Spirituality-Buddhism

A condition caused by ignorance

2 February 4, 2021

Now we are afflicted by “me-my-mine-itis,” a condition caused by ignorance. Our self-centeredness and self-important thinking have become very strong habits. In order to change them, we need to refocus. Instead of concerning ourselves with “I” all the time, we must redirect our attention to “you” or “them” or “others.” Reducing self-importance lessens the attachment that stems from it. When we focus outside ourselves, ultimately we realize the equality of ourselves and all other beings. Everybody wants happiness; nobody wants to suffer. Our attachment to our own happiness expands to an attachment to the happiness of all. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Don’t burden others with your expectations

1 February 3, 2021

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
Change is continuous

1 February 3, 2021

Change is continuous. Day by day, one season slips into the next. Day turns into night and night to day. Buildings don’t suddenly grow old; rather, second by second, from the moment they’re constructed, they begin to deteriorate… Think of beings inhabiting this universe. How many people born a hundred years ago are still alive?… We see the play of impermanence in our relationships as well. How many of our family members, friends, people in our hometown, have died? How many have moved away, disappearing from our lives forever?… At one time we felt happy just being near a person we loved. Just to hold that person’s hand made us feel wonderful. Now maybe we can’t stand him, don’t want to know anything about him. Whatever comes together must fall apart, whatever once fathered must separate, whatever was born must die. Continual change, relentless change, is constant in our world. ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
If we contemplate impermanence deeply

Comment February 2, 2021

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. Realising 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
Trees rustle like living things

4 January 31, 2021

A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things. — George R. R. Martin

Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem. — William Hamilton Gibson
Suffer from being afraid of themselves

4 January 30, 2021

Most people suffer from being afraid of themselves, afraid of not being able to liberate the thought or emotion that is about to arise. At the moment the thought arises, they single it out as no good. You often hear that negative emotions are bad, but you don’t know how to let them go. All these negative traits have been in you. But you can’t not be how you are, so what do you do? For the unrealized person, there is only one solution: be depressed about it. All spiritual systems say negative thoughts are bad. You cannot find any that say negative thoughts are good. Really, are there any? Maybe some of them say that you should express them, let them out, but that is still because they know that negative thoughts are not good, that if you did not let them out you would just keep them festering inside. It is merely a different way of phrasing the same depressing information. ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
The true nature of clarity

1 January 29, 2021

Like emptiness, the true nature of clarity is impossible to define completely without turning it into some sort of concept that you can tuck away in a mental pocket, thinking. Okay, I get it, my mind is clear, now what? Clarity in its pure form has to be experienced. And when you experience it, there’s no “Now what?” You just get it. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Kindness, tolerance, impatience, wrath are all your own perception

Comment January 28, 2021

When you see something you like, you perceive it as desirable and good. Likewise, if you see somebody you don’t like, then the perception is negative. Kindness, tolerance, impatience, wrath are all your own perception. If you feel kindness instead of wrath, you have a different perception. If you are more tolerant than impatient, you have a different perception. If you know life is impermanent, you see things differently. When your annoying friend is suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer, your perception changes. If we learn to accept, even in a limited way, that everything is subject to our perception, then pure perception of the guru is more achievable. Coupled with pure perception, guru devotion has nothing to do with being a sycophant. It’s really about exercising your own perception. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Deepest reasons to love yourself

2 January 28, 2021

The deepest reasons to love yourself have nothing to do with anything outside you — not with your body or with others’ expectations of you. If you ground yourself in your own goodness, nothing will be able to damage your self-esteem. Take delight in your inner nature, in your virtues, and in all your beautiful qualities. ~ 17th Karmapa
Being diligent

Comment January 27, 2021

We think we’re being diligent by sitting down to meditate for hours at a stretch. But real diligence doesn’t mean forcing yourself beyond your natural limits; it means simply trying to do your best, rather then focusing on the result of what you’re trying to accomplish. It means finding a comfortable middle ground between being too relaxed and too wound up. ~ Mingyur Rinpoche