A ‘dangerous’ game

Creating conducive circumstances, for ourselves and others, involves planning and making efforts which in many respects is a ‘dangerous’ game.  Plans can be made and plans can fall apart, but that is no reason not to make plans.  The failure and success of plans simply gives us an opportunity to experience failure and success as the ornaments of equanimity.  If we have some sense of space, this is a distinct possibility.  

p89, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9653948-0-8

Intrinsic to human beings

Knowledge of Vajrayana is intrinsic to human beings – not in the sense of complex symbolism and elaborate colourful mystical motifs, but in the sense that Vajrayana is our condition.  Vajrayana is our condition, in the sense that Vajrayana is the thread of continuity which runs through every aspect of what we are.  In this sense Vajrayana may be invisible – but it is also sharply and poignantly perceptible.  The Lama shows us this reality.

p68, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen,  Aro Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9653948-3-3 

Mere indication

Mere indication means that something is suggested, and in that moment there is a whole gestalt.  Mere indication however, in terms of transmission, means that one simply hears directly.  One’s stream of awareness is ‘seeded’ with this mere indication, and there is no more to do or to think.  It is perfect in that moment.  Then … all one has to do is allow that moment to remember itself.  

p31, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen,  Aro Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9653948-3-3 

The dance of emptiness and form

What then exists for those who are drawn to pursuit of realisation – but who remain unattracted by the option of detaching from ordinary everyday society?  What exists for those who experience spiritual value in their interaction with the world?  The answer is that Vajrayana exists – not necessarily the Vajrayana of liturgical recitation – but the essential Vajrayana, which expounds the dance of emptiness and form within every nuance of experience.

p44, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen,  Aro Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9653948-3-3 

It will be whatever it is

Awakening will occur at the time it occurs. It will be whatever it is. It will arise from whatever situation it arises. The responsibility of the practitioner is simply to practise.

p176, Battlecry of Freedom  Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books Worldwide, 2019, ISBN 978-1-898185-46-8