Aro Quotation

Simply Be

2012-01-30T01:00:00.000Z

"Trying to pin-point being is like attempting to suspend time and movement--it's not possible, so we might as well simply be."

p73, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Buddhism is very pragmatic

2012-01-23T01:00:00.000Z

"Buddhism is actually very pragmatic. Buddhism is not an imposition on reality. It’s not a constructed philosophy that forces human beings to proceed according to rigid directives that take no account of the diversity of experience."
Dzogchen, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Tasting the fruits of practice

2012-01-16T01:00:00.000Z

"It is not possible to taste the fruits of Buddhist practice without fully engaging with its radical horticulture."
p11, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-07-9

Lama’i Naljor is a way of coming to trust your own Enlightened nature

2012-01-09T01:00:00.000Z

"Lama’i Naljor is really a way of coming to trust your own Enlightened nature. Lama’i Naljor authenticates the relationship between Teacher and student and it also enables you to authenticate the sense in which your Enlightened nature can be momentarily experienced."

Lama’i Naljor, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Encyclopaedia

I have to be simply what I am, and work with that

2012-01-02T01:00:00.000Z

"It is important that one respects the base; and the base is what I am. If I have anger, then that is part of my base – I have to work with that. I cannot go into denial about being an angry person – I cannot pretend that I am not angry, that I am not always irritated. I have to accept that about myself. I cannot try to be a ‘spiritual’ person, and enter into pretence about myself. I have to be simply what I am, and work with that."

Compassion and the Nine Yanas, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Encyclopaedia

Perception and response are inherently and simultaneously crime and punishment

2011-12-26T01:00:00.000Z

"Perception and response are inherently and simultaneously crime and punishment. Any concept of being extradited for ‘sentences unserved’ and ‘crimes unpunished’ is nonsensical in terms of Dharma. This may sound slightly shocking to some people. It could well offend your sense of spiritual law and order. You might feel moral outrage about the fact that we are all our own punishment. Each one of us is the worst punishment we could ever fear – and best reward we could hope to achieve."

Karma - The Personal Police State, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Encyclopaedia

Remain steadfast in that choice

2011-12-19T01:00:00.000Z

"There is no purpose in requesting a Lama to accept one as a student and then to take issue with his or her advice on the basis of information received from other quarters. One chooses one's Lama on the basis of one's recognition of his or her qualities, and, having made the choice, one should remain steadfast in that choice."

p17, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

One treats thoughts as welcome yet transient guests

2011-12-12T01:00:00.000Z

"This is why in the practice of shi-nè we let go and let be. We do not encourage thought, yet neither do we block it. We treat the process of thought gently. We let thoughts come, and we let thoughts go. We translate shi-nè as 'remaining uninvolved.' If thoughts arise, one lets them arise; if they dissolve, one allows their dissolution. If thoughts are present, one allows their presence. One does not add to them or protract them. If thoughts depart, one does not detain them. One treats them as welcome yet transient guests. One treats thought as a fire that has served its purpose -- one merely ceases to add further fuel. If one stops fueling thought with active involvement, thought settles and one enters into a calm and undisturbed state"

p44, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

The Lama is integral and essential with regard to practice

2011-12-05T01:00:00.000Z

"Different lineages and different Lamas have their own particular approaches, and one cannot proceed without advice as to the path one chooses to follow. The Lama is integral and essential with regard to practice, and so all decisions about what is or is not necessary depend on one's own Lama. It would be inappropriate, therefore, to take advice on this subject from a book -- if that book conflicted with the advice one had received from one's chosen Lama."

p16, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Make a difference to how we are in the world

2011-11-28T01:00:00.000Z

"If we get up from our meditation cushion feeling we have done well but do not remember it in our everyday life, the experience never extends out into our life to make a difference to how we are in the world."

p101, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

The Khandro's Spacious Nature

2011-11-21T01:00:00.000Z

"Any attempt to glamourise herself distances the khandro from her spacious nature. The committed femme fatale merely occludes herself as khandro through assuming the clothing, dialogue, and mien of societally sanctioned pulchritude."

p186, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Remain open

2011-11-14T01:00:00.000Z

"It is a shame to become fixated on any idea. One should always attempt to remain open to anything that contradicts one's most cherished beliefs."

p94, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam & Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

One has to die

2011-11-07T01:00:00.000Z

"In order to have some apprehension of what death is, one has to die ...we have to discover the moment of death every day. "

The Nine Bardos,Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

The sea and sky are our shrine room

2011-10-31T01:00:00.000Z

"The sea and sky are our shrine room. The natural elements are our meditation."

Aro Buddhism, Ngak'chang Rinpoche

Hot-blooded kindness

2011-10-24T01:00:00.000+01:00

"We stay in the human realm by allowing ourselves to be touched by the pain of others… and by not becoming too spiritual so that we lose the ability to laugh. Hot-blooded kindness is what roots us in this precious human rebirth. "

Hot-blooded kindness, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

A living manifestation of Dharma

2011-10-17T01:00:00.000+01:00

"The Lama is a living manifestation of pure dharma and what we do is to try and harmonise with that as much as our neuroses will allow. "

Vajra Command, Ngakma Shardröl, Aro Encyclopaedia

The nature of samsara

2011-10-10T01:00:00.000+01:00

"The nature of samsara is the experience of unsatisfactoriness which arises through the attempt to maintain the illusion of duality."

Dzogchen View of Tantric Ngöndro, His Holiness Düdjom Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Appreciation

2011-10-03T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Appreciation generates generosity which knows no limits."

The Ten Paramitas, Khandro Déchen, Aro Encyclopaedia

The root of karma is the dualistic mind

2011-09-26T01:00:00.000+01:00

"The root of karma is the dualistic mind. When the dualistic mind is not present, then karma is also not present."

The Four Noble Truths, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, quoted by Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Encyclopaedia

Shi-nè - the path of renunciation

2011-09-19T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Shi-nè equates to the path of renunciation, because one renounces attachment to that which arises in mind."

Compassion, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

View, Meditation and Action

2011-09-12T01:00:00.000+01:00

"View provokes or incites our natural intelligence. Meditation opens our realisation to the view. Action is the pure appropriateness of our spontaneity in the state of realisation. "

p5, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Dzogchen proclaims the self-existent confidence of all beings

2011-09-04T17:00:00.000+01:00

"Dzogchen proclaims the self-existent confidence of all beings as they essentially are. The enlightened state is simply there as the basis of what we are."

p1, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Dzogchen is the vastness of each moment

2011-08-28T17:00:00.000+01:00

"Dzogchen is the vastness of each moment. It is the natural simplicity of being which, in itself, is the only teaching or practice."

p1, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Just let go

2011-08-21T17:00:00.000+01:00

"The whole teaching around shi-nè is pretty blunt and simplistic – it is just let go. Whatever it is, whatever the problem is, I let go. "

Inspiration and Practice, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Shocking

2011-08-15T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Vajrayana is intrinsically shocking, because we need to be shocked into contact with our natural kindness. "

The Bristol Talks, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Transmission

2011-08-08T01:00:00.000+01:00

"... transmission means sharing the experience of the nature of the teacher’s mind: nothing actually moves."

Buddhism in the West, Ngala Rig’dzin Dorje, Aro Encyclopaedia

The laboratory of one's own experience

2011-08-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Testing the tenets in the laboratory of one’s own experience is the real definition of accepting the Buddhist path."

Counting the cars, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Bodhicitta is the nature of Mind itself

2011-07-25T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Bodhicitta is the nature of Mind itself – it is the energy that arises spontaneously from the nature of Mind; everything being self-liberated in its own condition."

Bodhicitta, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Self-created illusory samsara

2011-07-18T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Externally speaking, one should take refuge in sang-gyé, chö and gendün with devotion. But internally, sang-gyé, chö and gendün are symbolic. They are a profound and skilful way to lead us out of this self-created illusory samsara."

Dzogchen View of Tantric Ngöndro, His Holiness Düd'jom Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Kindness flows naturally

2011-07-11T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Kindness flows naturally from our beginningless non-dual nature. So if we remind ourselves constantly to be kind, we constantly put ourselves in closer contact with our primordial non-dual state."

Kindness, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Singing the mantra of Yeshé Tsogyel

2011-07-04T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Singing the mantra of Yeshé Tsogyel is a sem’dzin practice. One is finding presence of awareness in the dimension of sound; it is a meditative practice. The function is that the tune itself has a particular quality that enables one to enter into the state of awareness."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

The refuge of no-refuge

2011-06-27T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Buddhism is always the refuge of no-refuge - it is complete. It is open – it is not closed. And it is wakeful – it is not hiding in some way. Sang-gyé kyab-su ché: I establish confidence in the actuality of complete, open wakefulness."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Motivation

2011-06-20T01:00:00.002+01:00

"It is not what you are practising that defines what you are practising – it is what your motivation is. If I practise Dzogchen with a motivation to accomplish my own realisation, I am not practising Dzogchen – I am practising Pratyékabuddhayana."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Realism

2011-06-13T01:00:00.001+01:00

"If I try to practise from the premise that I am somewhere where I am not, I cannot practise."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge and Bodhicitta

2011-06-06T01:00:00.001+01:00

"There is no refuge and bodhicitta greater than the comprehension of the non-duality of emptiness and form."

Seven Line Song, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Real compassion

2011-05-30T01:00:00.002+01:00

"Real compassion, from the perspective of Dzogchen, is nonduality. One cannot have compassion without wisdom – compassion can only be compassion where there is wisdom, where they are nondual."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Whatever style of neurosis

2011-05-23T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Whatever style of neurosis we have is intimately connected with our enlightened state"

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Coming to trust your own enlightened nature

2011-05-16T01:00:00.001+01:00

Lama'i Naljor, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Tralam-mé

2011-05-09T01:00:00.002+01:00

"Poetic turbulence is the romantic energetic which is sparked by the capacity for realisation in two individuals. "

Tralam-mé, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Death

2011-05-02T01:00:00.003+01:00

"Everything has to die in order to be born in the next moment and to experience it fully."

The Nine Bardos of the Aro gTér, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Refuge

2011-04-25T01:00:00.004+01:00

"Refuge – we seek protection from our own conceptual minds: from our compulsion to split reality into dualistic view; from our addiction to conditioned responses rooted in preconception."

Refuge, Ngala Nor’dzin Pamo, Aro Encyclopaedia

What is Buddhism?

2011-04-18T01:00:00.004+01:00

"Buddhism is a statement of our intrinsic goodness; and the possibility of discovering that intrinsic goodness. "

Ah, but I was so much older then, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

The Basis of Compassion

2011-04-11T01:00:00.002+01:00

"The basis of compassion is realising that samsara does not work."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Neuroses

2011-04-04T01:00:00.002+01:00

"The more you disapprove of your own neuroses, the more of a problem they become. The time to disapprove of them is if they are hurting others; and then in the moment. But one does not go into punishing oneself for having them at other times. If one is aware that one has patterns, then one has to say, 'I need to have some awareness while this pattern is performing'"

Compassion, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Recognition of Total Presence

2011-03-28T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Whether there is stillness or movement, rage or lust, happiness or sadness – sustain recognition of total presence at all times in every situation."

Striking the Essence, Dza Paltrul Rinpoche

The development of spaciousness

2011-03-21T01:00:00.000Z

"Through the development of spaciousness, our patterning can become totally open and transparent"

p146, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-07-9

The grass is green

2011-03-14T01:00:00.001Z

"If we woke up one morning and discovered that the grass had changed colour and was now blue, we would all race outside and cry, “Wow! Look at that! The grass is blue!” Whereas in fact we could all gaze outside in wonder every morning and say, “Wow! Look at that! The grass is green!”"

p115, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-07-9

The joy of being

2011-03-07T01:00:00.002Z

"Impermanence and death are the joy of being. Impermanence and death are the continuity of existence"

p113, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-07-9

To fall in love

2011-02-28T01:00:00.001Z

"To fall in love is to initiate the dissolution of the boundaries which fix limited ideas of ourselves. To be challenged or threatened by the outrageous transmission of romance is the living blood of Vajrayana."

p151, Moving Being, Khandro Déchen, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-05-5

Dharma must be practised

2011-02-21T01:00:00.001Z

"Dharma teachers continually emphasise the need to practice. Dharma must be practised. We must engage in the methods it offers in order to arrive even at the initial stages of awakening."

p86, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-07-9

Continually becoming a Buddhist

2011-02-14T01:00:00.000Z

"Becoming a Buddhist is a process of continually becoming a Buddhist – of continually breaking through limitations and conditioned perception."

p86, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

An act of kindness

2011-02-07T01:00:00.001Z

"An act of kindness enables us to side-step our attachment to the past and future. It is a moment out; a day off; a holiday from me-centred concerns – and, as such, it can be lived vividly moment by moment."

p67, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

Karmic law is directly consequential

2011-01-31T01:00:00.002Z

"The ‘Law of Karma’ is different from externally enforced societal law, because ‘karmic law’ is directly consequential and self-implementing. We perceive the world in a certain way, and react to it in accordance with that style of perception. That is what is meant by karma. There’s no injustice in this kind of ‘law’ apart from the injustice to the nondual state perpetrated by karmic patterning."

p51, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

The problem lies in our way of seeing

2011-01-24T01:00:00.002Z

"The first fundamental certainty is the experience of unsatisfactoriness. Dukkha—unsatisfactoriness—is not what we are and where we are – but how we are. It’s the subjective quality of our experience that is being described as unsatisfactory. The problem lies in our way of seeing rather than in the material fabric of the world."

p23, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

The police state of karmic vision

2011-01-17T01:00:00.002Z

"Awareness means relinquishing the police state of karmic-vision and assuming personal responsibility"

p51, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

Responsibility

2011-01-10T01:00:00.001Z

"No-one else is responsible for how we perceive the world"

p51, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

Death

2011-01-03T01:00:00.001Z

"Only through the death of one moment can the next moment arise"

p18, Moving Being, Khandro Déchen, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-05-5

The human condition

2010-12-27T01:00:00.001Z

"The human condition is one in which we are simultaneously beginninglessly nondual and dualistically distorted"

p13, Moving Being, Khandro Déchen, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-05-5

Dzogchen approach

2010-12-20T01:00:00.001Z

"Dzogchen approaches everything from the perspective of the primordial nondual state"

p12, Moving Being, Khandro Déchen, Aro Books worldwide, 2009, 978-1-898185-05-5

Authentication: Galvanising Time and Place

2010-12-13T01:00:00.002Z

"Space is unconfined. Because space is limitless – even the limitations that we create, are simply expressions of limitlessness. When we create physical parameters—as venues for the realisation of nonduality—we need to recognise the nature of the delineated space as being inseparable from undelineated space of Mind. Because we understand the world symbolically—through language and other codifications—we employ symbolic activity to authenticate our purpose in establishing a meditation centre. The Nyingma lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism contain a wealth of methods which galvanise time and place—for the benefit of everyone and everything everywhere—and authentication is the portal to that possibility"

Authentication of Aro Ling, Ngakpa Chögyam, 17/09/2010

A good heart

2010-12-06T01:00:00.002Z

"Having a good heart goes further than anything in terms of empathising with the nondual state"

p50, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

Emptiness and form cross-dress

2010-11-29T01:00:00.001Z

"We need to generate some sense of intangible voyeurism in order to apprehend the ways in which emptiness and form cross-dress"

p80, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Reflecting emptiness

2010-11-22T01:00:00.001Z

"The end of the road always reflects emptiness, because at the end of a journey, there is nowhere else to go"

p55, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Prejudice

2010-11-15T01:00:00.001Z

"Vajrayana begins with the premise that duality is a state of prejudice against nonduality"

p156, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Wanting more

2010-11-08T01:00:00.002Z

"Wanting more is nowhere near as valuable as being continually prepared to give more"

p171, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Religion & Practice

2010-11-01T01:00:00.001Z

"Practice is a pain in the arse-literally. Practice is a pain in the anatomy of your body, speech and mind, and you have to have something greater than yourself to keep you going through that frustration. There has to be some kind of energy there that is not primarily self-orientated, self-validating, or self-referencing.'"

Interview 6th of June 1994, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, 06/06/1994

Bodhicitta

2010-10-25T08:20:00.001+01:00

"If you practise, then chang-chub-sem naturally manifests; it is inherent in every being."

Interview 6th of June 1994, Ngak’chang Rinpoche, 06/06/1994

Integration

2010-10-18T01:00:00.001+01:00

"To integrate practice into everyday life, you should allow the spaciousness you discover in your sitting to overflow into your ordinary life experience. "

p154, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Purification

2010-10-11T01:00:00.002+01:00

"There is nothing to purify apart from the notion that there is something impure."

p126, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Generosity in silent sitting

2010-10-04T01:00:00.003+01:00

"[G]enerosity is vital if we are to give ourselves time to sit and if we are to give all sentient beings our time of sitting. We are not sitting in silence for ourselves; that is crucial."

p124, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Our natural state

2010-09-27T08:30:00.000+01:00

"Enlightenment is our natural state, and so it is not surprising that it manifests from time to time. Unenlightenment is the constant activity in which we engage. We have to work at it all the time."

p123, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Sparkling through

2010-09-20T13:41:00.001+01:00

"Enlightenment continually sparkles through. It sparkles through the unenlightenment that we continually fabricate from the ground of being. Because enlightenment continually sparkles through, anyone with or without meditative experience can have flashes of lha-tong or nyi'mèd experience."

p122, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Inspiration

2010-09-13T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Inspiration is the power of the enlightened state to make itself known: to itself, through itself, and of itself. A synapse can occur in which we glimpse, for a moment or an eternity, the manifest nakedness of being."

p120, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Enlightened from beginninglessness

2010-09-06T01:00:00.001+01:00

"The perspective of Dzogchen is always that we are all enlightened from beginninglessness. Because of this, inspiration is possible."

p120, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Being referenceless

2010-08-30T01:00:00.002+01:00

"Finding Mind to be a referenceless ocean of space allows the dualistic knot of panic to untie itself. Experiencing this space, we make a brilliant discovery: being referenceless is not death."

p64, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

No reference points

2010-08-23T01:00:00.001+01:00

"When one sits, one discovers that the secondary function of thought is to prove that one exists. Without thoughts, one has no reference points. Without thoughts, there is nothing to prove that one is solid, permanent, separate, continuous, and defined. Shi-nè is getting used to that. Shi-nè simply letting go and letting be"

p63, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Getting used to is

2010-08-16T01:00:00.001+01:00

"When it is said that getting used to is, what is signified is a practice in which one is simply getting used to being, one acclimatizes oneself to the undefined dimension of existence. We are unused to our own enlightenment, so meditation is a way of 'getting used to' it. In terms of deep-rooted attachment to thought, one is getting used to non-referentiality. One is getting used to being referenceless."

p46, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Meditation isn't

2010-08-09T01:00:00.001+01:00

"When it is said that meditation isn't, what is signified is that meditation is not a method of doing. It is a method of not-doing. One does not involve oneself in doing anything. One does not instigate anything or impose anything. One does not add anything or elaborate anything. One simply remains. One simply maintains presence in motiveless observation."

p46, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Boredom

2010-08-02T01:00:00.003+01:00

"Once we develop our experience of shi-nè, boredom is no longer 'boredom' but a wellspring of nourishment-a rolling wave of energy. So, from the point of view of shi-nè, boredom marks the beginning of realisation."

p23, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Experience directly

2010-07-26T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Meditation enables us to sidestep the bureaucracy of rigid intellectual processes and experience ourselves directly. "

p2, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 978-1570629440

Invaded by Padmasambhava

2010-07-19T01:00:00.002+01:00

"Vajrayana disciples in every place and time commit themselves to being spiritually invaded by Padmasambhava."

p66, Dangerous Friend, Rig’dzin Dorje, Shambhala, 2001, 978-1570628573

Natural Condition

2010-07-12T01:00:00.002+01:00

"The natural condition of the individual is characterized by immediacy of presence within whatever is experienced."

p33, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Perception

2010-07-05T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Our perception and field of perception are mutually self-creating. What we see incites a reaction which influences how we see it. How we view things changes how they are."

p31, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Culture

2010-06-28T01:00:00.001+01:00

"As practitioners, Buddhism, in its essential nature, should be our culture. Beyond that—we should integrate with the creative, positive, and humanitarian aspects of the culture of wherever we happen to be living."

p11, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Awareness & Kindness

2010-06-21T01:00:00.001+01:00

"The most important thing is that there is no rule apart from awareness and kindness"

p9, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Wealth and generosity

2010-06-14T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Wealth and generosity go hand in hand-if they do not then we have neither."

p131, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Security

2010-06-07T01:00:00.001+01:00

"The only truly stable ground we can find is emptiness. It is only possible to find security in insecurity - by establishing insecurity as security"

p130, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

The Illusion of Poverty

2010-05-31T01:00:00.002+01:00

"If we cooperate with the sparkling through of our beginningless enlightenment and experience the nature of the energy from which territorialism arises, we can release ourselves from the illusion of poverty.'"

p128, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Symbolism & Enlightenment

2010-05-24T01:00:00.001+01:00

"When symbolism and the state of enlightenment dissolve into each other, we recognise the primal purity of our own condition"

p110, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Primordial Goodness

2010-05-17T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Primordial goodness is that which grins at the illusions of the dualistic predicament - so sit and learn to smile. "

p241, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Naturalness

2010-05-10T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Naturalness is relaxing into the present moment"

p234, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Understand

2010-05-03T06:01:00.006+01:00

"No one can understand themselves. All you can hope to achieve is to be transparent - and allow undestanding to occur naturally."

p231, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Starting Over

2010-04-26T01:00:00.001+01:00

"We imagine that we are the same person simply getting older. That is also a fantasy. Every moment is just like starting over."

p223, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Work

2010-04-19T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Work and the demands of daily life are none other than the practice of Dzogchen"

p220, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Freedom

2010-04-12T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Freedom is the absence of self-consciousness. The absence of self-consciousness allows generosity, transparence, decentralised desire, uninhibited action, and spaciousness"

p210, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Magic

2010-04-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

"Seeing the magic of existence requires an open mind and a certain lack of rigid co-ordinates"

p209, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Unhappy

2010-03-29T01:00:00.001+01:00

"Unhappy' is what we create by turning off the senses"

p179, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Samsara

2010-03-22T01:00:00.001Z

"We live as much as we can in the Dzogchen view that there is no samsara beyond our own perception"

p168, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Respect

2010-03-15T01:00:00.005Z

"Silent sitting is the greatest respect you can offer and the greatest influence you can have."

p162, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Joy

2010-03-08T01:00:00.001Z

"Always put the possibility of joy before the need to be safe"

p135, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7