Awareness

"When fabulous glistening fish leap into existence from nothingness, exploding the brilliant mirror surface of the lake, there are immediately three vital considerations: the still lake, the leaping fish, and the awareness that is present in both."

p89, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Pattern and chaos

"One cannot 'enact' without affecting everything and, at the same time, being affected by everything. Pattern affects pattern, creating further pattern.  Pattern evolves out of chaos and becomes chaos again. Pattern and randomness dance together ..."

p59, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Natural uncontrived presence

"If we can remain in natural uncontrived presence, without sinking into an oblivious drowse, we disinhibit our spontaneous clarity."

p59, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Sparkling-through

"The discovery of shi-nè confronts us with the fact that our fear of nonexistence is both the driving force of duality and the sparkling-through of our beginningless enlightenment."

p53, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Intrinsic vibrant emptiness

"Imagination relies on empty perception. Painting relies on empty planes. Sculpture relies on empty space. Music relies on empty time. Literature relies on empty concepts. If we are to realise the art of freedom, if we are to discover our creative potential, we need to rely on the experience of our intrinsic vibrant emptiness - the beginningless ground of what we are."

p47, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Humour

"We need humour in order to avoid taking ourselves quite so seriously; we need to be able to laugh at the fact that we continually create our own unenlightened condition. Without humour we would be unable to relate to the idea that a Lama could comprehend the comedy of our personal dualism in an effective manner, and conjure with it to our advantage."

p15, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7