Religion & Practice

"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

"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

"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

"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

"[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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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