The possibility of everything

"Once we perceive the small space of our habitual mind, we begin to long for the open vastness we have glimpsed in the eyes of the Lama. We begin to understand that in 'giving up' the dubious freedom of following our dualistic rationale, we are in fact losing nothing and gaining the possibility of everything."

p20, Dangerous Friend, Rig'dzin Dorje, Shambhala, 2001, 1-57062-857-2

More important than this one life

"The relationship between the vajra master and the vajra student should be the most important relationship in one's life as a spiritual aspirant. This is the only relationship that we can have which ultimately leads to enlightenment. ... For a Vajrayana student it is more important than this one life."

p11, Dangerous Friend, Rig'dzin Dorje, Shambhala, 2001, 1-57062-857-2

Nothing but what you actually are

"To receive empowerment is to be struck by lightning in the gentlest possible manner. To be burnt by searing kindness into nothing but what you actually are. ... To wake up, softly startled, at one vivid moment in time. To realise that you have been asleep; and, that suddenly you are both older than the earth and younger than you can remember."

p211, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4

The radiant space of choiceless choice

"To enter vajra commitment is to leap from the perfect precipice. To find yourself in the radiant space of this choiceless choice, is the very heart of Tantra. To leap open-eyed into the shining emptiness of the Lama's wisdom display, and to experience the ecstatic impact of each dynamic gesture of the Lama's method display is the essential luminosity and power of the path."

p175, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4

The terrifyingly compassionate gamester

"The Lama is the ecstatic, wild and gentle figure who short-circuits your systems of self-referencing. The Lama is the only person in your life who cannot be manipulated. The Lama is the invasion of unpredictability you allow into your life, to enable you to cut through the convolutions of interminable psychological and emotional processes. The Lama is the terrifyingly compassionate gamester who reshuffles the deck of your carefully arranged rationale."

p141, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4