All one can ‘do’

The journey involves whatever it involves and there is always a sense of time and distance – but with a fruitional path, those aspects of time and space have no direct application.  All one can ‘do’ when one reaches the goal, is to remain.

p74, 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 

Cutting through conditioning

Every time you try to stare into the face of an arising emotion, you confirm yourself in the practice of cutting through conditioning.  Even wanting to start is a success.  If you begin to practice you will experience a difference in your life.  The ultimate goal is always both very close and very distant; and when one day you come to realise that the path is the goal, the concepts of failure and success will no longer have any meaning.

p242, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9653948-0-8

Contradiction but no conflict

   There's only a problem, in the contradictory nature of different paths, if you fail to realise that their differences lie in the difference between their bases (where you begin).  Their bases are different because the relative capacities of individuals are different.  This means that what is a useful method for one person, could merely be an obstacle for another.  Once you have a fundamental understanding of this, it becomes very simple.  Then, not only will there be no conflict between different vehicles of Buddhism as to how and when they are presented but; you'll also come to understand the methods of any religion. 
This is the true basis of tolerance.  

p23, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, ISBN 1-898185-03-4

Reflection of the path

"The Lama is crucial in terms of offering a reflection of the path. In Vajrayana, the Lama becomes the path. He or she becomes the path through manifesting the yidam. He or she becomes the path through manifesting the nature of the teachings in terms of the kyil’khor of interaction – the interaction between the students, the interaction between the person and their world, and how the Lama comments on that and interacts with the nature of what is taking place."

Seven Line Song, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

To leap open-eyed

"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."

p178, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4

The path is the goal

"If you begin to practise you will experience a difference in your life. The ultimate goal is always both very close and very distant; and when one day you come to realise that the path is the goal, the concepts of failure and success will no longer have any meaning."

p235, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8