There are two aspects of mindfulness: first, to remember what causes suffering and needs to be avoided, and what brings happiness and needs to be accomplished; and second, to be constantly vigilant lest we fall under the power of delusion. If we mechanically follow our wandering thoughts instead of remembering to investigate our mind, afflictive... Continue Reading →
Nothing that passes through your mind, not even your mind itself, will stay as it is forever. Things might last for the duration of your experience of this existence, or even into the next generation; but then again, they may dissolve sooner than you expect. Either way, eventual change is inevitable. There is no degree... Continue Reading →
When your mind remains in pure awareness, with no thought of past or future, without being attracted by external objects or occupied by mental constructions, it will be in a state of primordial simplicity. In that state, there is no need for the iron hand of forced vigilance to immobilize your thoughts. As it is... Continue Reading →
Generally speaking, we feel attachment to our family, to our belongings, and to our position, and aversion to anyone who hurts or threatens us. Try turning your attention away from such external objects and examine the mind that identifies them as desirable or hateful. Do your desire and anger have any form, color, substance, or... Continue Reading →
In order to make yourself a person of the world, you have had to fight for every inch. Even when you are pressing your clothes or busy organizing a cocktail party, there is always an undercurrent of trying to prove something, trying to achieve something. Whatever you do involves some kind of chauvinism, which in... Continue Reading →
"Wherever you are, whatever you do, it’s essential to acknowledge your experience as something ordinary, the natural expression of your true mind. 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... Continue Reading →
Some of us imagine there will come a point when we can give up our samsaric activities and worldly duties completely and devote our time to the Dharma, but Jigme Lingpa pointed out that such a time will never come. It’s not that you must cease all worldly activity and only practice the Dharma but... Continue Reading →
As uncertainty and groundlessness increase, as we lose control of external circumstances, we find ourselves with our backs to the wall. One response is to cower in the corner, hoping that chaos and suffering will just go away. But in our heart of hearts we know that will never happen. The alternative is to use... Continue Reading →
Awareness does not mean beware, be careful, ward off danger, you might step into a puddle, so beware. That is not the kind of awareness we are talking about. We are talking about unconditional presence which is not expected to be there all the time. In fact, in order to be completely aware, you have... Continue Reading →
Although we use words such as achieving, wishing, and praying for enlightenment, ultimately we don’t acquire enlightenment from an external source. A more correct way to put it is discovering the enlightenment that has always been there.Enlightenment is part of our true nature. Our true nature is like a golden statue; however, it is still... Continue Reading →
Our opinions and attitudes about ourselves are very important. We cannot ignore the slightest tendency to feel wretched, inadequate, or fundamentally distrustful of ourselves. Those feelings always show through. This doesn't mean that you are not allowed to think anything bad about yourself. However, there is another side to you that is an expression of... Continue Reading →
Cherishing Ordinary Moments "In our most ordinary days we have moments of happiness, moments of comfort and enjoyment, moments of seeing something that pleased us, something that touched us, moments of contacting the tenderness of our hearts. We can take joy in that. I find that it’s essential during the day to actually note when... Continue Reading →
"There’s a myth that if you could just get it all together, you could have permanent pleasure. That’s a complete myth, but everybody kind of buys into it emotionally and psychologically. So it’s said that the human realm is the very best place to spend time. And why is that? It’s because in the lower... Continue Reading →
Utilizing those few seconds 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. Practicing like this, "one drip at a time," you’ll find yourself gradually becoming free of the mental and emotional limitations that are the source... Continue Reading →
When You Are Feeling LowQuietly observe the feeling without trying to change it. It will change on its own. As if gazing at a tree in the backyard, as if sitting by a river and watching the water flow by, quietly observe your feelings as if they are external to you. If you observe your... Continue Reading →
One characteristic of a dharmic person, someone who practices meditation and the teachings of the Buddha, is to prevent too many activities, or you could say, reduce too many activities. According to tradition, that actually boils down to cutting nonfunctional talking, cutting the baby-sitter mentality, the entertainment mentality.You can get yourself into all kinds of... Continue Reading →
Most of the time we are trying to make the good things last, or we are thinking about replacing them with something even better in the future, or we are sunk in the past, reminiscing about happier times. Ironically, we never truly appreciated the experience for which we are nostalgic because we were too busy... Continue Reading →
Like a child at the cinema, we get caught up in the illusion. From this comes all of our vanity, ambition, and insecurity. We fall in love with the illusions we have created and develop excessive pride in our appearance, our possessions, and our accomplishments. It's like wearing a mask and proudly thinking that the... Continue Reading →
If you follow the example of most people of this decadent age, you will end up being just like them—an expert fraud. You will waste your life chasing after the unattainable. You will be like children who are so busy playing that they are indifferent to hunger and cold and don’t notice the day passing—until... Continue Reading →
In prison Khenpo Münsel Rinpoche taught me this:‘The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances.You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well.’ When you find yourselfin a troublesome situation, when you are in great pain, when an intense emotion arises,only then will you know where... Continue Reading →
