce a specific sense of self, our attachment to this “I” we think we are begins to loosen. We become more willing to let go of the desire to control or block our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and so on and begin to experience them without pain or guilt, absorbing their passage simply as manifestations of a universe of infinite possibilities. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
626:Our mind is spinning around,
About carrying out a lot of useless projects.
It's a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You are completely distracted,
By all of these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don't be a fool. For once, just sit tight. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
627:The ground is composed of gold, the trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and the rain is the rainfall of nectar. All beings are dakas and dakinis; the calls of the birds are the sounds of Dharma; the sounds of nature, wind, water, and fire reverberate as the Vajra Guru mantra; and all thoughts are expressions of wisdom and bliss. So here the perception of purity is much vaster and more omnipresent than in the sutras.
~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Guru Yoga,#NFDB
628:. . . when the nature of mind is introduced by a master, it is just too simple for us to believe. Our ordinary mind tells us this cannot be, there must be something more to it than this. It must surely be more "glorious", with light blazing in space around us, angels with flowing golden hair swooping down to meet us, and a deep Wizard of Oz voice announcing, "Now you have been introduced to the nature of your mind." There is no such drama. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
629:If you can live with the sadness of human life (what Rinpoche often called the tender heart or the genuine heart of sadness), if you can be willing to feel fully and acknowledge continually your own sadness and the sadness of life, but at the same time not be drowned in it, because you also remember the vision and power of the Great Eastern Sun, you experience balance and completeness, joining heaven and earth, joining vision and practicality. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
630:Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has a remarkable ability to present the wisdom of the Buddha's teachings in a manner that is as fresh and accessible as it is profound. With Rebel Buddha, he goes straight to the core of the spiritual path, showing how the Buddha's liberating insights transcend race, religion, and culture. This book is sure to provoke, inspire, and move us one step closer to creating a thoroughly modern approach to spirituality. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
631:the basis of your experience is the same in dreams and in waking life: thoughts, feelings, and sensations that vary according to changing conditions. If you bear this comparison in mind, whatever you experience in waking life begins to lose its power to affect you. Thoughts are just thoughts. Feelings are just feelings. Sensations are just sensations. They come and go in waking life as quickly and easily as they do in dreams. Everything ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
632:Throughout the past 2500 years, whichever country Buddhism has been taught in, there have always been great yogis. Likewise, sooner or later there will be the great yogis of the West. This is because Buddhism has nothing to do with culture, gender, language, or colour. Buddhism is for all beings throughout time and space. And whoever dedicates their life to putting the teachings into practice will become a great yogi. It is as simple as that. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
633:Protector, by your blessing and the mighty truth of the Rare and Supreme Three Roots, may all beings awaken from ignorance! While in the Bardo of Birth and Living, may beings first listen impartially to teachings, then cut through doubts about the meaning, and finally, take up the meaning that was understood. May they follow after the sacred ones who have come before, attain a fearless and confident death, and attain liberation free of the bardos! ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
634:We also know life passes quickly and death is certain, yet in our busy lives we find it difficult to practice as much as we wish we could. Perhaps we meditate for an hour or two each day, but that leaves the other twenty-two hours in which to be distracted and tossed about on the waves of samsara. But there is always time for sleep; the third of our lives we spend sleeping can be used for practice.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#NFDB
635:What is a great spiritual practitioner? A person who lives always in the presence of his or her own true self, someone who has found and who uses continually the springs and sources of profound inspiration. As the modern English writer Lewis Thompson wrote: 'Christ, supreme poet, lived truth so passionately that every gesture of his, at once pure Act and perfect Symbol, embodies the transcendent.'
To embody the transcendent is why we are here. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
636:En ausencia de los elementos de apoyo que nos resultan familiares, quedamos cara a cara tan sólo con nosotros mismos: una persona a la que no conocemos, un extraño desconcertante con quien hemos vivido siempre, pero al que, en el fondo, nunca hemos querido tratar. ¿Acaso no es ése el motivo de que tratemos de llenar cada instante de ruido y actividades, por aburridas y triviales que sean, y evitemos quedarnos a solas y en silencio con ese desconocido? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
637:When your amnesia over your identity begins to be cured, you will realize finally that dak dzin, grasping at self, is the root cause of all your suffering. You will understand at last how much harm it has done both to yourself and to others, and you will realize that both the noblest and the wisest thing to do is to cherish others instead of cherishing yourself. This will bring healing to your heart, healing to your mind, and healing to your spirit. It ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
638:At all times, do not lose courage in your inner awareness; uplift yourself, while assuming a humble position in your outer demeanor. Follow the example of the life and complete liberation of previous accomplished masters. Do not blame your past karma; instead, be someone who purely and flawlessly practices the dharma. Do not blame temporary negative circumstances; instead, be someone who remains steadfast in the face of whatever circumstances may arise. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche, #NFDB
639:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron, #NFDB
640:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron, #NFDB
641:Renunciation mind has nothing to do with sacrificing. When we talk about renunciation, somwhow we get all scared because we think that we have to give up some goodies, somehing valuable, some important things. But there is nothing that is important; there is nothing that is solidly exisiting. All that you are give up is actually a vague identity . You realize thigs is not true; it's noe the ultimate. This how and why to develop renunciation ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
642:Switch on the television or glance at the newspaper: You will see death everywhere. Yet, did the victims of those plane crashes and car accidents expect to die? They took life for granted, as we do. How often do we hear stories of people whom we know, or even friends, who died unexpectedly? We don't even have to be ill to die: Our bodies can suddenly break down and go out of order, just like our cars. We can be quite well one day, then fall sick and die the next. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
643:Look at your life. Look at the ways in which you define who you are and what you’re capable of achieving. Look at your goals. Look at the pressures applied by the people around you and the culture in which you were raised. Look again. And again. Keep looking until you realize, within your own experience, that you’re so much more than who you believe you are. Keep looking until you discover the wondrous heart, the marvelous mind, that is the very basis of your being. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
644:Ordinary people do not question the commonly accepted version of reality. They conform to the standard values of subduing enemies and cherishing friends and family. Materialism, ambition and mundane achievements are the worldly hallmarks of success. We experience the phenomenal world and our minds as solid and truly existent. Very few people doubt these assertions and question their solidity. Yet, the process of disbelief is the first step on the spiritual path. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
645:Once you have the View, although the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it’s not particularly flattered, and when the clouds appear, it’s not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle from inside as you see the facade of samsara and nirvana; the View will keep you constantly amused, with a little inner smile bubbling away all the time. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
646:Whatever you do, don't shut off your pain. Accept your pain and remain vulnerable. However desperate you become, don't shut off your pain because it is in fact trying to hand you a precious gift -- the chance of discovery through spiritual practice, what lies behind sorrow. And don't we know and only far too well, that protection from pain doesn't work. And when we try and defend ourselves from suffering, we only suffer more and don't learn what we can from experience. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
647:As a Buddhist, I view death as a normal process, a reality that I accept will occur as long as I remain in this earthly existence. Knowing that I cannot escape it, I see no point in worrying about it. I tend to think of death as being like changing your clothes when they are old and worn out, rather than as some final end. Yet death is unpredictable: We do not know when or how it will take place. So it is only sensible to take certain precautions before it actually happens. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
648:There is no inherent awakening power in cultural forms that have become dissociated from the wisdom and practicality that gave birth to them. They turn into illusions themselves and become part of the drama of religious culture. Although they can make us happy temporarily, they can't free us from suffering, so at some point, they become a source of disappointment and discouragement. Eventually, these forms may inspire nothing more than resistance to their authority. ~ Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, #NFDB
649:Once I had an opportunity to talk with Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, about the fact that I was not able to do my practice properly. I had just started the vajrayana practices and I was supposed to be visualizing. I couldn't visualize anything. I tried and tried but there was just nothing at all; I felt like a fraud doing the practice because it didn't feel natural to me. (...). So he encouraged me by saying that as long as you have these kinds of doubts, your practice will be good. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
650:Rinpoche used to say, “Notice your tone of voice when you say ‘thinking.’” It might be really harsh, but actually it’s just a euphemism for “Drat! You were thinking again, gosh darn it, you dummy.” You might really be saying, “You fool, you absolutely miserable meditator, you’re hopeless.” But it’s not that at all. All that’s happened is that you’ve noticed. Good for you, you actually noticed! You’ve noticed that mind thinks continuously, and it’s wonderful that you’ve seen that. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
651:Developing the capacity for clear light dreams is similar to developing the capacity of abiding in the non-dual presence of rigpa during the day. In the beginning, rigpa and thought seem different, so that in the experience of rigpa there is no thought, and if thought arises we are distracted and lose rigpa. But when stabliity in rigpa is developed, thought simply arises and dissolves without in the least obscuring rigpa; the practitioner remains in non-dual awareness. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
652:There are several realms which ordinary persons do not perceive. Because they cannot see them, that doesn't mean they don't exist. One of these realms is the sambhogakaya that can only be visited by highly realized Bodhisattvas. In the pure realm of the sambhogakaya, the Dharma is continuously taught. One sambhogakaya realm is Tushita, which is presided over by the next Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni dwelled there before coming to earth to give Dharma teachings. ~ Thrangu Rinpoche, #NFDB
653:There would be no chance at all of getting to know death if it happened only once. But fortunately, life is nothing but a continuing dance of birth and death, a dance of change. Every time I hear the rush of a mountain stream, or the waves crashing on the shore, or my own heartbeat, I hear the sound of impermanence. These changes, these small deaths, are our living links with death. They are death's pulses, death's heartbeat, prompting us to let go of all the things we cling to. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
654:For most of us, karma and negative emotions obscure the ability to see our own intrinsic nature, and the nature of reality. As a result we clutch on to happiness and suffering as real, and in our unskillful and ignorant actions go on sowing the seeds of our next birth. Our actions keep us bound to the continuous cycle of worldly existence, to the endless round of birth and death. So everything is at risk in how we live now at this very moment: How we live now can cost us our entire future. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
655:The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society. You may wonder what the best approach is to helping society and how you can know that what you are doing is authentic and good. The only answer is nowness. The way to relax, or rest the mind in nowness, is through the practice of meditation. In meditation you take an unbiased approach. You let things be as they are, without judgment, and in that way you yourself learn to be. —CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
656:Being carefree, you can fit in anywhere. If you’re not carefree you keep on bumping up against things. Your life becomes so narrow, so tight; it gets very claustrophobic. Carefree means being wide open from within, not constricted. Carefree doesn’t mean careless. It is not that you don’t care about others, not that you don’t have compassion or are unfriendly. Carefree is being really simple, from the inside. Dignity is not conceit but rather what shines forth from this carefree confidence. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
657:The real glory of meditation lies not in any method but in its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss, clarity, peace, and most important of all, complete absence of grasping. The diminishing of grasping in yourself is a sign that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving, and the closer you will come to the infinitely generous "wisdom of egolessness." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
658:This awareness, free from an inside or an outside, is open like the sky.
It is penetrating Wakefulness free from limitations and partiality.
Within the vast and open space of this all-embracing mind,
All phenomena of samsara and nirvana manifest like rainbows in the sky.
Within this state of unwavering awareness,
All that appears and exists, like a reflection,
Appears but is empty, resounds but is empty.
Its nature is Emptiness from the very beginning.
~ Tsogdruk Rinpoche, The Flight of Garuda,#NFDB
659:But as my teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche used to say, we can approach our lives as an experiment. In the next moment, in the next hour, we could choose to stop, to slow down, to be still for a few seconds. We could experiment with interrupting the usual chain reaction, and not spin off in the usual way. We don’t need to blame someone else, and we don’t need to blame ourselves. When we’re in a tight spot, we can experiment with not strengthening the aggression habit and see what happens. Pausing ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
660:Perhaps the deepest reason we are afraid of death is that we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity; but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography", our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit card ... It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
661:In so doing, we regain the innocent perspective most of us knew as children. Our hearts open up to others, like flowers blossoming. We become better listeners, more fully aware of everything going on around us, and are able to respond more spontaneously and appropriately to situations that used to trouble or confuse us. Gradually, perhaps on a level so subtle we might not even notice it’s happening, we find ourselves awakening to a free, clear, loving state of mind beyond our wildest dreams. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
662:Imagine craving absolutely nothing from the world. Imagine cutting the invisible strings that so painfully bind us: what would that be like? Imagine the freedoms that come from the ability to enjoy things without having to acquire them, own them, possess them. Try to envision a relationship based on acceptance and genuine care rather than expectation. Imagine feeling completely satisfied and content with your life just as it is. Who wouldn't want this? This is the enjoyment of non-attachment. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
663:When a rainbow appears vividly in the sky, you can see its beautiful colors, yet you could not wear as clothing or put it on as an ornament. It arises through the conjunction of various factors, but there is nothing about it that can be grasped. Likewise, thoughts that arise in the mind have no tangible existence or intrinsic solidity. There is no logical reason why thoughts, which have no substance, should have so much power over you, nor is there any reason why you should become their slave. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
664:A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
665:Who is the object of homage?
You, whose face is very white, lovely and beautiful, glowing with light like an array of a hundred full autumn moons, all together, without the dust from earth and water, You are adorned with completely open, immeasurable twofold knowledge like the hosts of a thousand stars, The brilliant light of your clear wisdom manifesting the four correct analytical knowledges shines forth, Noble Lady Tara, Goddess Vajra Sarasvati, I pay homage to you. ~ Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, Smile Of Sun And Moon,#NFDB
666:For example, when practitioners transform into Shenlha Ökar (Shen Deity of White Light), they visualize their bodies as being adorned with the thirteen ornaments of peacefulness that in themselves evoke the enlightened quality of peacefulness.2 Shenlha Ökar himself embodies all six of the antidote qualities of love, generosity, wisdom, openness, peacefulness, and compassion; so as soon as you transform into Shenlha Ökar, you instantly embody these same qualities. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Tibetan Yogas of Body, Speech, and Mind, #NFDB
667:Please understand that all sentient beings, all our past parents, want nothing but happiness. Unfortunately, through their negative actions they only create the causes for further pain and suffering. Take this to heart and consider all our parents, wandering blindly and endlessly through painful samsaric states. When we truly take this to heart, out of compassion we feel motivated to achieve enlightenment to truly help all of them. This compassionate attitude is indispensable as a preparation for practice. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
668:This reminded me of the stories His Holiness Zong Rinpoche told about meditators who had achieved the illusory body. While they were sleeping at night, they would use their subtle body to read and memorize many scriptures at the same time. I thought that Lama was able to read so many texts in such a short time because he did it at night with the illusory body. From the way Lama talked so confidently about the many actions that a yogi could do with their subtle body, I could see that Lama himself had this power. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe, #NFDB
669:I remember how people would often come to see my master Jamyang Khyentse simply to ask for his guidance for the moment of death. He was so loved and revered throughout Tibet, especially in the eastern province of Kham, that some would travel for months on end to meet him and get his blessing just once before they died. All my masters would give this as their advice, for this is the essence of what is needed as you come to die: "Be free of attachment and aversion. Keep your mind pure. And unite your mind with Buddha." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
670:All of the various types of teachings and spiritual paths are related to the different capacities of understanding that different individuals have. There does not exist, from an absolute point of view, any teaching which is more perfect or effective than another. A teaching's value lies solely in the inner awakening which an individual can arrive at through it. If a person benefits from a given teaching, for that person that teaching is the supreme path, because it is suited to his or her nature and capacities. ~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, #NFDB
671:I don't think there is anything like the awareness of space to process emotion. That space is such an incredible processor. There is no analysis equal to the processing capacity of open awareness. When you are trying to analyze something, you don't realize that the analyzer itself is part of the problem. Both the problem and the analyzer are constructions of the mind. But direct, open, naked awareness is not a construction of the mind but the nature of the mind itself, and therefore the greatest processor ever. ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
672:CHOOSING TO LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society. You may wonder what the best approach is to helping society and how you can know that what you are doing is authentic and good. The only answer is nowness. The way to relax, or rest the mind in nowness, is through the practice of meditation. In meditation you take an unbiased approach. You let things be as they are, without judgment, and in that way you yourself learn to be. —CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
673:What most of us need, almost more than anything, is the courage and humility really to ask for help, from the depths of our hearts: to ask for the compassion of the enlightened beings, to ask for purification and healing, to ask for the power to understand the meaning of our suffering and transform it; at a relative level to ask for the growth in our lives of clarity, peace, and discernment, and to ask for the realization of the absolute nature of mind that comes from merging with the deathless wisdom mind of the master. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
674:have found also, from my own experience, that it is essential not to take anything too personally. When you least expect it, dying people can make you the target of all their anger and blame. As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross says, anger and blame can “be displaced in all directions, and projected onto the environment at times almost at random.”1 Do not imagine that this rage is really aimed at you; realizing what fear and grief it springs from will stop you from reacting to it in ways that might damage your relationship. Sometimes ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
675:In parting, I would like to give you one small piece of advice to keep in your heart. You may have heard me say this before, but it is the key point of the entire path, so it bears repeating: All that we are looking for in life — all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind — is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is itself fundamentally pure and good. The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
676:To expect happiness without giving up negative action is like holding your hand in a fire and hoping not to be burned. Of course, no one actually wants to suffer, to be sick, to be cold or hungry - but as long as we continue to indulge in wrong doing we will never put an end to suffering. Likewise, we will never achieve happiness, except through positive deeds, words, and thoughts. Positive action is something we have to cultivate ourselves; it can be neither bought nor stolen, and no one ever stumbles on it just by chance. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
677:Humour allows us to see that ultimately things don't make sense. The only thing that truly makes sense is letting go of anything we continue to hold on to. Our ego-mind and emotions are a dramatic illusion. Of course, we all feel that they're real: my drama, your drama, our confrontations. We create these elaborate scenarios and then react to them. But there is nothing really happening outside our mind! This is karma's cosmic joke. You can laugh about the irony of this, or you can stick with your scenario. It's your choice. ~ Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, #NFDB
678:Modern civilization is largely devoted to the pursuit of the cult of delusion. There is no general information about the nature of mind. It is hardly ever written about by writers or intellectuals; modern philosophers do not speak of it directly; the majority of scientists deny it could possibly be there at all. It plays no part in popular culture: no one sings about it, no one talks about it in plays, and it's not on TV. We are actually educated into believing that nothing is real beyond what we can perceive with our ordinary senses. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
679:We choose ignorance because we can. We choose awareness because we can. Samsara and nirvana are simply different points of view based on the choices we make in how to examine and understand our experience. There’s nothing magical about nirvana and nothing bad or wrong about samsara. If you’re determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so, and that the opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
680:Our thoughts, emotions, and sensations are like waves rising and falling in an endless ocean of infinite possibility. The problem is that we've become used to seeing only the waves and mistaking them for the ocean. Each time we look at the waves, though, we become a little more aware of the ocean; and as that happens, our focus begins to shift. We begin to identify with the ocean rather than the waves, watching them rise and fall without affecting the nature of the ocean itself. But that can only happen if we begin to look. MOVING ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
681:The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you’re already good, whole, and complete. It’s about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind. In other words, Buddhism is not so much concerned with getting well as with recognizing that you are, right here, right now, as whole, as good, as essentially well as you could ever hope to be. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
682:What makes it possible to imagine ourselves as other beings? What does our capacity to exchange ourselves with others tell us about ourselves? If the beliefs we have about the world and ourselves are nothing more than ideas, then who and what are we? These are the very questions that hint at the absolute truth of emptiness, the ultimate reality that allows us to liberate ourselves from fixed and fabricated identities. Many opportunities to discuss this lie ahead, but for now just hold these questions in a creative and playful way. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
683:Every time you connect, a little bit more clarity stays around the love, a little bit more space opens up around it. your mind becomes clearer. you experience expanded possibilities. You become a little more confident, a little more willing to connect with others, a little more willing to open up to other people, whether that means talking about your own stuff or listen to theirs. And as that happens a little miracle occurs: You're giving, without expectation in return. Your very being becomes, consciously or not, an inspiration to others ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, #NFDB
684:They are not concerned with the need to enforce negative consequences on others. They are not worried about making sure that others get what they deserve. As practitioners of lojong, we must be extremely pragmatic. Allowing others to experience the natural consequences of their actions is something that we will have to accept if we are to find peace of mind. Concerning ourselves with the consequences of others’ actions gives rise to a state of mind that is resentful, angry, or wishes negativity on others, and that will only harm us in the end. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
685:If we start worrying whether our nose is too big or too small, we should think, “What if I had no head? - now that would be a problem!” As long as we have life, we should rejoice. If everything doesn't go exactly as we'd like, we can accept it. If we contemplate impermanence deeply, patience and compassion will arise. We will hold less to the apparent truth of our experience, and the mind will become more flexible. Realizing that one day this body will be buried or burned, we will rejoice in every moment we have rather than make ourselves or others unhappy. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, #NFDB
686:Sometimes things look good, sometimes they look bad. Sometimes they are happy and we wish things would go on forever, and then suddenly something happens—things fall apart. Life seems unbearable and painful. This is merely the impermanent nature of life. There is no controlling any of it. There is no controlling our physical body; there is no controlling the process of aging; there is no controlling the environment around us, the state of the world, the government, or the nature of politics. The only thing that we can control and master is our own spiritual path. After ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
687:If all we know of mind is the aspect of mind that dissolves when we die, we will be left with no idea of what continues, no knowledge of the new dimension of the deeper reality of the nature of mind. So it is vital for us all to familiarize ourselves with the nature of mind while we are still alive. Only then will we be prepared for the time when it reveals itself spontaneously and powerfully at the moment of death; be able to recognize it "as naturally," the teachings say, "as a child running into its mother's lap"; and by remaining in that state, finally be liberated. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
688:Devotion {to the spiritual master} becomes the purest, quickest, and simplest way to realize the nature of our mind and all things. As we progress in it, the process reveals itself as wonderfully interdependent: We, from our side, try continually to generate devotion; the devotion we arouse itself generates glimpses of the nature of mind, and these glimpses only enhance and deepen our devotion to the master who is inspiring us. So in the end devotion springs out of wisdom: devotion and the living experience of the nature of mind becomes inseparable, and inspire one another. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
689:Devotion is the essence of the path, and if we have in mind nothing but the guru and feel nothing but fervent devotion, whatever occurs is perceived as his blessing. If we simply practice with this constantly present devotion, this is prayer itself. When all thoughts are imbued with devotion to the guru, there is a natural confidence that this will take care of whatever may happen. All forms are the guru, all sounds are prayer, and all gross and subtle thoughts arise as devotion. Everything is spontaneously liberated in the absolute nature, like knots untied in the sky. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
690:Inherent in this technique is the ability to let go at the end of the out-breath, to open at the end of the out-breath, because for a moment there’s actually no instruction about what to do. There’s a possibility of what Rinpoche used to call “gap” at the end of the out-breath: you’re mindful of your breath as it goes out, and then there’s a pause as the breath comes in. It’s as if you . . . pause. It doesn’t help at all to say, “Don’t be mindful of the in-breath”—that’s like saying, “Don’t think of a pink elephant.” When you’re told not to be mindful of something, it becomes an obsession. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
691:Never underestimate the long-term consequences of your actions. For as long as the mind has the obscurration of grasping at an inherently existing "me", then there will be karma. No matter how far on the path one is, no matter how realised one is, no matter how many miraculous powers one has attained, for as long as there is even a subtle trace of this obscurration, karma is there.
That is why Padmasambhava, an enlightened being not even affected by it, had skilfully told ordinary beings, "My realization is higher than the sky, but my observance of karma is finer than grains of flour." ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
692:The reason why you do not touch fire is because you know that it will cause you to suffer. Likewise, if you truly understand karma, you will not commit a single negative action, because unless that negative karma is purified, you know that it will eventually ripen into suffering.
You might forget this natural process, or you might not believe in it, because the ripening does not always happen immediately. But your karma will follow you like your shadow, that gets closer and closer without you realising, until you are eventually touched by it. Please, I urge you to always remember this. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
693:When? At this time, while you have all the opportunities, if you do not do your best to achieve the pure, stainless path to enlightenment when will you do it? If you don't meditate, don't practise the graduated path to enlightenment, especially bodhicitta, in this life, then when? When will you practise? When will you have this realization? If, in this life, you don't achieve renunciation, bodhicitta and sunyata, as well as the two stages of tantra, when will you? When will you have these attainments? When will you become enlightened? When will you perform perfect work for sentient beings? ~ Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, #NFDB
694:Though we may be genetically wired for temporary happiness, we've also been gifted with the ability to recognize within ourselves a more profound and lasting sense of confidence, peace, and well-being. Among sentient beings, human beings appear to stand alone in their ability to recognize the necessity to forge a bond between reason, emotion, and their instinct to survive, and in doing so create a universe-not only for themselves and the human generations that follow, but also for all creatures who feel pain, fear and suffering-in which we are all able to coexist contentedly and peaceably. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
695:So, first of all, it is most important to turn inwards and change your motivation.
If you can correct your attitude, skilful means will permeate your positive actions, and you will have set out on the path of great beings.
If you cannot, you might think that you are studying and practising the Dharma but it will be no more than a semblance of the real thing.
Therefore, whenever you listen to the teachings and whenever you practise, be it meditating on a deity, doing prostrations and circumambulations, or reciting a mantra-even a single mani it is always essential to give rise to bodhicitta. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
696:When we are at last freed from the body that has defined and dominated our understanding of ourselves for so long, the karmic vision of one life is completely exhausted, but any karma that might be created in the future has not yet begun to crystallize. So what happens in death is that there is a “gap” or space that is fertile with vast possibility; it is a moment of tremendous, pregnant power where the only thing that matters, or could matter, is how exactly our mind is. Stripped of a physical body, mind stands naked, revealed startlingly for what it has always been: the architect of our reality. So ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
697:This is the true difference between practitioners of lojong and ordinary people. Practitioners of lojong focus wholly on the goal of releasing emotional responses because they know that sooner or later their own responses will cause their own suffering. Practitioners of lojong are not concerned with the appearance of fairness and justice. Recall the example of Patrul Rinpoche, who dressed as a beggar and was unconcerned with being treated with respect and kindness when he was able to benefit the deceased. Recall the example of Geshe Ben, who saw his wish to get his own share of yogurt as his true enemy. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
698:I would like to tell you that an enlightened essence is present in everyone. It is present in every state, both samsara and nirvana, and in all sentient beings; there is no exception. Experience your buddha nature, make it your constant practice, and you will reach enlightenment. In my lifetime I have known many, many people who attained such and enlightened state, both male and female. Awakening to enlightenment is not an ancient fable. It is not mythology. It actually does happen. Bring the oral instructions into your own practical experience and enlightenment is indeed possible; it is not just a fairy tale. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
699:Patrul Rinpoche tells the story of an old frog who had lived all his life in a dank well. One day a frog from the sea paid him a visit. “Where do you come from?” asked the frog in the well. “From the great ocean,” he replied. “How big is your ocean?” “It’s gigantic.” “You mean about a quarter of the size of my well here?” “Bigger.” “Bigger? You mean half as big?” “No, even bigger.” “Is it . . . as big as this well?” “There’s no comparison.” “That’s impossible! I’ve got to see this for myself.” They set off together. When the frog from the well saw the ocean, it was such a shock that his head just exploded into pieces. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
700:Thinking about a physical irritation as small as a mosquito bite can really illustrate how suffering arises based on attachment to the body. When our identification and attachment are untempered and intense, we cannot help ourselves—we automatically engage in behavior that irritates and agitates what is already painful. We hurt ourselves, even though we are doing our best to relieve our own suffering. Isn’t this what we are doing all the time? When we attach to the physical experience of suffering, whether it be something as small as a mosquito bite or as painful as an illness such as cancer, even more pain is sure to follow. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
701:Through the practice of shamata meditation, the tumultuous habits of mind calm down; and then we can investigate the characteristics of the calm waters beyond the monkey’s control. This is called vipashyana—or insight—meditation. I knew monkey mind intimately. I also knew that when we dismiss any value to knowing this monkey, it’s like owning a car without knowing how to drive. The less we know about the chattering, muttering voice in our heads that tells us what to do, what to believe, what to buy, which people we should love, and so forth, the more power we grant it to boss us around and convince us that whatever it says is true. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
702:It’s often the case that the first lessons we learn in life are the most important ones. “Look both ways before crossing the street.” “Don’t take candy from a stranger.” “Don’t play with matches.” Children hear these things from their parents again and again, for good reason; and yet, as important as these childhood lessons are, we always seem to forget them. Human beings, by nature, take risks. That’s how we learn. But some lessons can be deadly, while others can cause lasting pain. That’s why, even as adults, we have to repeat the lessons we learned as children, and pass them on to our own children. Certain lessons just bear repeating. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
703:Self-grasping creates self-cherishing, which in turn creates an ingrained aversion to harm and suffering. However, harm and suffering have no objective existence, what gives them their existence and their power is only our aversion to them. When you understand this, you understand then that it is our aversion, in fact, that attracts to us every negativity and obstacle that can possibly happen to us, and fills our lives with nervous anxiety, expectation, and fear. Wear down that aversion by wearing down the self-grasping mind and its attachment to a nonexistent self, and you will wear down any hold on you that any obstacle or negativity can have. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
704:When they went into solitude, followed a spiritual practice, and truly faced themselves and the fact of death, they were healed. What is this telling us? That when we accept death, transform our attitude toward life, and discover the fundamental connection between life and death, a dramatic possibility for healing can occur. Tibetan Buddhists believe that illnesses like cancer can be a warning, to remind us that we have been neglecting deep aspects of our being, such as our spiritual needs.4 If we take this warning seriously and change fundamentally the direction of our lives, there is a very real hope for healing not only our body, but our whole being. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
705:As in other exercises my father taught me, the way to begin is to sit up straight, breathe normally, and gradually allow your mind to relax. “With your mind at rest,” he instructed those of us in his little teaching room in Nepal, “just allow yourself to become aware of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations passing through it. And as you watch them pass, simply ask yourself, ‘Is there a difference between the mind and the thoughts that pass through it? Is there any difference between the thinker and the thoughts perceived by the thinker?’ Continue watching your thoughts with these questions in mind for about three minutes or so, and then stop. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
706:Patrul Rinpoche tells the story of an old frog who had lived all his life in a dank well. One day a frog from the sea paid him a visit. "Where do you come from?" asked the frog in the well. "From the great ocean," he replied. "How big is your ocean?" "It's gigantic." "You mean about a quarter of the size of my well here?" "Bigger." "Bigger? You mean half as big?" "No, even bigger." "Is it . . . as big as this well?" "There's no comparison." "That's impossible! I've got to see this for myself." They set off together. When the frog from the well saw the ocean, it was such a shock that his head just exploded into pieces. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, #NFDB
707:There was a small glass vase between us, three gladioli in a few ounces of water. One of the gladioli had dropped a petal- brushstroke of purple on fine white cloth. Rinpoche drank the last sip of his tea, then set the cup aside, took the petal with his thumb and second finger, placed it on the middle of the saucer in front of him, and turned the cup upside down to cover it.
"I feel a lesson coming on," I said...
"The flower is the good inside every person," he said. "The cup is like a wall, to protect. Many people have that wall."
"Armor" I said. He nodded.
"Why?"
"Because to live without the cup means you must feel the world as the world really is. ~ Roland Merullo,#NFDB
708:Just as the ocean has waves or the sun has rays, so the
mind's own radiance is its thoughts and emotions. The ocean
has waves, yet the ocean is not particularly disturbed by them.
The waves are the very nature of the ocean. Waves will rise, but
where do they go? Back into the ocean. And where do the
waves come from? The ocean. In the same manner, thoughts
and emotions are the radiance and expression of the very nature
of the mind. They rise from the mind, but where do they dissolve?
Back into the mind. Whatever arises, do not see it as a
particular problem. If you do not impulsively react, if you are
only patient, it will once again settle into its essential nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
709:During this degenerate age in the outer world, there are many natural disasters due to the upsetting of the four elements. Also, demonic forces come with their many weapons to incite the fighting of wars. All of those forces have caused the world to come to ruin and led all to tremble - so terrified that their hair stands up on end. Still, the demonic forces find it necessary to come up with new types of weapons. If we were called on to confront them, there is no way we Dharma practitioners could defeat them. That is why we make supplication prayers to the three jewels, do the aspiration prayers, the offering prayers and the prayers of invocation. We are responsible for those activities. This is what I urge you to do. ~ Chatral Rinpoche, #NFDB
710:Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature. Think of your ordinary emotional, thought-ridden self as a block of ice or a slab of butter left out in the sun. If you are feeling hard and cold, let this aggression melt away in the sunlight of your meditation. Let peace work on you and enable you to gather your scattered mind into the mindfulness of Calm Abiding, and awaken in you the awareness and insight of Clear Seeing. And you will find all your negativity disarmed, your aggression dissolved, and your confusion evaporating slowly like mist into the vast and stainless sky of your absolute nature. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
711:Once I had an opportunity to talk with Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, about the fact that I was not able to do my practice properly. I had just started the vajrayana2 practices and I was supposed to be visualizing. I couldn’t visualize anything. I tried and tried but there was just nothing at all; I felt like a fraud doing the practice because it didn’t feel natural to me. I was quite miserable because everybody else seemed to be having all kinds of visualizations and doing very well. He said, “I’m always suspicious of the ones who say everything’s going well. If you think that things are going well, then it’s usually some kind of arrogance. If it’s too easy for you, you just relax. You don’t make a real effort, and therefore you never find out what it is to be fully human. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
712:Until now, we may have told many stories to ourselves and others to explain or justify what has happened to us in our lives. We may have thought long and hard about how others caused us to suffer needlessly or unjustly. But if we take the time to look in the mirror, we begin to see through the storylines of our personal drama. We realize that our self-cherishing is the author, the director, and the star of everything that is happening around us. These outer enemies are just our partners in the dance of life, here for a moment and then gone. But our thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the people and events in our lives have endured, making these momentary encounters ever present and vivid within the mind. Thus our attachment to momentary happiness and suffering stays with us, and we have roiled in misery as a result. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
713:There are a vast amount of Buddhas already, and each one manifests countless forms simultaneously throughout all of the planes of cyclic existence for the benefit of all beings. However, at any given time, each individual being will have a stronger karmic connection with certain Buddhas, compared to other Buddhas.
Likewise, if you were a Buddha, since a huge number of beings throughout cyclic existence would have a stronger karmic connection with you during certain times, you would be able to benefit them much more directly than the many other Buddhas would be able to. Do not forget this.
The deeper you realise this, the greater your bodhicitta motivation becomes - in other words, the greater your compassionate wish to attain the enlightened state of a Buddha for the benefit of all beings, as soon as possible!
~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
714:In his own way, Trungpa Rinpoche devised such a course for his students. He’d have us memorize certain chants, and a few months after most of us knew them, he’d change the wording. He’d teach us specific rituals and be extremely precise about how they should be done. Just about the time we began criticizing people who did them wrong, he’d teach the rituals in a completely different way. We would print up nice manuals with all the correct procedures, but usually they were outdated before they came off the press. After years of this sort of training, one begins to relax one’s grip. If today the instruction is to put everything on the right, one does that as impeccably as one can. When tomorrow the instruction is to put everything on the left, one does that with one’s whole heart. The idea of one right way sort of dissolves into the mist. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
715:Taking impermanence truly to heart is to be slowly freed
from the idea of grasping, from our flawed and destructive
view of permanence, from the false passion for security on
which we have built everything. Slowly it dawns on us that
all the heartache we have been through from grasping at the
ungraspable was, in the deepest sense, unnecessary. At the
beginning this too may be painful to accept, because it seems
so unfamiliar. But as we reflect, and go on reflecting, our
hearts and minds go through a gradual transformation. Letting
go begins to feel more natural, and becomes easier and easier.
It may take a long time for the extent of our foolishness to
sink in, but the more we reflect, the more we develop the
view of letting go; it is then that a shift takes place in our way
of looking at everything. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
716:The fact that each being has its own accordant suffering means that no matter who we are, whether we have a prominent place or the humblest place in society, we all experience suffering. Reflect on all of the ordinary suffering that each and every living being experiences. Many of us face the unbearable suffering of the death of a child. All of us will experience being separated from our parents, either by emotional estrangement or by death. If we are married or in a long-term relationship, that relationship will either break up or end with the death of one of the partners. Many of us have families that do not behave like families due to alcoholism or other kinds of addictions, and we grow up lacking stability and intimacy. Even if we do have a more stable family life, we will still experience the suffering of disagreements, arguing, and fighting. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
717:Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity — but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography," our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit cards… It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are?
Without our familiar props, we are faced with just ourselves, a person we do not know, an unnerving stranger with whom we have been living all the time but we never really wanted to meet. Isn't that why we have tried to fill every moment of time with noise and activity, however boring or trivial, to ensure that we are never left in silence with this stranger on our own? ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
718:Don’t let us take doubts with exaggerated seriousness nor let them grow out of proportion, or become black-and-white or fanatical about them. What we need to learn is how slowly to change our culturally conditioned and passionate involvement with doubt into a free, humorous, and compassionate one. This means giving doubts time, and giving ourselves time to find answers to our questions that are not merely intellectual or “philosophical,” but living and real and genuine and workable. Doubts cannot resolve themselves immediately; but if we are patient a space can be created within us, in which doubts can be carefully and objectively examined, unraveled, dissolved, and healed. What we lack, especially in this culture, is the right undistracted and richly spacious environment of the mind, which can only be created through sustained meditation practice, and in which insights can be given the change slowly to mature and ripen. 129-130 ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
719:My body is moving…changing…this breath is coming in and going out…changing. I am breathing in new air, changing, I am breathing out old air, changing. I am part of this universe. This air is part of this universe. With each breath, the universe changes. With each inhale, the universe changes. With each exhale, the universe changes. Each inhale fills my lungs. Each inhale brings oxygen to my blood. Changing. Body changing. Each sensation is temporary. Each breath temporary, each rising and falling temporary. All changing, transforming. With each exhale, the old me dies. With each inhale, a new me is born. Becoming, renewing, dying, rebirth, change. As my body is changing, so are those of everyone I know. The bodies of my family and friends are changing. The planet is changing. The seasons are changing. Political regimes are changing. My monasteries are changing. The whole universe is changing. In. Out. Expansion, contraction ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, #NFDB
720:Once I had an opportunity to talk with Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, about the fact that I was not able to do my practice properly. I had just started the vajrayana* practices and I was supposed to be visualizing. I couldn’t visualize anything. I tried and tried but there was just nothing at all; I felt like a fraud doing the practice because it didn’t feel natural to me. I was quite miserable because everybody else seemed to be having all kinds of visualizations and doing very well. He said, ‘I’m always suspicious of the ones who say everything’s going well. If you think that things are going well, then it’s usually some kind of arrogance. If it’s too easy for you, you just relax. You don’t make a real effort, and therefore you never find out what it is to be fully human.’ So he encouraged me by saying that as long as you have these kinds of doubts, your practice will be good. When you begin to think that everything is just perfect and feel complacent and superior to the others, watch out! ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
721:English version by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang
This mind that knows emptiness
Is itself the awakened mind, bodhicitta.
The Buddha potential is just this.
The sugata essence is just this.
Because of tasting what is,
It is also the great bliss.
The understanding of secret mantra is just this.
Means and knowledge is just this.
This self-knowing, while one is still defiled,
Does not depend on other things,
So self-existing wakefulness is just this.
Being aware, it is cognizance.
A natural knowing that is free of thought.
This self-knowing cannot possibly form thoughts.
Without conceptualizing 'a mind,'
Since it is not something to be conceived,
This original wakefulness, cognizant yet thought-free,
Is like the wisdom of the Tathagata.
Therefore, it is taught, "Realize that luminous mind
Is the mind of original wakefulness,
And don't seek an enlightenment separate from that."
~ Naropa, The Viewm Concisely Put
,#NFDB
722:From the start, every practice requires three steps: learning, reflection, and application. To begin with, we need to receive the teachings in an authentic way. Real learning involves gaining understanding about an instruction. To do this we need to hear it clearly from someone who is part of a living tradition, who has a true transmission for the teaching, and who can pass it on clearly.
Having received the teaching, we then need to reflect upon it for ourselves. We need to gain some confidence and conviction about the value and methods of the teaching.
Finally we need to put the teaching to use by familiarizing ourselves with the practice and integrating it into our life. I want to stress this: after understanding a teaching intellectually and establishing it with certainty, it is vital to clear up any misconceptions and doubts you may have about it. Then you must make use of it in a very personal and intimate way, by practising. This is where any teaching becomes effective - by actually practising it, not simply knowing about it.
~ Adeu Rinpoche,#NFDB
723:Our own master, Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche, also lived by this advice. He took the Way of a Bodhisattva as one of his heart practices, taking this text with him everywhere he traveled. There are many stories of him living by the words of Patrul Rinpoche and the other lojong masters. One story recounts how, after the Communist restructuring of Tibet, he was placed in charge of the tent where food for the local village was collected and distributed. At that time, the villagers could only eat their quota of food, and the distribution of food was highly regulated. Because our master was respected and revered by others, the women who oversaw the milk collection offered in secret to let him have as much milk as he wanted. Tsara Dharmakirti Rinpoche loved milk, and one day he went into the tent and lifted the lid on a large vat of milk, thinking of scooping up a ladleful. But before he did so, he thought about the suffering caused by focusing on personal wishes and desires. He put the lid back on the vat of milk and resolved to drink only black tea from then on. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
724:Wherever I go in the West, I am struck by the great mental suffering that arises from the fear of dying, whether or not this fear is acknowledged. How reassuring it would be for people if they knew that when they lay dying they would be cared for with loving insight! As it is, our culture is so heartless in its expediency and its denial of any real spiritual value that people, when faced with terminal illness, feel terrified that they are simply going to be thrown away like useless goods. In Tibet it was a natural response to pray for the dying and to give them spiritual care; in the West the only spiritual attention that the majority pay to the dying is to go to their funeral. At the moment of their greatest vulnerability, then, people in our world are abandoned and left almost totally without support or insight. This is a tragic and humiliating state of affairs, which must change. All of the modern world’s pretensions to power and success will ring hollow until everyone can die in this culture with some measure of true peace, and until at least some effort is made to ensure this is possible. BY ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, #NFDB
725:I accept, will not give up, and will practice each of the Three Jewels,
And will not let go of my guru or my yidam deity.
As the samaya of the Buddha, first among the Three Jewels,
I will apply myself to the true, essential reality.
As the samaya of sacred Dharma, second among the Three Jewels,
I will distill the very essence of all the vehicles' teachings.
As the samaya of the Sangha, the third and final Jewel,
I will look upon reality; I will behold pure awareness.
And as the samaya of the guru and the yidam deity,
I will take my very own mind, my pure mind, as a witness.
Generally speaking, the Three Jewels should be regarded as the ultimate place to take refuge. As was taught in the section on taking refuge, your mind should be focused one-pointedly, with all your hopes and trust placed in their care. The gurus are a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.
As the guides who lead you along the path to liberation, they are your sole source of refuge and protection, from now until you attain enlightenment.
For these reasons, you should act with unwavering faith, pure view and devotion, and engage in the approach and accomplishment of the divine yidam deity. ~ Dzogchen Rinpoche III, Great Perfection Outer and Inner Preliminaries,#NFDB
726:When wind dissolves into consciousness, we are close to the moment of death, but according to Buddhist texts we are not actually dead until the “inner breath” ceases. The Bardo of Dying is not yet complete. This time, when the outer breath has ceased and before the inner breath ceases, is one of the most beneficial times for a lama to be present. It is very difficult for a dying person to recognize the moment when the outer breath ceases; we need knowledgeable entrusted Dharma friends, and our lama if possible, as well as incredible mindfulness at this time. Yet if we practice now, it will definitely benefit us! In the West, the signs of the dissolution of the elements may be difficult to notice if life-support technology takes over some of the dying person’s bodily functions. If we are practitioners with strong faith in Dharma and we believe that we are dying, we may want to decide in advance about using life support when we are at this advanced stage in the dying process, leaving advance directives to inform friends, family, and physicians about our wishes. This is, of course, a very emotional decision for the friends and family of the person who is dying, and one that is difficult to make when the process of death has actually begun. I believe that each and every being should have the right to make these decisions for themselves and to die as they wish. ~ Anyen Rinpoche, #NFDB
727:The Particular Necessity for Practice
The second part discusses "the particular necessity for practice."
Through the power of the yoga of speech, the stains that obscure the mind are removed. Once this happens, speech reaches its full potential. It is like discovering the true nature of your speech for the very first time.
To activate the yoga of speech, summon the primordial wisdom deities by calling their names. Just as calling someone's name naturally causes that person to draw closer to you, in the same way calling the wisdom deities by name brings them nearer to you.
They come to see what you want.
This does not mean the wisdom deities will not come if you do not call them. They could come even if you did not call their names.
You call their names-which is what you are doing when you recite mantras-because their names express their actual nature. A quote from the Dorje Kur (rDo rje gur) scripture reads: "To directly perceive the buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakinis and your own consort, get their attention by calling their names and invite them to come." Reciting the deity's name over and over purifies obscurations of speech and establishes the cause of vajra speech.
This cause produces the condition that averts adverse conditions.
The speech of the wisdom deities and your own speech will become the same-vajra speech. ~ Gyatrul Rinpoche, Generating the Deity,#NFDB
728:Recommended Reading
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest
DH Lawrence - The Rainbow
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
Karl Ove Knausgaard - My Struggle
Virginia Woolf - To The Lighthouse
Ben Lerner - The Topeka School
Sally Rooney - Conversations With Friends
Nell Zink - The Wallcreeper
Elena Ferrante - The Days of Abandonment
Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums
Walt Whitman - Leaves of Grass
Michael Murphy - Golf in the Kingdom
Barbara Kingsolver - Prodigal Summer
Albertine Sarrazin - Astragal
Rebecca Solnit - The Faraway Nearby
Michael Paterniti - Love and Other Ways of Dying
Rainer Maria Rilke - Book of Hours
James Baldwin - Another Country
Roberto Calasso - Ka
Translation by S. Radhakrishan - Principle Upanisads
Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Translation by Georg Feuerstein - Yoga Sutra
Richard Freeman - The Mirror of Yoga
Translation by S. Radhakrishan - The Bhagavad Gita
Shrunyu Suzuki - Zen Mind Beginner's Mind
Heinrich Zimmer - Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
Sogyal Rinpoche - The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Joseph Campbell - Myths of Light
Joseph Campbell - The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Sri Aurobindo - Savitri
Thomas Meyers - Anatomy Trains
Wendy Doniger - The Hindus ~ Jason Bowman, http://www.jasonbowmanyoga.com/recommended-reading,#NFDB
729:CHAPTER V
The Actual Practice:The Yoga of Meditative Equipoise
Part II
The Yoga of the Speech Recitation
The next section explains the yoga of vajra recitation in seven parts:
(1) general understanding, (2) the particular necessity for practice, (3) the actual nature of the recitation, (4) different types of recitation, (5) the manner of reciting the mantra, (6) number of recitations and (7) activity upon completion.
General Understanding
A general understanding of the yoga of vajra recitation is approached by considering the object that needs to be purified by the yoga, the means of purification and the result. The object that needs to be purified through the yoga of speech is the habit of perceiving all sounds-names, words, syllables and anything that is spoken-as merely ordinary sounds with ordinary meanings.
Simply stated, the object to purify is your present, obscured experience of speech and the habitual instincts that accompany it.
The practice of mantra recitation purifies this impure experience and results in pure, vajra-like speech. One achieves the Sambhogakaya and becomes imbued with the sixty qualities of the Buddha's speech. All of one's words become pleasing, meaningful and helpful. The means of purification is to recite the mantra, the pure sounds which the buddhas have given to us, over and over until they are like a spinning wheel of sound. ~ Gyatrul Rinpoche, Generating the DeityZ,#NFDB
730:The Nirmanakaya manifestation of Amitabha, I,
the Indian Scholar, the Lotus Born,
From the self-blossoming center of a lotus,
Came to this realm of existence through miraculous powers
To be the prince of the king of Oddiyana.
Then, I sustained the kingdom in accordance with Dharma.
Wandering throughout all directions of India,
I severed all spiritual doubts without exception.
Engaging in fearless activity in the eight burial grounds,
I achieved all supreme and common siddhis.
Then, according to the wishes of King Trisong Detsen
And by the power of previous prayers, I journeyed to Tibet.
By subduing the cruel gods, nagas, yakshas, rakshas,
and all spirits who harm beings,
The light of the teachings of secret mantra has been illuminated.
Then, when the time came to depart for the continent of Lanka,
I did so to provide refuge from the fear of rakshas
For all the inhabitants of this world, including Tibet.
I blessed Nirmanakaya emanations to be representatives of my body.
I made sacred treasures as representatives of my holy speech.
I poured enlightened wisdom into the hearts of those with fortunate karma.
Until samsara is emptied, for the benefit of sentient beings,
I will manifest unceasingly in whatever ways are necessary.
Through profound kindness, I have brought great benefit for all.
If you who are fortunate have the mind of aspiration,
May you pray so that blessings will be received.
All followers, believe in me with determination.
Samaya. ~ The Wrathful Compassion of Guru Dorje Drollo, Vajra Master Dudjom Yeshe Dorje, translated by Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche,#NFDB
731:Let's try an experiment. Pick up a coin. Imagine that it represents
the object at which you are grasping. Hold it tightly
clutched in your fist and extend your arm, with the palm of
your hand facing the ground. Now if you let go or relax your
grip, you will lose what you are clinging onto. That's why
you hold on.
But there's another possibility: You can let go and yet keep
REFLECTION AND CHANGE 35
hold of it. With your arm still outstretched, turn your hand
over so that it faces the sky. Release your hand and the coin
still rests on your open palm. You let go. And the coin is still
yours, even with all this space around it.
So there is a way in which we can accept impermanence
and still relish life, at one and the same time, without grasping.
Let us now think of what frequently happens in relationships.
So often it is only when people suddenly feel they are
losing their partner that they realize that they love them. Then
they cling on even tighter. But the more they grasp, the more
the other person escapes them, and the more fragile their relationship
becomes.
So often we want happiness, but the very way we pursue
it is so clumsy and unskillful that it brings only more sorrow.
Usually we assume we must grasp in order to have that something
that will ensure our happiness. We ask ourselves: How
can we possibly enjoy anything if we cannot own it? How
often attachment is mistaken for love! Even when the relationship
is a good one, love is spoiled by attachment, with its
insecurity, possessiveness, and pride; and then when love is
gone, all you have left to show for it are the "souvenirs" of
love, the scars of attachment. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
732:THE FOUR FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES
Changing the Karmic Traces
Throughout the day, continuously remain in the awareness that all experience is a dream. Encounter all things as objects in a dream, all events as events in a dream, all people as people in a dream.
Envision your own body as a transparent illusory body. Imagine you are in a lucid dream during the entire day. Do not allow these reminders to be merely empty repetition. Each time you tell yourself, "This is a dream," actually become more lucid. Involve your body and your senses in becoming more present.
Removing Grasping and Aversion
Encounter all things that create desire and attachment as the illusory empty, luminous phenomena of a dream. Recognize your reactions to phenomena as a dream; all emotions, judgments, and preferences are being dreamt up. You can be certain that you are doing this correctly if immediately upon remembering that your reaction is a dream, desire and attachment lessen.
Strengthening Intention
Before going to sleep, review the day and reflect on how the practice has been. Let memories of the day arise and recognize them as memories of dream. Develop a strong intention to be aware in the coming night's dreams. Put your whole heart into this intention and pray strongly for success.
Cultivating Memory and joyful Effort
Begin the day with the strong intention to maintain the practice. Review the night, developing happiness if you remembered or were lucid in your dreams. Recommit yourself to the practice, with the intention to become lucid if you were not, and to further develop lucidity if you were. At any time during the day or evening it is good to pray for success in practice. Generate as strong an intention as possible. This is the key to the practice, ~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#NFDB
733:When we realize that the path is the goal, there’s a sense of workability. Trungpa Rinpoche said, “Whatever occurs in the confused mind is regarded as the path. Everything is workable. It is a fearless proclamation, the lion’s roar.” Everything that occurs in our confused mind we can regard as the path. Everything is workable. If we find ourselves in what seems like a rotten or painful situation and we think, “Well, how is this enlightenment?” we can just remember this notion of the path, that what seems undesirable in our lives doesn’t have to put us to sleep. What seems undesirable in our lives doesn’t have to trigger habitual reactions. We can let it show us where we’re at and let it remind us that the teachings encourage precision and gentleness, with loving-kindness toward every moment. When we live this way, we feel frequently—maybe continuously—at a crossroads, never knowing what’s ahead. It’s an insecure way to live. We often find ourselves in the middle of a dilemma—what should I do about the fact that somebody is angry with me? What should I do about the fact that I’m angry with somebody? Basically, the instruction is not to try to solve the problem but instead to use it as a question about how to let this very situation wake us up further rather than lull us into ignorance. We can use a difficult situation to encourage ourselves to take a leap, to step out into that ambiguity. This teaching applies to even the most horrendous situations life can dish out. Jean-Paul Sartre said that there are two ways to go to the gas chamber, free or not free. This is our choice in every moment. Do we relate to our circumstances with bitterness or with openness? That is why it can be said that whatever occurs can be regarded as the path and that all things, not just some things, are workable. This teaching is a fearless proclamation of what’s possible for ordinary people like you and me. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
734:In meditation which is a continuous flow of staying in the state at all times and in every circumstance there is neither suppression nor production of dwelling and proliferation; if there is dwelling, that is the dharmakaya’s own face and if there is proliferation, that is preserved as the self-liveliness of wisdom, so,
“Then, whether there is proliferation or dwelling,”
Whatever comes from mind’s liveliness as discursive thoughts, be it the truth of the source—afflictions of anger, attachment, and so on—or the truth of unsatisfactoriness—the flavours of experience which are the feelings of happiness, sadness, and so on—if the nature of the discursive thoughts is known as dharmata, they become the shifting events of the dharmakaya, so,
“Anger, attachment, happiness, or sadness,”
That does not finish it though; generally speaking if they are met with through the view but not finished with by bringing them to the state with meditation, they fall into ordinary wandering in confusion and if that happens, you are bound into cyclic existence by the discursive thoughts of your own mindstream and, dharma and your own mindstream having remained separate, you become an ordinary person who has nothing special about them. Not to be separated from a great non-meditated self-resting is what is needed . . .
Additionally, whatever discursive thought or affliction arises, it is not something apart from dharmakaya wisdom, rather, the nature of those discursive thoughts is actual dharmakaya, the ground’s luminosity. If that, which is called ‘the mother luminosity resident in the ground’, is recognized, there is self-recognition of the view of self-knowing luminosity previously introduced by the guru and that is called ‘the luminosity of the practice path’. Abiding in one’s own face of the two luminosities of ground and path become inseparable is called ‘the
meeting of mother and son luminosities’ so,
“The previously-known mother luminosity joins with the son. ~ Patrul Rinpoche,#NFDB
735:WHEN THE GREAT YOGIN Padmasambhava, called by Tibetans Guru Rinpoche, "the precious teacher," embarks on his spiritual journey, he travels from place to place requesting teachings from yogins and yoginls. Guided by visions and dreams, his journey takes him to desolate forests populated with ferocious wild animals, to poison lakes with fortified islands, and to cremation grounds. Wherever he goes he performs miracles, receives empowerments, and ripens his own abilities to benefit others.
When he hears of the supreme queen of all dakinls, the greatly accomplished yogini called Secret Wisdom, he travels to the Sandal Grove cremation ground to the gates of her abode, the Palace of Skulls. He attempts to send a request to the queen with her maidservant Kumari. But the girl ignores him and continues to carry huge brass jugs of water suspended from a heavy yoke across her shoulders. When he presses his request, Kumari continues her labors, remaining silent. The great yogin becomes impatient and, through his yogic powers, magically nails the heavy jugs to the floor. No matter how hard Kumari struggles, she cannot lift them.
Removing the yoke and ropes from her shoulders, she steps before Padmasambhava, exclaiming, "You have developed great yogic powers. What of my powers, great one?" And so saying, she draws a sparkling crystal knife from the girdle at her waist and slices open her heart center, revealing the vivid and vast interior space of her body. Inside she displays to Guru Rinpoche the mandala of deities from the inner tantras: forty-two peaceful deities manifested in her upper torso and head and fifty-eight wrathful deities resting in her lower torso. Abashed that he did not realize with whom he was dealing, Guru Rinpoche bows before her and humbly renews his request for teachings. In response, she offers him her respect as well, adding, "I am only a maidservant," and ushers him in to meet the queen Secret Wisdom. ~ Judith Simmer-Brown, Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism, Introduction: Encountering the Dakini,#NFDB
736:Chitta means “mind” and also “heart” or “attitude.” Bodhi means “awake,” “enlightened,” or “completely open.” Sometimes the completely open heart and mind of bodhichitta is called the soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. Even the cruelest people have this soft spot. Even the most vicious animals love their offspring. As Trungpa Rinpoche put it, “Everybody loves something, even if it’s only tortillas.” Bodhichitta is also equated, in part, with compassion—our ability to feel the pain that we share with others. Without realizing it we continually shield ourselves from this pain because it scares us. We put up protective walls made of opinions, prejudices, and strategies, barriers that are built on a deep fear of being hurt. These walls are further fortified by emotions of all kinds: anger, craving, indifference, jealousy and envy, arrogance and pride. But fortunately for us, the soft spot—our innate ability to love and to care about things—is like a crack in these walls we erect. It’s a natural opening in the barriers we create when we’re afraid. With practice we can learn to find this opening. We can learn to seize that vulnerable moment—love, gratitude, loneliness, embarrassment, inadequacy—to awaken bodhichitta. An analogy for bodhichitta is the rawness of a broken heart. Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved. This genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we’re arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all. The Buddha said that we are never separated from enlightenment. Even at the times we feel most stuck, we are never alienated from the awakened state. This is a revolutionary assertion. Even ordinary people like us with hang-ups and confusion have this mind of enlightenment called bodhichitta. The openness and warmth of bodhichitta is in fact our true nature and condition. Even when our neurosis feels far more basic than our wisdom, even when we’re feeling most confused and hopeless, bodhichitta—like the open sky—is always here, undiminished by the clouds that temporarily cover it. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
737:PROTECTION
Going to sleep is a little like dying, a journey taken alone into the unknown. Ordinarily we are not troubled about sleep because we are familiar with it, but think about what it entails. We completely lose ourselves in a void for some period of time, until we arise again in a dream. When we do so, we may have a different identity and a different body. We may be in a strange place, with people we do not know, involved in baffling activities that may seem quite risky.
Just trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place may occasion anxiety. The place may be perfectly secure and comfortable, but we do not sleep as well as we do at home in familiar surroundings. Maybe the energy of the place feels wrong. Or maybe it is only our own insecurity that disturbs us,and even in familiar places we may feel anxious while waiting for sleep to come, or be frightenedby what we dream. When we fall asleep with anxiety, our dreams are mingled with fear and tension, sleep is less restful, and the practice harder to do. So it is a good idea to create a sense of protection before we sleep and to turn our sleeping area into a sacred space.
This is done by imagining protective dakinis all around the sleeping area. Visualize the dakinis as beautiful goddesses, enlightened female beings who are loving, green in color, and powerfully protective. They remain near as you fall asleep and throughout the night, like mothers watching over their child, or guardians surrounding a king or queen. Imagine them everywhere, guarding the doors and the windows, sitting next to you on the bed, walking in the garden or the yard, and so on, until you feel completely protected.
Again, this practice is more than just trying to visualize something: see the dakinis with your mind but also use your imagination to feel their presence. Creating a protective, sacred environment in this way is calming and relaxing and promotes restful sleep. This is how the mystic lives: seeing the magic, changing the environment with the mind, and allowing actions, even actions of the imagination, to have significance.
You can enhance the sense of peace in your sleeping environment by keeping objects of a sacred nature in the bedroom: peaceful, loving images, sacred and religious symbols, and other objects that direct your mind toward the path.
The Mother Tantra tells us that as we prepare for sleep we should maintain awareness of the causes of dream, the object to focus upon, the protectors, and of ourselves. Hold these together inawareness, not as many things, but as a single environment, and this will have a great effect in dream and sleep.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep,#NFDB
738:The essence of meditation practice in Dzogchen is encapsulated by these four points:
▪ When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen, in that gap, in between, isn’t there a consciousness of the present moment; fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair’s breadth of a concept, a luminous, naked awareness?
Well, that is what Rigpa is!
▪ Yet it doesn’t stay in that state forever, because another thought suddenly arises, doesn’t it?
This is the self-radiance of that Rigpa.
▪ However, if you do not recognize this thought for what it really is, the very instant it arises, then it will turn into just another ordinary thought, as before. This is called the “chain of delusion,” and is the root of samsara.
▪ If you are able to recognize the true nature of the thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any follow-up, then whatever thoughts arise all automatically dissolve back into the vast expanse of Rigpa and are liberated.
Clearly this takes a lifetime of practice to understand and realize the full richness and majesty of these four profound yet simple points, and here I can only give you a taste of the vastness of what is meditation in Dzogchen.
…
Dzogchen meditation is subtly powerful in dealing with the arisings of the mind, and has a unique perspective on them. All the risings are seen in their true nature, not as separate from Rigpa, and not as antagonistic to it, but actually as none other–and this is very important–than its “self-radiance,” the manifestation of its very energy.
Say you find yourself in a deep state of stillness; often it does not last very long and a thought or a movement always arises, like a wave in the ocean. Don’t reject the movement or particulary embrace the stillness, but continue the flow of your pure presence. The pervasive, peaceful state of your meditation is the Rigpa itself, and all risings are none other than this Rigpa’s self-radiance. This is the heart and the basis of Dzogchen practice. One way to imagine this is as if you were riding on the sun’s rays back to the sun: ….
Of couse there are rough as well as gentle waves in the ocean; strong emotions come, like anger, desire, jealousy. The real practitioner recognizes them not as a disturbance or obstacle, but as a great opportunity. The fact that you react to arisings such as these with habitual tendencies of attachment and aversion is a sign not only that you are distracted, but also that you do not have the recognition and have lost the ground of Rigpa. To react to emotions in this way empowers them and binds us even tighter in the chains of delusion. The great secret of Dzogchen is to see right through them as soon as they arise, to what they really are: the vivid and electric manifestation of the energy of Rigpa itself. As you gradually learn to do this, even the most turbulent emotions fail to seize hold of you and dissolve, as wild waves rise and rear and sink back into the calm of the ocean.
The practitioner discovers–and this is a revolutionary insight, whose subtlety and power cannot be overestimated–that not only do violent emotions not necessarily sweep you away and drag you back into the whirlpools of your own neuroses, they can actually be used to deepen, embolden, invigorate, and strengthen the Rigpa. The tempestuous energy becomes raw food of the awakened energy of Rigpa. The stronger and more flaming the emotion, the more Rigpa is strengthened. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
739:The essence of meditation practice in Dzogchen is encapsulated by these four points:
▪ When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen, in that gap, in between, isn’t there a consciousness of the present moment; fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair’s breadth of a concept, a luminous, naked awareness?
Well, that is what Rigpa is!
▪ Yet it doesn’t stay in that state forever, because another thought suddenly arises, doesn’t it?
This is the self-radiance of that Rigpa.
▪ However, if you do not recognize this thought for what it really is, the very instant it arises, then it will turn into just another ordinary thought, as before. This is called the “chain of delusion,” and is the root of samsara.
▪ If you are able to recognize the true nature of the thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any follow-up, then whatever thoughts arise all automatically dissolve back into the vast expanse of Rigpa and are liberated.
Clearly this takes a lifetime of practice to understand and realize the full richness and majesty of these four profound yet simple points, and here I can only give you a taste of the vastness of what is meditation in Dzogchen.
…
Dzogchen meditation is subtly powerful in dealing with the arisings of the mind, and has a unique perspective on them. All the risings are seen in their true nature, not as separate from Rigpa, and not as antagonistic to it, but actually as none other–and this is very important–than its “self-radiance,” the manifestation of its very energy.
Say you find yourself in a deep state of stillness; often it does not last very long and a thought or a movement always arises, like a wave in the ocean. Don’t reject the movement or particulary embrace the stillness, but continue the flow of your pure presence. The pervasive, peaceful state of your meditation is the Rigpa itself, and all risings are none other than this Rigpa’s self-radiance. This is the heart and the basis of Dzogchen practice. One way to imagine this is as if you were riding on the sun’s rays back to the sun: ….
Of couse there are rough as well as gentle waves in the ocean; strong emotions come, like anger, desire, jealousy. The real practitioner recognizes them not as a disturbance or obstacle, but as a great opportunity. The fact that you react to arisings such as these with habitual tendencies of attachment and aversion is a sign not only that you are distracted, but also that you do not have the recognition and have lost the ground of Rigpa. To react to emotions in this way empowers them and binds us even tighter in the chains of delusion. The great secret of Dzogchen is to see right through them as soon as they arise, to what they really are: the vivid and electric manifestation of the energy of Rigpa itself. As you gradually learn to do this, even the most turbulent emotions fail to seize hold of you and dissolve, as wild waves rise and rear and sink back into the calm of the ocean.
The practitioner discovers–and this is a revolutionary insight, whose subtlety and power cannot be overestimated–that not only do violent emotions not necessarily sweep you away and drag you back into the whirlpools of your own neuroses, they can actually be used to deepen, embolden, invigorate, and strengthen the Rigpa. The tempestuous energy becomes raw food of the awakened energy of Rigpa. The stronger and more flaming the emotion, the more Rigpa is strengthened. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche,#NFDB
740:GURU YOGA
Guru yoga is an essential practice in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. This is true in sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen. It develops the heart connection with the masteR By continually strengthening our devotion, we come to the place of pure devotion in ourselves, which is the unshakeable, powerful base of the practice. The essence of guru yoga is to merge the practitioner's mind with the mind of the master.
What is the true master? It is the formless, fundamental nature of mind, the primordial awareness of the base of everything, but because we exist in dualism, it is helpful for us to visualize this in a form. Doing so makes skillful use of the dualisms of the conceptual mind, to further strengthen devotion and help us stay directed toward practice and the generation of positive qualities.
In the Bon tradition, we often visualize either Tapihritsa* as the master, or the Buddha ShenlaOdker*, who represents the union of all the masters. If you are already a practitioner, you may have another deity to visualize, like Guru Rinpoche or a yidam or dakini. While it is important to work with a lineage with which you have a connection, you should understand that the master you visualize is the embodiment of all the masters with whom you are connected, all the teachers with whom you have studied, all the deities to whom you have commitments. The master in guru yoga is not just one individual, but the essence of enlightenment, the primordial awareness that is your true nature.
The master is also the teacher from whom you receive the teachings. In the Tibetan tradition, we say the master is more important than the Buddha. Why? Because the master is the immediate messenger of the teachings, the one who brings the Buddha's wisdom to the student. Without the master we could not find our way to the Buddha. So we should feel as much devotion to the master as we would to the Buddha if the Buddha suddenly appeared in front of us.
Guru yoga is not just about generating some feeling toward a visualized image. It is done to find the fundamental mind in yourself that is the same as the fundamental mind of all your teachers, and of all the Buddhas and realized beings that have ever lived. When you merge with the guru, you merge with your pristine true nature, which is the real guide and masteR But this should not be an abstract practice. When you do guru yoga, try to feel such intense devotion that the hair stands upon your neck, tears start down your face, and your heart opens and fills with great love. Let yourself merge in union with the guru's mind, which is your enlightened Buddha-nature. This is the way to practice guru yoga.
The Practice
After the nine breaths, still seated in meditation posture, visualize the master above and in front of you. This should not be a flat, two dimensional picture-let a real being exist there, in three dimensions, made of light, pure, and with a strong presence that affects the feeling in your body,your energy, and your mind. Generate strong devotion and reflect on the great gift of the teachings and the tremendous good fortune you enjoy in having made a connection to them. Offer a sincere prayer, asking that your negativities and obscurations be removed, that your positive qualities develop, and that you accomplish dream yoga.
Then imagine receiving blessings from the master in the form of three colored lights that stream from his or her three wisdom doors- of body, speech, and mind-into yours. The lights should be transmitted in the following sequence: White light streams from the master's brow chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your entire body and physical dimension. Then red light streams from the master's throat chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your energetic dimension. Finally, blue light streams from the master's heart chakra into yours, purifying and relaxing your mind.
When the lights enter your body, feel them. Let your body, energy, and mind relax, suffused inwisdom light. Use your imagination to make the blessing real in your full experience, in your body and energy as well as in the images in your mind.
After receiving the blessing, imagine the master dissolving into light that enters your heart and resides there as your innermost essence. Imagine that you dissolve into that light, and remain inpure awareness, rigpa.
There are more elaborate instructions for guru yoga that can involve prostrations, offerings, gestures, mantras, and more complicated visualizations, but the essence of the practice is mingling your mind with the mind of the master, which is pure, non-dual awareness. Guru yoga can be done any time during the day; the more often the better. Many masters say that of all the practices it is guru yoga that is the most important. It confers the blessings of the lineage and can open and soften the heart and quiet the unruly mind. To completely accomplish guru yoga is to accomplish the path.
~ Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep, [T3],#NFDB
741:Death & Fame
When I die
I don't care what happens to my body throw ashes in the air, scatter 'em in East River bury an urn in Elizabeth New Jersey, B'nai Israel Cemetery
But I want a big funeral St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Mark's Church, the largest synagogue in Manhattan
First, there's family, brother, nephews, spry aged Edith stepmother 96, Aunt Honey from old Newark,
Doctor Joel, cousin Mindy, brother Gene one eyed one ear'd, sister-in-law blonde Connie, five nephews, stepbrothers & sisters their grandchildren, companion Peter Orlovsky, caretakers Rosenthal & Hale, Bill Morgan--
Next, teacher Trungpa Vajracharya's ghost mind, Gelek Rinpoche, there Sakyong Mipham, Dalai Lama alert, chance visiting America, Satchitananda Swami Shivananda, Dehorahava Baba, Karmapa XVI, Dudjom Rinpoche, Katagiri & Suzuki Roshi's phantoms Baker, Whalen, Daido Loorie, Qwong, Frail White-haired Kapleau Roshis, Lama Tarchen --
Then, most important, lovers over half-century Dozens, a hundred, more, older fellows bald & rich young boys met naked recently in bed, crowds surprised to see each other, innumerable, intimate, exchanging memories
"He taught me to meditate, now I'm an old veteran of the thousandday retreat --"
"I played music on subway platforms, I'm straight but loved him he loved me"
"I felt more love from him at 19 than ever from anyone"
"We'd lie under covers gossip, read my poetry, hug & kiss belly to belly arms round each other"
"I'd always get into his bed with underwear on & by morning my skivvies would be on the floor"
"Japanese, always wanted take it up my bum with a master"
"We'd talk all night about Kerouac & Cassady sit Buddhalike then sleep in his captain's bed."
"He seemed to need so much affection, a shame not to make him happy"
"I was lonely never in bed nude with anyone before, he was so gentle my stomach shuddered when he traced his finger along my abdomen nipple to hips-- "
"All I did was lay back eyes closed, he'd bring me to come with mouth & fingers along my waist"
"He gave great head"
So there be gossip from loves of 1948, ghost of Neal Cassady commin-gling with flesh and youthful blood of 1997 and surprise -- "You too? But I thought you were straight!"
"I am but Ginsberg an exception, for some reason he pleased me."
"I forgot whether I was straight gay queer or funny, was myself, tender and affectionate to be kissed on the top of my head, my forehead throat heart & solar plexus, mid-belly. on my prick, tickled with his tongue my behind"
"I loved the way he'd recite 'But at my back allways hear/ time's winged chariot hurrying near,' heads together, eye to eye, on a pillow --"
Among lovers one handsome youth straggling the rear
"I studied his poetry class, 17 year-old kid, ran some errands to his walk-up flat, seduced me didn't want to, made me come, went home, never saw him again never wanted to... "
"He couldn't get it up but loved me," "A clean old man." "He made sure I came first"
This the crowd most surprised proud at ceremonial place of honor--
Then poets & musicians -- college boys' grunge bands -- age-old rock star Beatles, faithful guitar accompanists, gay classical con-ductors, unknown high Jazz music composers, funky trum-peters, bowed bass & french horn black geniuses, folksinger fiddlers with dobro tamborine harmonica mandolin auto-harp pennywhistles & kazoos
Next, artist Italian romantic realists schooled in mystic 60's India, Late fauve Tuscan painter-poets, Classic draftsman Massa-chusets surreal jackanapes with continental wives, poverty sketchbook gesso oil watercolor masters from American provinces
Then highschool teachers, lonely Irish librarians, delicate biblio-philes, sex liberation troops nay armies, ladies of either sex
"I met him dozens of times he never remembered my name I loved him anyway, true artist"
"Nervous breakdown after menopause, his poetry humor saved me from suicide hospitals"
"Charmant, genius with modest manners, washed sink, dishes my studio guest a week in Budapest"
Thousands of readers, "Howl changed my life in Libertyville Illinois"
"I saw him read Montclair State Teachers College decided be a poet-- "
"He turned me on, I started with garage rock sang my songs in Kansas City"
"Kaddish made me weep for myself & father alive in Nevada City"
"Father Death comforted me when my sister died Boston l982"
"I read what he said in a newsmagazine, blew my mind, realized others like me out there"
Deaf & Dumb bards with hand signing quick brilliant gestures
Then Journalists, editors's secretaries, agents, portraitists & photo-graphy aficionados, rock critics, cultured laborors, cultural historians come to witness the historic funeral Super-fans, poetasters, aging Beatnicks & Deadheads, autograph-hunters, distinguished paparazzi, intelligent gawkers
Everyone knew they were part of 'History" except the deceased who never knew exactly what was happening even when I was alive
February 22, 1997
~ Allen Ginsberg,#NFDB
742:Death &Amp; Fame
When I die
I don't care what happens to my body
throw ashes in the air, scatter 'em in East River
bury an urn in Elizabeth New Jersey, B'nai Israel Cemetery
But l want a big funeral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Mark's Church, the largest synagogue in
Manhattan
First, there's family, brother, nephews, spry aged Edith stepmother
96, Aunt Honey from old Newark,
Doctor Joel, cousin Mindy, brother Gene one eyed one ear'd, sisterin-law blonde Connie, five nephews, stepbrothers & sisters
their grandchildren,
companion Peter Orlovsky, caretakers Rosenthal & Hale, Bill Morgan-Next, teacher Trungpa Vajracharya's ghost mind, Gelek Rinpoche,
there Sakyong Mipham, Dalai Lama alert, chance visiting
America, Satchitananda Swami
Shivananda, Dehorahava Baba, Karmapa XVI, Dudjom Rinpoche,
Katagiri & Suzuki Roshi's phantoms
Baker, Whalen, Daido Loorie, Qwong, Frail White-haired Kapleau
Roshis, Lama Tarchen -Then, most important, lovers over half-century
Dozens, a hundred, more, older fellows bald & rich
young boys met naked recently in bed, crowds surprised to see each
other, innumerable, intimate, exchanging memories
"He taught me to meditate, now I'm an old veteran of the thousand
day retreat --"
"I played music on subway platforms, I'm straight but loved him he
loved me"
"I felt more love from him at 19 than ever from anyone"
"We'd lie under covers gossip, read my poetry, hug & kiss belly to belly
arms round each other"
"I'd always get into his bed with underwear on & by morning my
skivvies would be on the floor"
"Japanese, always wanted take it up my bum with a master"
"We'd talk all night about Kerouac & Cassady sit Buddhalike then
sleep in his captain's bed."
"He seemed to need so much affection, a shame not to make him happy"
"I was lonely never in bed nude with anyone before, he was so gentle my
stomach
21
shuddered when he traced his finger along my abdomen nipple to hips-- "
"All I did was lay back eyes closed, he'd bring me to come with mouth
& fingers along my waist"
"He gave great head"
So there be gossip from loves of 1948, ghost of Neal Cassady commingling with flesh and youthful blood of 1997
and surprise -- "You too? But I thought you were straight!"
"I am but Ginsberg an exception, for some reason he pleased me."
"I forgot whether I was straight gay queer or funny, was myself, tender
and affectionate to be kissed on the top of my head,
my forehead throat heart & solar plexus, mid-belly. on my prick,
tickled with his tongue my behind"
"I loved the way he'd recite 'But at my back allways hear/ time's winged
chariot hurrying near,' heads together, eye to eye, on a
pillow --"
Among lovers one handsome youth straggling the rear
"I studied his poetry class, 17 year-old kid, ran some errands to his
walk-up flat,
seduced me didn't want to, made me come, went home, never saw him
again never wanted to... "
"He couldn't get it up but loved me," "A clean old man." "He made
sure I came first"
This the crowd most surprised proud at ceremonial place of honor-Then poets & musicians -- college boys' grunge bands -- age-old rock
star Beatles, faithful guitar accompanists, gay classical conductors, unknown high Jazz music composers, funky trumpeters, bowed bass & french horn black geniuses, folksinger
fiddlers with dobro tamborine harmonica mandolin autoharp pennywhistles & kazoos
Next, artist Italian romantic realists schooled in mystic 60's India,
Late fauve Tuscan painter-poets, Classic draftsman Massachusets surreal jackanapes with continental wives, poverty
sketchbook gesso oil watercolor masters from American
provinces
Then highschool teachers, lonely Irish librarians, delicate bibliophiles, sex liberation troops nay armies, ladies of either sex
"I met him dozens of times he never remembered my name I loved
him anyway, true artist"
"Nervous breakdown after menopause, his poetry humor saved me
from suicide hospitals"
"Charmant, genius with modest manners, washed sink, dishes my
studio guest a week in Budapest"
22
Thousands of readers, "Howl changed my life in Libertyville Illinois"
"I saw him read Montclair State Teachers College decided be a poet-- "
"He turned me on, I started with garage rock sang my songs in Kansas
City"
"Kaddish made me weep for myself & father alive in Nevada City"
"Father Death comforted me when my sister died Boston l982"
"I read what he said in a newsmagazine, blew my mind, realized
others like me out there"
Deaf & Dumb bards with hand signing quick brilliant gestures
Then Journalists, editors's secretaries, agents, portraitists & photography aficionados, rock critics, cultured laborors, cultural
historians come to witness the historic funeral
Super-fans, poetasters, aging Beatnicks & Deadheads, autographhunters, distinguished paparazzi, intelligent gawkers
Everyone knew they were part of 'History" except the deceased
who never knew exactly what was happening even when I was alive
February 22, 1997
~ Allen Ginsberg,#NFDB
7 Buddhism
1 Poetry
6 Bokar Rinpoche
6 Tara - The Feminine Divine
1.01 - Tara the Divine, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
--
When Kalu Rinpoche 5 was at Palpung retreat center in
Kham-he was probably 17 or 18 years old at the
--
you will be healed." Kalu Rinpoche complied and the
next day was completely relieved of his toothache.
--
In Sonada, Kalu Rinpoche's monastery in India
near Darjeeling, Amala donated a great Tara statue
--
to Tara was so exclusive that, Kalu Rinpoche, having
a Padmasambhava statue placed above them for a
--
met Kalu Rinpoche. She had no lama to guide her
until then: She detached herself from material
1.02 - Taras Tantra, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
1.03 - Invocation of Tara, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
--
choose different rituals. In Sonada, Kalu Rinpoche
established this custom. Here, in Mirik, because of the
1.04 - The Praise, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
--
is founded on Taranatha's commentary. Bokar Rinpoche's
explanation of the praise does not imply, therefore, that other
1.05 - Buddhism and Women, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
--
Given the ties uniting the previous Bokar Rinpoche to
the 15th Karmapa, she showed me much affection,
--
called Khandro Rinpoche, "Precious Dakini."
After her death, she manifested in the form of a
--
Khandro Rinpoche, the new incarnation, after
completing training, also teaches and gives
--
the last Dujom Rinpoche. She was famous for being
the most accom plishe d disciple of this lama. She had
--
attached to Sherab Ling, Situ Rinpoche's Monastery.
Perhaps, there are more in other schools.
1.06 - Iconography, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
author class:Bokar Rinpoche
class:chapter
1.07 - A Song of Longing for Tara, the Infallible, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
English to one of the little Rinpoches in Dharamsala. When the monks in
reflections on a song of longing for tara, the infallible
--
offerings and requests to Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava. This little Rinpoche asked my friend, Why do we request the Buddha over and over again
Please grant me blessings and inspire me?
--
someone to meet Lama Zopa Rinpoches plane at Los Angeles International
reflections on a song of longing for tara, the infallible
--
Airport, and when he got off the plane, Rinpoche talked to me about dolphins. That was the level of my mind; that was what I could understand at
that time. So he spent some time making a connection with this young
1.nrpa - The Viewm Concisely Put, #Naropa - Poems, #unset, #Zen
English version by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Erik Pema Kunsang
This mind that knows emptiness
3.4.2 - Guru Yoga, #The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, #Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, #Buddhism
In the Bon tradition, we often visualize either Tapihritsa* as the master, or the Buddha Shenla Odker*, who represents the union of all the masters. If you are already a practitioner, you may have another deity to visualize, like Guru Rinpoche or a yidam or dakini. While it is important to work with a lineage with which you have a connection, you should understand that the master you visualize is the embodiment of all the masters with whom you are connected, all the teachers with whom you have studied, all the deities to whom you have commitments. The master in guru yoga is not just one individual, but the essence of enlightenment, the primordial awareness that is your true nature.
The master is also the teacher from whom you receive the teachings. In the Tibetan tradition, we say the master is more important than the Buddha. Why? Because the master is the immediate messenger of the teachings, the one who brings the Buddha's wisdom to the student. Without the master we could not find our way to the Buddha. So we should feel as much devotion to the master as we would to the Buddha if the Buddha suddenly appeared in front of us.
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