Tantra is continually performing itself

"We are the dance of existence and non-existence. Unless we know this - Tantra is impossible. But, whether we understand it or not - Tantra is continually performing itself; it is what is happening."

p3, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4

Simply observe

"If you can simply observe the initial flickering of unsatisfactoriness, if you can remain with the freshness and clarity of what you experience rather than the commentary, you will not require misery."

p8, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Awareness is uncontrived

"Awareness is the uncontrived, unattached recognition of the experience of movement - the movement of the arising and dissolving of thoughts in the continuum of Mind, the appearance and disappearance of phenomena in the vastness of intrinsic space. There is only the sheer exquisiteness of this movement. This is what we actually are."

p83, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Non-dual anger

"Non-dual anger is unconditioned clarity. It is displayed by the brilliance and calmness of water. The undisturbed surface of water perfectly mirrors the sky. The crystal clarity of undisturbed water seems incapable of bias or distortion. When water is clear it is barely visible - it seems to possess only the dimensionless reflective quality of its surface."

p135, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Paradox

"Paradox is the heart of Tantric understanding, and once we being to get a taste for what it means at an experiential level the amazing world of what we actually are starts to open up to us.

p42, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Opening to the nondual

"Vajrayana is not ‘an answer’ or ‘an antidote’ – it is an endless process of opening to the nondual texture of existence. It is the coalescence of energy in the rich moment-by-moment frisson of vajra-romance. It is the infinite sequence of fleeting forms which constitutes the flow of our lives."

p57, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Knowledge of Vajrayana is intrinsic

"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 Vajryana 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."

p68, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Infinite hall of mirrors

"Vajrayana reveals an infinite hall of mirrors in which there is no final answer beyond the fleeting answers shifting endlessly within the empty mirror. Answers can only be understood by allowing emptiness. To allow emptiness requires that we relinquish the need to concretise an answer. Answers are the impermanent manifestation of a permanent emptiness."

p57, Entering the Heart of the Sun and Moon, Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen, Aro Books Inc., 2010, 978-0965394833

Spectrum of fluid and fluent energies

"Its important to experience our emotional energies simply and directly. Our emotions are a spectrum of fluid and fluent energies, and experiencing their energy fields is the purpose of our exploration."

p7, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Liberated field of energy

"The liberated field of energy of the earth element displays the glorious warmth and wealth of earth which is inexhaustible and free to whomever needs it. Wealth and generosity go hand in hand because even if we have very little, we can be wealthy and attract wealth if we have the spirit of giving, which always enables us to find something to give."

p123, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Natural response to being alive

"If a person is kind and seeks the happiness and well being of others as a natural response to being alive then ethics and morality will be intrinsic. You simply have to like people, animals, and the whole slew of limitless phenomena."

p15 Wisdom Eccentrics, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, Inc, 2011, 978-0965394864

Leap without reservation

"Through the practice of philosophy one might expect to arrive at one's own conclusions about the nature of being - such investigations having been mostly self-referential. Through the practice of the religion of Dharma one discovers that the nature of being has already been understood by one's teachers, and that it can be discovered for ourselves through the methods of practice they reveal. Hence, to fully engage with Dharma, we eventually have to let go of the limitations of our own view - and leap ... without reservation, into Dharma-view"

p3, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro Books, 2007, 978-0-9653948-4-0

Intellectual elaborations are not important

"Kindness is as close as we can come to a moral approximation of awareness. Having a good heart goes further than anything in terms of empathising with the nondual state. Intellectual elaborations are not important."

p49, Rays of the Sun, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-06-2

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

Connecting to a sense of kindness

"If a person cannot really connect to a sense of kindness toward others, then the teachings that stress the non-dual approach can simply be distorted into a method of cultivating some form of sanctified misanthropy."

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

We fabricate our own perception

"No one else is responsible for how we perceive the world. We accept and reject society’s influences and the influences of our parents and friends on our own terms. We fabricate our own perception, and unless we discontinue the process and de-structure our perception, we will merely continue to be repressed by our personal totalitarian regime."

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

Without awarenes

"Without awareness we are continually faced with moral dilemmas. It is impossible to construct the perfect moral philosophy applicable in all circumstances. The only perfect morality is awareness. The only perfect morality is awareness, because all actions which spring from awareness are choiceless pure appropriateness."

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

Compassion for our own neuroses

"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

The minds attempt to stay safe

"Worry is the mind's attempt to stay safe"

p23, Emailing the Lamas from Afar, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2009, 978-0-9653948-5-7

Always attempt to remain open

"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