Faith alone never stops problems; understanding knowledge-wisdom always does. Lord Buddha Himself said that belief in Buddha was dangerous; that instead of just believing in something, people should use their minds to try to discover their own true nature.
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The problem with having expectations is that we usually do not expect the right things. Not knowing what spiritual progress is, we search for signs of it in the wrong areas of our being. What can we hope for but frustration? It would be far better to examine any practice with full reasoning before adopting it, and then to practice it steadily and consistently while observing the inner changes one undergoes, rather than expecting this or that fantasy to become real.
— His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
This teaching so profound, dependence of effects on causes, is the very treasure of the truth the Conqueror has taught. Yet true and supreme peace transcends the deeds that bring forth high or low existence (white and black phenomena in causal sequence). And when the unborn nature of phenomena is realised, it will manifest.
— Jigme Lingpa
No matter how vast and how numerous the sensory appearances of samsara and nirvana may be, they arise within the single nature of mind.
— Dudjom Lingpa
We are full of fear. This is not in the sense of being frightened because someone is threatening us. It is the fear of losing, of being unable to maintain what is obtained, of not being able to continue. Fear is the result of an unfulfilled narrow desire.
— Gelek Rimpoche
Dedicating merit at the end of any practise is an aspiration that whatever psychological or emotional strength you’ve gained through practise be passed on to others – which is not only a wonderful short compassion practise but also an extremely subtle way of dissolving the distinction between “self” and “others.”
— Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
As practitioners, we must ask for teachings: we must supplicate the teacher to turn the wheel of Dharma. This is encouraged not only in the Mahayana but in all the yanas. This is why we have the seven-limb supplications. There is so much benefit in requesting teachings, especially if you supplicate not just for your own benefit. If you request teachings with a motivation triggered by renunciation and compassion (bodhichitta) — if you are requesting the teachings to benefit all beings — this is the supreme way to request.
— Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
When you develop a proper understanding of mind and its nature, this is the view; becoming acquainted with this is meditation; and acting from within this state of mind is action.
— Gampopa
If one realises, in accordance with one’s own unmistaken mind or the power of the mind, that discerning consciousness is the very nature of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the like, one is enlightened. If one fails to understand this, everything appears as the vessel and contents that constitute samsāra. The three worlds are simply this; the great elements are simply this.
— Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche
That which operates with conceptual ideas is the ordinary mind, whose characteristics include perceiver and perceived. All that is conceived in this way is false and will never touch upon the actual nature of reality. Any idea of existent, inexistent, both or neither — any such concept, however it is conceived — is still only a concept, and whatever ideas we hold in mind, they are still within the domain of illusion.
— Mipham Rinpoche
Buddhist Quote for the day 