Through teaching sixty aspects of purification of thoroughly pure qualities, (the existence of) the buddha-element is made obvious, because if the object to be purified that is endowed with qualities exists, the thorough purifications thoroughly purifying it are feasible.
— Asanga
Cloth is established from causes and causes also are established from other (causes). When something is not established from itself how could it generate another?
— Aryadeva
What is the Larmrim Tradition? It is the essence of all teachings of Buddha, the one path traveled by the high beings of the past, present and future, the legacy of the masters Nagarjuna and Asanga, the religion of supreme people traveling to the earth of omniscience, the unabridged synthesis of all practises included within the three levels of spiritual application…. Therefore, to hear, contemplate, or meditate upon a Lamrim discourse is fortunate indeed.
— 3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso
Our perceptions of the external world are determined by our karmic traces and dispositions. Even though we might mistakenly believe in an external material world that exists independently of mind, in reality, that is not so.
— Buddha, Lankavatara sutra
Through humility, you realise absolute truth. The sun is radiant at all times, but the blind never see that radiance. In the same way, without humility, you will never be able to recognise absolute truth.
— Maitreya
Within emptiness, everything exists in a harmonious state, whether it is good, bad, beautiful, or ugly. Just as all the oceans have the flavour of salt, the diversity of things participates in the unity of emptiness.
— Shantarakshita
While in a state of total absorption, like a tiny fish flashing about in a lucid pond and not disturbing it, intelligently inspect the self-nature of the person who is meditating.
— 1st Panchen Khedrup Gelek Pelzang
There are several points you should initially make sure of when considering a Dharma teaching to practise. First, it should be a Dharma taught by the Buddha. Second, it should be one whose meaning has been explained with exactness by scholarly pandits. Finally, the great and accomplished spiritual masters should have achieved realisations of its meaning through meditation. Otherwise, however long we meditate on some other supposedly profound instruction, which was neither spoken by the Buddha nor understood by any pandits or adepts, the only result we are likely to achieve is one that no Buddha or any other accomplished practitioner ever attained.
— Pabongka Rinpoche
Through watering the ground of affectionate love with cherishing love, and then sowing the seeds of wishing love and compassion, the medicinal tree of Bodhichitta will grow.
— Lama Tsongkhapa
What is the purpose of the Dharma? Just like other spiritual traditions, Buddhadharma is an instrument for training the mind – something we use to try to work out the problems that we all experience… in other words, Dharma protects us from unwanted suffering.
— His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Buddhist Quote for the day 