portuguêsQuotes by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
The one and only father of all Buddhas is Manjusri,
Manifesting as the incomparable human master, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo,
His blessing emanation is Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tashi Paljor:
To you I pray! Bless my mind and inspire my understanding!
Look into the mirror of your mind
Whatever you are doing, look constantly into the mirror of your mind and check whether your motive is for yourself or for others. Gradually you will develop the ability to master your mind in all circumstances; and by following in the footsteps of the accomplished masters of the past, you will gain enlightenment in a single lifetime.
Do all that you can to bring your own stubborn mind under control and to develop your faith, diligence and renunciation. Never think that the dharma you are practising is for your benefit alone. To recite even a single mani mantra is of inconceivable benefit, so dedicate it for the sake of all who live.
Again and again, develop compassion for all sentient beings in general, and particularly for those who dislike you. It might be difficult at first, but you will never attain enlightenment as long as you continue to feel ill-will towards your enemies.
Those who are now your enemies were in former lives your parents, and there is nothing fixed about the status of an enemy or friend. To feel hostility towards enemies and affection towards your friends is nothing but a deluded form of perception.
If you train your mind to recognize everything as insubstantial like a dream, hostility towards enemies will lose its meaning entirely. This is crucially important, because ordinarily our lives are driven by the yearning to acquire food and clothing, possessions, partners, status and acclaim.
We put a great deal of thought into devising the cleverest, most efficient ways to obtain them, and we think, “So-and-so has this much money, my friends have this much, so I need more.” Or: “In the past, I stayed in this kind of house, in this part of town, but now I shall move to a better place.” We must put a stop to all such thinking.
A bedridden patient only thinks about getting well again. He or she has no wish to remain sick forever. Likewise, a practitioner who yearns to leave the miseries of samsara behind will make use of all the ways in which that can be done, such as taking refuge, generating the mind set on attaining enlightenment for the sake of others, undertaking positive actions and so on, with a firm determination to get out of samsara constantly in mind.
Some people spend all their energy, and even risk their lives to achieve fame. Fame and notoriety are both no more than an empty echo. Your reputation is an alluring mirage that can easily lead you astray. Discard it without a second thought, like the snot you blow from your nose.
If someone defames and disgraces you, that is simply the result of having criticized and dishonored others in the past, especially bodhisattvas. Instead of feeling angry with such people, you should feel grateful to them for giving you the opportunity to purify your past misdeeds.
In all circumstances, it is important to act in accordance with the teachings - but especially at such moments. What is the point of having received teachings if you do not apply them? Unfavorable circumstances are the best opportunity you will have to put the teachings into practice.
Discretion
Mind Training should be engaged in discreetly. It should not be done with external show, in a way that attracts attention and creates a reputation; it should act as the inward antidote to our self-clinging and defiled emotions. We should bring our minds to ripeness without anybody knowing.
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.
Stillness through visualization
In the secret-mantra vajrayana, once one has been ripened through the abhisheka, it is very important to practice the development and completion stages. In particular, it is extremely important to practice the development stage properly, since it is the preparation for the completion stage. If one can properly concentrate on the visualization during the development stage, stillness is accomplished within that state. (PA)
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.
You will not be able to attain enlightenment by relying only on your own ideas and being totally independent. It is true that pratyekabuddhas are said to be able to achieve liberation by themselves; but the fact that they have no spiritual teacher in their present life does not mean they did not have one in the past. Pratyekabuddhas, indeed, attend spiritual teachers and receive their teachings over countless lives. For each and every practice of sutra and tantra, an explanation from a qualified teacher is necessary. (THC)
Try to bring all your experience into the context of devotion to the teacher. If you can grasp this vital point of the practice, you will have no obstacles. If your situation is pleasant and easy, see your happiness, without any attachment, as the blessings of the teacher, and as a dream, an illusion. And if you go through difficulties and suffering, see that, too, as the blessings of the teacher. If you fall ill, visualize your spiritual teacher wherever it is in your body that you feel pain or that is the site of the disease. Recognize that illness and pain offer you an opportunity to purify yourself of harmful past actions and of ignorance- the sources of suffering. Keep in mind the many other beings who are suffering in the same way as you are, and pray that your suffering may absorb theirs, and that they may be liberated from all suffering. In this way, illness can teach us compassion. (HVA)
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.
Look at the country where you are now. How many people have ever heard the term “the Three Jewels” or the sound of OM MANI PADME HUM? And how many have not? You can appreciate the rarity of hearing the Dharma and the even greater rarity of meeting an authentic teacher. But even so-called Dharma practitioners hardly know how to follow a spiritual teacher properly: they live with plenty of expectations, plenty of defects, and plenty of wild thoughts. Using your human life to achieve trivial aims is like storing garbage in a golden vase.(PI)
Ordinary enjoyments are pleasurable in the beginning, but as time goes on, they become an increasing source of torment, If you wrap a strip of wet leather around your wrist, it is fine at first, but as the leather dries and shrinks, it tightens painfully. What a relief it is to cut it away with a knife!...
Once you have understood the union of emptiness and the dependent arising of phenomena, you will see clearly how deluded and deceiving the ways of the world really are, and, like an old man forced to play children's games, you will find them very tiresome. When you realised the utter foolishness of spending your life attached to friends and scheming to subdue your enemies and competitors, you will find it tedious.
Once you have been struck by the pointlessness of letting yourself be forever influenced and conditioned by your habitual tendencies, you will become sick of it... That will inspire you to strive towards liberation — and by striving for it, you will attain it. Samsara will never just disappear on its own. You have to want to get rid of it actively yourself.
Enlightenment will be ours when we are able to care for others as much as we now care for ourselves, and ignore ourselves to the same extent that we now ignore others. (EC)
Suffering, in fact, can be helpful in many ways. It spurs your motivation and as many teachings point out, without suffering there would be no determination to be free from samsara. Sadness is an effective antidote to arrogance.
The supreme sign of a great practitioner is not that he sprouts a halo, has extraordinarily auspicious dreams, experiences bliss continuously, or can foresee our miserable futures. The supreme sign is that he no longer has any interest in material gain, fame, the respect of others, or being the centre of attention.
The literal meaning of guru yoga is 'union with the teacher´s nature'. To blend your mind with the teacher's mind is the most profound of all practices, and the shortest path of realization. It is the life force of the path and the one practice that includes all others. It was through relying on a spiritual teacher that all the bodhisattvas of the past generated the mind of enlightment and reached perfection. (THT)
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.
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.
You may look very impressive, with your eyes constantly gazing into the sky like a great meditator, declaring, “My view is that of the Great Perfection”—but if you lack inner stability, you will stumble over the first obstacle in your way. As it is said, “The sign of being wise is self-control; and the sign of a mature spiritual experience is the absence of conflicting emotions.” This means that to the same degree that one becomes wise and learned, one also becomes serene, peaceful, and subdued—not a reckless person bursting with pride and arrogance. However much your practice progresses year after year, you will have no concern with comfort and discomfort; you’ll have no pride at all. You will be always at peace, untroubled by outer events, with a humble mind, beyond hopes and doubts and indifferent to the eight worldly concerns: gain and loss, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and obscurity. (PI)
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.
Understand this: it is more important to take to heart the key instructions than to receive a great many teachings.
When you feel you are being harmed by someone, remember that the harm that person may be inflicting on you (or someone dear to you) is the direct result of yourself having harmed others in the past. Reflect that this person is so overpowered by delusion that he or she is as if possessed, and cannot resist harming you. As a result of this harm, he or she will have to suffer in samsara's lower realms ia a future life. When you think how terrible that will be, you will feel only sadness and pity rather than anger.
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.
When a rainbow appears vividly in the sky, you can see its beautiful colors, yet you could not wear it 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.
Clarity and emptiness are inseparably united in the true nature of mind, which is beyond all concepts of existence and non-existence.
Experiences are like mist: they will fade away. Practitioners who spend their time practicing in seclusion are certain to have many different experiences, but these experiences are very unreliable. As it is said, experiences are like rainbows, but the great meditator who runs after them like a child will be deceived. We may occasionally have flashes of clairvoyance, seeing things we cannot ordinarily know. We may have signs of accomplishment, or predictions from the deity or the dakinis. But such experiences in most cases give rise to hope and expectation. They are none other than the tricks of demons: they simply cause obstacles. When true realization dawns in one’s mind, it is like the king of mountains, Mount Meru, which no wind can shake.
Gradually you will be able to meet all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Vidyadharas dwelling in the Budhafields and receive their blessings and instructions so that all obstacles and problems on the path are cleared. Just as a son who takes care of his family’s fields, tilling the soil and producing a good harvest, will greatly please his parents, so too by keeping your body, speech, and mind in tune with the Dharma and persevering on the path for the sake of all sentient beings, you will gladden all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and they will shower blessings upon you. You will be able to reach Buddhafields like Tushita and Dumataka and other celestial fields. And you will be protected by all those who abide by virtue – Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the various protectors. You will obtain the majesty of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, with all their blessings, so that no hindrances, negative forces, or obstacle makers will be able to do you any harm. (ZT)
It is always beneficial to be near a spiritual teacher. These masters are like gardens or medicinal plants, sanctuaries of wisdom. In the presence of a realized master, you will rapidly attain enlightenment. In the presence of an erudite scholar, you will acquire great knowledge. In the presence of a great meditator, spiritual experience will dawn in your mind. In the presence of a bodhisattva, your compassion will expand, just as an ordinary log placed next to a log of sandalwood becomes saturated, little by little, with its fragrance.
Indeed, adversaries and people who try to harm you can be powerful sources of help on the bodhisattva path. By bringing about situations which would normally trigger your anger or hatred, they give you the precious opportunity to train in transforming those negative emotions with patience. On the path, such people will do you far more good than any well-disposed friend.
A hidden yogi is a practitioner who does not mix with other people and become involved in worldly activities, and who seeks neither fame nor followers. He bums with an irresistible longing for spiritual practice and has seized the root of Dharma- the determination to be free from Samsara. Now, you might think: "If I renounce all worldly activity now, what will happen to me later? How am I going to find food, lodging, and all the rest of it?"
But such deluded hesitations and anxieties could, if you allow them, dominate the rest of your life, pulling the net of Samsara tighter and tighter. As long as these inveterate tendencies continue, so will suffering.
You will never be a good Dharma practitioner until you are truly sick of ordinary life and know how to be satisfied with whatever you have. (THT)
Unlike ordinary drinks, the nectar of mindfulness is available everywhere all the time, and can quench your thirst once and for all. Jetsun Milarepa said: If you need something to drink, drink the tea of mindfulness and vigilance.
For objects that please us and for people that we love, for example, our parents and relatives, we experience attachment. But when confronted by uncomfortable situations, when for example we see enemies or people we dislike, we experience aversion. When we see people who are neither close friends nor enemies, we feel indifferent. In pleasant situations, we feel attachment; in unpleasant situations, anger; in indifferent situations, ignorance. Many people, like myself, are infected by the three poisons! Therefore we should pray, "May the obscurations of all beings, arising through these three poisons, come upon me as a load to bear. May all beings live virtuously, performing positive actions, and be free from the three poisons of attachment, anger, and ignorance. "We will be greatly benefited if we constantly train ourselves in thinking like this. (EC)
Unless you have made a clear decision to turn your back on samsara, then however many prayers you recite, however much you meditate, however many years you remain in retreat, it will all be in vain. You may have a long life, but it will be without essence. You may accumulate great wealth, but it will be meaningless. The only thing that is really worth doing is to get steadily closer to enlightenment and further away from samsara. Think about it carefully.
You will fall sick, experience pain, and encounter many adverse circumstances. At such times do not think, ‘Although I am practicing the Dharma, I have nothing but trouble. The Dharma cannot be so great. I have followed a teacher and done so much practice, and yet hard times still befall me.’
Such thoughts are wrong views. You should realize that through the blessing and power of the practice, by experiencing sickness and other difficulties now, you are purifying and ridding yourself of negative actions.
By purifying them while you have the chance, you will later go from bliss to bliss. So do not think, ‘I don’t deserve this illness, these obstacles, these negative influences.’ Experience your difficulties as blessings. When you do experience such difficulties, you should be very happy and avoid having adverse thoughts like, ‘Why are such terrible things happening to me?’
To bring about a true change in your attitudes is hard at first. But if you understand the meaning behind this mind training, and keep on trying to apply it, you will find that it helps you in every difficult situation, just as a well-designed vehicle can travel any distance quickly with ease.
By and large, human beings tend to prefer to fit in to society by following accepted rules of etiquette and being gentle, polite, and respectful. The irony is that this is also how most people imagine a spiritual person should behave. When a so-called dharma practitioner is seen to behave badly, we shake our heads over her audacity at presenting herself as a follower of the Buddha. Yet such judgments are better avoided, because to “fit in” is not what a genuine dharma practitioner strives for.
Think of Tilopa, for example. He looked so outlandish that if he turned up on your doorstep today, you probably would refuse to let him in. And you would have a point. He would most likely be almost completely naked; if you were lucky, he might be wearing some kind of G-string; his hair would never have been introduced to shampoo; and protruding from his mouth would quiver the tail of a live fish. What would your moral judgment be of such a being? “Him! A Buddhist?” This is how our theistic, moralistic, and judgmental minds work. Of course, there is nothing wrong with morality, but the point of spiritual practice, according to the vajrayana teachings, is to go beyond all our concepts, including those of morality.
Such is the strength of delusion and habitual tendencies that practicing Dharma might initially seem very hard; but these difficulties will gradually subside. Once you have understood the essential point of the teachings, you will experience no hardship or difficulty with the practice. Your efforts will bring you joy. It is like developing any skill - as you master the important points, it becomes progressively easier, you gain increasing confidence, and your capacity and endeavor keep on growing.
Whatever meditation or reflection you have done, it will never be wasted. The benefit it brings will be present in your mindstream at the time of your death, and will help you be reborn in a place where the Dharma flourishes, near an authentic spiritual teacher. Life after life, you will evolve from a mediocre into an average practitioner into an excellent one. The essence of learning is reflection, and the essence of reflection is meditation. As you go deeper into the meaning of the teachings, the wondrous qualities of the Dharma will become ever clearer, like the sun appearing ever brighter the higher you fly.
The sign that you have fully assimilated your learning of the Dharma is that you become peaceful by nature. The sign that you have assimilated your meditation is that you are free of obscuring emotions. As learning leads to reflection and reflection transforms into meditation, your eagerness for the deluded activities of this life will relax, and you will yearn for the Dharma instead.
Anything you do that is in accord with the Dharma, however small or trivial it may seem, will be beneficial. As the 'Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish' says:
Do not take lightly small good deeds,
Believing they can hardly help;
For drops of water one by one
In time can fill a giant pot.
Simply hearing the sound of the Dharma being taught—even the sound of the conches and gongs that call the community to gather for teachings—has inconceivable blessings and benefits, the Buddha said, and can liberate beings from rebirth in the lower realms.
And so, when attachment for the 'I' appears-and it is after all only a thought within our minds-we should try to investigate.
Is this ego a substance, a thing? Is it inside or outside? When we think that someone has done some- thing to hurt us and anger arises, we should ask ourselves whether the anger is part of the enemy's makeup or whether it is in ourselves.
Likewise with attachment to friends: is our longing an attribute of the friend, or is it in ourselves? And if there are such things as anger or attachment, do they have shape or color, are they male, female or neither? For if they exist, they ought to have characteristics.
The fact is, however, that even if we persevere in our search, we will never find anything. If we do not find anything, how is it that we keep on clinging? All the trouble that we have had to endure until now has been caused by something that has never existed! Therefore, whenever the ego-clinging arises we must rid ourselves of it immediately and we should do everything within our power to prevent it from arising again. (EC)
Without being concentrated by a magnifying glass, dry grass can not be set alight by the rays of the sun, even though they bathe the whole earth evenly in their warmth. In the same way, it is only when focussed through the magnifying glass of your faith and devotion that the all-pervading warm rays of the buddhas’ compassion can make blessings blaze up in your being, like dry grass on fire.
Trample on anger with realization and it dissolves like a cloud in the sky; and as it dissolves, the notion of 'enemy' will vanish with it.
All sentient beings without exception, whose number is as vast and limitless as space, and who have been our kind parents in the past, aspire to happiness and wish to avoid suffering. Yet, afflicted by ignorance and mental poisons, they ignore the causes of happiness. Contradicting their aspirations with their actions, they suffer from all kinds of torments in samsaric existence. They are like blind people abandoned in the middle of a desert. When they were our kind mothers, they gave us life, provided us with food, clothing, protection, and education. Seeing their unhappy condition now, we cannot help but feel great compassion. Yet the mere feeling of compassion is not enough; we must actually do something to free them from suffering. Now that we have obtained a human existence and met a spiritual teacher, it is time to progress toward enlightenment solely for their benefit.
When your realization of emptiness becomes as vast as the sky, you will gain an even greater conviction about the law of cause and effect, and you will see just how important your conduct really is. Relative truth functions inexorably within absolute truth
Before going on retreat H.H.Dilgo Khentsye Rinpoche spoke these words to his parents:
"While remembering your unforgettable kindness,
When I capture the kingdom of experience and realization,
I will certainly not forget to show my gratitude,
And repay your graciousness".
An unsuitable friend is one who is fond of distractions, totally immersed in ordinary worldly activities, and who does not care in the least about achieving liberation—a friend who has no interest or faith in the Three Jewels. The more time you spend with such a person, the more the three poisons will permeate your mind. Even if you do not initially agree with their ideas and actions, if you spend a lot of time with unsuitable friends, you will eventually be influenced by their bad habits. Your resolve to act positively will decline, and you will waste your life. Such people will prevent you from spending any time studying, reflecting, and meditating—which are the roots of liberation. And they will make you lose whatever qualities you may have developed, especially compassion and love—which are the very essence of the teachings of the Great Vehicle. An unsuitable friend is like a bad captain who steers his ship onto the rocks. Such people are your worst enemy. You owe it to yourself to stay away from them.
In contrast, being with people who embody or aspire to gentleness, compassion, and love will encourage you to develop those qualities so essential to the path. Inspired by their example, you will become filled with love for all beings, and come to see the inherent negativity of attachment and hatred. Authentic spiritual friends are those who have received teachings from the same teacher as yourself and, detached form worldly concerns, are devoting themselves to practice in secluded places. In the company of such friends, you will naturally be influenced by their good qualities, just as birds flying around a golden mountain are bathed in its golden radiance. (THC)
This is very shortsighted
Most people, thinking of the future, make a lot of plans but the future they plan for is only the very few years of this life. This is very shortsighted; we have such a long way to go in lives to come. Death is just the threshold, which we have to cross alone, aided only by our faith in the teacher and the Three Jewels and by our confidence in the practice. Relatives, friends, power, wealth, and whatever else we have become so used to relying on will simply no longer be there.
The only way to put an end to samsara is to practice the dharma. The dharma is offered to you, ready to be used. Therefore, it is up to you whether or not you practice it; the teacher cannot practice it for you. If you practice with full dedication, you can achieve liberation in the span of this present life; if not, you can prepare the ground for achieving it within a few lifetimes, or at least you will acquire some affinity for the dharma that will eventually lead you along the path. (…) Those who are strongly motivated to practice the dharma do not really need to receive a lot of instructions, just the essential ones. In this present dark age, there is no time for extensive learning such as studying the entire Tripitaka and the numerous commentaries upon it. Anyway, people nowadays lack the necessary intelligence and diligence for such study. Now is the time to practice the pith oral instructions of your guru, which are like butter churned from milk. (PI)
This empty nature - the lack of inherent existence of phenomena - does not imply that there is nothing at all, as we find in the view of the nihilists. According to relative truth, all phenomena arise as a result of the interdependent conjunction of causes and conditions. This enables us to explain not only how samsara is formed but also how it is possible to progress toward nirvana. There is no contradiction between the absolute nature and its infinite display. Because of this, one is free from the extreme of existence and of nonexistence.
Keep in mind the many beings who are suffering in the same way as you are, and pray that your suffering may absorb theirs, and that they may be liberated from all suffering. In this way, illness can teach us compassion.
Throughout the day, put the teachings into practice. In the evening examine what you have done, said, and thought during the day. Whatever was positive, dedicate the merit to all beings and vow to improve on it the next day. Whatever was negative, confess and promise to repair it. In this way, the best practitioners progress from day to day, the middling practitioners from month to month, and the least capable from year to year
If you waste your life now on endless minor tasks, you can be sure that at the time of death you will weep with regret and be stricken with intense anxiety, like a thief who has just been thrown into jail and anxiously anticipates his punishment. A person might find himself with nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, and no house to live in. But if his mind is filled with faith in his teacher and the Three Jewels, that person will both live and die with his heart always joyful and confident.
The practitioner who has the greatest yearning devotion receives the greatest blessing. Even though rain falls evenly over the land, it is only where perfect seeds are properly cultivated and ready to sprout that a plant grows
If you merely talk about the view of emptiness but at the same time behave inconsiderately, it is said that your conduct has become lost in the view. If you believe that, since everything is empty by nature, it is all right to do whatever you want and it makes no difference whether your actions are virtuous or non-virtuous, then your conduct has become “lost in the view.” All the great teachers say just the opposite—that the more you understand the view of emptiness, the more aware and careful you are regarding the law of cause and effect. (PI)
In the struggle against the emotions, if you lose your vigilance even for a moment you have to revive it at once, in the same way that a swordsman in battle who drops his sword must pick it up again immediately. The very instant an emotion arises, the thought of using the antidote should occur to you.
When we take our first steps on the Path, we are not yet capable of helping others. To accomplish the good of others, we must first perfect ourselves, by purifying and transforming our minds. This is the aim of what we call the preliminary practices, which establish the foundations of all spiritual progress. You may feel like dispensing with these foundations in order to practice teachings that you think are more profound, but if you do so, you are building a palace on the surface of a frozen lake.
Do not think that the ngondro is a sort of simple beginner’s practice, or that it is not as profound as Mahamudra, the Great Seal, or Ati-Yoga, the Great Perfection. In fact, the preliminary practice comes at the beginning precisely because it is of such crucial importance and is the very basis of all practices. If we were to go straight to the so-called main practice without the preparation of the ngondro, it would not help us at all. Our minds would be unprepared and untamed. It would be like building a beautiful house on the surface of a frozen lake – it simply would not last. (TEPTE)
A beautiful object has no intrinsic quality that is good for the mind, nor an ugly object any intrinsic power to harm it. Beautiful and ugly are just projections of the mind. The ability to cause happiness or suffering is not a property of the outer object itself. For example, the sight of a particular individual can cause happiness to one person and suffering to another. It is the mind that attributes such qualities to the perceived object
The practice of Dharma should bring you to the point where you can maintain the same constant awareness whether in or out of practice sessions. This is the quintessential point of all spiritual instruction; without it, however many mantras and prayers you recite, however many thousands of prostrations and circumambulations you do, as long as your mind remains distracted none of it will help to get rid of your obscuring emotions. Never forget this most crucial point.
Everything depends on your intention. All the time, therefore, check your attitude and motivation. As Patrul Rinpoche said, everyone wants happiness, but the true way to reach perfect happiness is to bring happiness to others. (THC)
There is no emotion that you cannot be rid of, because emotions are simply thoughts and thoughts are just like the wind moving through the empty sky. There is nothing to them.
When you have truly attained the realization of this emptiness, you will be like the venerable Milarepa or Guru Rinpoche, who were unaffected by the heat of summer or the cold of winter, and who could not be burned by fire or drowned in water. In emptiness there is neither pain nor suffering. We, on the other hand, have not understood the empty nature of the mind and so, when bitten by even a small insect, we think, 'Ouch! I've been bitten. It hurts!' or, when someone says something unkind, we get angry. That is a sign that we have not realized the mind's empty nature.
Living in Harmony
Many of us lead family lives. At most, the members of a family stay together for the duration of a single lifetime, often much less. While that fleeting moment of being together still lasts, we should try to remain in perfect harmony with each other, while observing the Dharma as much as possible. Night and day, let us turn our minds toward goodness, love, and compassion. Doing a single prostration, saying a simple prayer, contemplating the nature of the mind for an instant are seeds that lead to enlightenment. To be united in this life as man and wife, parent and children, is the result of our past actions, of a shared karma. That is why we should at all costs avoid quarelling and live in harmony.
Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze.
A crystal, when placed on a piece of cloth, takes on the color of that cloth, whether white, yellow, red or black. In the same way, the friends with whom you keep company the most often, whether suitable or unsuitable, will greatly influence the direction your life and practice take.
Your view can, and should be, as high as possible—there is no danger in this, since enlightenment is the total realization of the absolute view. But at the same time your behavior should be as grounded as possible in an awareness of cause and effect. If you lose this basic attitude regarding actions, if you forget all common sense and use the loftiness of the view as an excuse for putting into action whatever comes into your mind, you are engaging in mundane activities contrary to the Dharma, just like ordinary worldly people. And if you let your emotions lead your practice astray in that way, you are likely to sink in the swamp of samsara. A spacious view and a thorough, careful attitude regarding your activities are never contradictory. The more careful you are in whatever you do, the easier it is to realize emptiness; the more profound your view, the clearer your understanding will be of the relationship between cause and effect. (THC)
How does samsara come about? As we perceive everything around us with our five senses, all sorts of feelings of attraction and repugnance arise in our minds, and it is from these feelings that samsara arises.
The simple perception of things, in itself, is not what causes us to wander in samsara; it is rather our reaction to these perceptions and the interpretations we place on them that keep the wheel of samsara turning.
Now, the extraordinary feature of the Mantrayana is that, instead of perpetuating samsara in this way, we can cultivate the perception of all phenomena as the pure display of wisdom.
When we take our first steps on the Path, we are not yet capable of helping others. To accomplish the good of others, we must first perfect ourselves, by purifying and transforming our minds. This is the aim of what we call the preliminary practices, which establish the foundations of all spiritual progress. You may feel like dispensing with these foundations in order to practice teachings that you think are more profound, but if you do so, you are building a palace on the surface of a frozen lake.
We can never understand the nature of the mind through intense effort but only by relaxing, just as breaking a wild horse requires that one approach it gently and treat it kindly rather than running after it and trying to use force. So do not try to catch hold the nature of the nature of the mind, just leave it like it is
Seeing clearly how deceiving the ways of the world are
Once you have understood the union of emptiness and the dependent arising of phenomena, you will see clearly how deluded and deceiving the ways of the world really are, and, like an old man forced to play children’s games, you will find them very tiresome. When you have realized the utter foolishness of spending your life attached to friends and scheming to subdue your enemies and competitors, you will find it tedious. Once you have been struck by the pointlessness of letting yourself be forever influenced and conditioned by your habitual tendencies, you will become sick of it. ... That will inspire you to strive towards liberation — and by striving for it, you will attain it. (THC)
Look at the number of people you have known since you were very young - how many are still alive? For the moment, you may still be with parents, friends, a partner, and so on. But you cannot escape the fact that at death you will be taken away from them like a hair removed from butter - not a bit of butter remains attached to the hair.
The timing of your death is uncertain, and the circumstances that will bring it about are unpredictable. Like a frog in the mouth of a snake, you are already in Death's mouth.' Death may strike at any moment, without warning, and result from all sorts of causes and circumstances.
Some people die young, some old, some from sickness, some in war, or because of a sudden violent accident like falling off a cliff. Some die in their sleep, some while walking, some while eating. Some die serene, some wracked by attachment for their relatives and possessions. We all have to die, no matter how.
Jigme Lingpa said:
People who have sweltered in the summer's heat
Rejoice at the clear, cool light of the autumn moon-
But are not frightened at the thought
That a hundred days of their lives have passed, and gone.
Life is as evanescent as dew on the tip of a blade of grass. Nothing can stop death, just as no one can stop the lengthening shadows cast by the setting sun. You might be extremely beautiful, but you cannot seduce death. You might be very powerful, but you cannot hope to influence death. Not even the most fabulous wealth will buy you a few more minutes of life. Death is as certain for you as for someone stabbed through the heart with a knife.
Someone who has been captured with a hook has no option but to go wherever he is led. In the same way, if we catch hold of our mind – which risks being distracted by the objects of the six senses – with the hook of mindfulness, and with vigilance and carefulness, this will be of enormous benefit.
We should use this watchman to constantly check how many positive or negative thoughts and actions we produce during the day.
If you conquer the primordial nature by distinguishing mind from awareness, the view of the absolute will naturally become clear…One day, as your confidence in awareness grows, mind will appear as witless as a child, and awareness as wise as a venerable old sage. Awareness will not run after mind, but eclipse it. In a relaxed, serene state, rest with ease.
In short, afflictive emotions only have the power that you give to them. Rather than indulging in them again and again, be rid of them once and for all, and then liberation will be near at hand. To succeed, you are going to have to summon up strong determination. Otherwise, your teacher's instructions will not be able to help you much, and your practice will lead nowhere. The teacher can guide you toward enlightenment, but cannot actually hurl you there like throwing a stone into the sky. He shows you the way, but it is up to you to follow it. Since your emotions are all-powerful, you must confront them with equally powerful antidotes. To get rid of a poisonous tree, you have to uproot it. Just pruning a few branches is not enough. In the same way, unless you uproot the emotions, they will just grow again, more vigorous than ever.
PA - Pure Appearance
EC - Enlightened Courage
THC - The Heart of Compassion
THT - The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones
TEPTE - The Excellent Path to Enlightenment
ZT - Zurchungpa's Testament
PI - Pith Instructions
HVA - Hundred Verses of Advice
tzal.orgLook into the mirror of your mind
Whatever you are doing, look constantly into the mirror of your mind and check whether your motive is for yourself or for others. Gradually you will develop the ability to master your mind in all circumstances; and by following in the footsteps of the accomplished masters of the past, you will gain enlightenment in a single lifetime. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
tzal.orgQuotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
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