Constant companion

This story ... is interesting from the point of view of ambivalence being our constant companion until we no longer perceive in a dualistic manner.  Confidence and doubt continually tickle each other as long as duality exists – even for the greatest practitioners.  This is why it is so important to treat ambivalence as workable ground.

p222, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4 

A certain degree of chutzpah

A tantrika requires a certain degree of chutzpah.  But that’s not to say that Tantra can’t help you short-circuit insecurity, fear, loneliness, anxiety, and depression.  This may sound like a complete contradiction – but there is an escape clause: devotion.  You can short-circuit all your neurotic sensitivities if you have complete confidence in the practice.  But you can never let that slip.

 p215, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9653948-0-8

The self-existent confidence of being

   Dzogchen is the pinnacle of Vajrayana Buddhism.  It is a cycle of teaching and of practices – but essentially Dzogchen is the primordial condition of the individual.  It is thus both within and beyond the scope of conventional religion.  As the primordial condition of the individual, Dzogchen is the state of referenceless relaxation in the vastness of each moment.
It is vast because it is undelineated by time.  It is referenceless because the moment is experienced without allusion to past moments or future moments.
Dzogchen is the self-existent confidence of being which arises spontaneously from beginninglessness.

p4-5, Shock Amazement  : The four naljors and four ting-ngé’dzin from the Dzogchen series of the nature of Mind.
Khandro Déchen and Ngakpa Chögyam,  Aro Books Worldwide, 2018, ISBN 978-1-898185-45-1

Promises

Only make promises to yourself that you know you can keep, otherwise you’ll never have confidence in yourself and you’ll find that you won’t be able to make promises to yourself at all.  Being able to make promises to yourself is keenly meaningful.  It’s a way of giving your life real direction and enabling something positive to happen – especially if you link your promises to the wish for the liberation of everyone everywhere.   

p144, Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, ISBN 1-57062-944-7
  

The effort required to make the bed beautifully

Being a warrior means that we can accept the reality of what we are – including our fear and apprehension.  We see our fear and we step beyond it.  
We can discard the yearning for security and move into a greater sense of spaciousness in which heroism applies to the effort required to make the bed beautifully.  To do anything well requires confidence in the potential beauty of each moment.    

p143, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9653948-5-7

Confidence allows divergence of view without hostility

  Tolerance doesn't involve smoothing over all the differences, it means seeing the differences, and allowing them to be there without making any damming judgements.  Tolerance actually means having real confidence.
Divergence of view is possible without there having to be hostility.  If you have confidence in your own path, you don't have to denigrate other paths.  You don't have to shore yourself up by dismissing other systems – that is simply not necessary.
So let us by all means disagree with certain views.  But let that not make us angry or violent!  Let us also have the good grace to acknowledge the benefit there may be in systems that employ different concepts.  We could in fact approach this thing with great gentleness and humour!

p24-25, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4