Emotional pain becomes pure sensation

"The process of artificially maintaining and intensifying emotional pain with thought is gyroscopic. If we keep a cycle of thought constantly spinning we generate a charge that actively prevents the dissipation of pain. But without conceptualisation, emotional pain becomes pure sensation and is released to dance in the vastness of the open dimension of experience. Without the strait-jacket of concept, pain ceases to be pain and becomes a free and ecstatic energy."

p183, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Self-fulfilling activity

"The wisdom of self-fulfilling activity is free of all hindrances. We can pacify what needs to be pacified. We can enrich what needs to be enriched. We can magnetise what needs to be magnetised. We can destroy what needs to be destroyed. Our activities are self-accomplished; their completion is implicit in their inception."

p163, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

The love affair with emptiness and form

"When the essential nature of the fire element is experienced beyond dualism, we realise that we do not have to seduce the world... Every activity becomes the consummation of the love affair with emptiness and form. We are free of reference points as objects of desire. We burn with the wisdom-fire of centrelessness and realise our capacity to extend our realisation to everyone."

p149, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Clarity

"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

Generosity

"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

Khyil-khor

"The personalities of the khandros, or wisdom sisters, are the inner energy of everything it is possible for us to feel. This is what we are, or what we could become. Our inner elements are the khyil-khor of the khandros - the iridescent matrix of being. There is no more profound khyil-khor than who or what we are in our world."

p105, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Awareness

"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

Being

"Being is not attached to reference points. Being does not rely for its existence on any style of perceptual cross-referencing. Trying to pin-point being is like attempting to suspend time and movement - it is not possible, so we might as well simply be."

p73, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Enlightenment

"Every thought, every feeling, every sensation or action is enlightenment; but we do not realise it ... We are never separated from it. There is no need to look for enlightenment in any other place than where we are. It is there, unrecognised, in every moment."

p27, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Spectrum of possibilities

"Our being is a brilliant pattern of energies, a spectrum of possibilities. At every moment we have the capacity to experience the open dimension of what we are."

p3, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Dzogchen

"The perspective of Dzogchen is always that we are all enlightened from beginninglessness. Because of this, inspiration is possible. Inspiration is the power of the enlightened state to make itself known: to itself, through itself, and of itself."

p117, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Nyi'mèd

"It is actually not possible to practice nyi'mèd - at a certain stage of practice nyi'mèd simply happens. It happens when we find ourselves moving without design between the states of shi-nè and lha-tong."

p113, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Awareness

"When fabulous glistening fish leap into existence from nothingness, exploding the brilliant mirror surface of the lake, there are immediately three vital considerations: the still lake, the leaping fish, and the awareness that is present in both."

p89, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Pattern and chaos

"One cannot 'enact' without affecting everything and, at the same time, being affected by everything. Pattern affects pattern, creating further pattern.  Pattern evolves out of chaos and becomes chaos again. Pattern and randomness dance together ..."

p59, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Natural uncontrived presence

"If we can remain in natural uncontrived presence, without sinking into an oblivious drowse, we disinhibit our spontaneous clarity."

p59, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Sparkling-through

"The discovery of shi-nè confronts us with the fact that our fear of nonexistence is both the driving force of duality and the sparkling-through of our beginningless enlightenment."

p53, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Intrinsic vibrant emptiness

"Imagination relies on empty perception. Painting relies on empty planes. Sculpture relies on empty space. Music relies on empty time. Literature relies on empty concepts. If we are to realise the art of freedom, if we are to discover our creative potential, we need to rely on the experience of our intrinsic vibrant emptiness - the beginningless ground of what we are."

p47, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7

Humour

"We need humour in order to avoid taking ourselves quite so seriously; we need to be able to laugh at the fact that we continually create our own unenlightened condition. Without humour we would be unable to relate to the idea that a Lama could comprehend the comedy of our personal dualism in an effective manner, and conjure with it to our advantage."

p15, Roaring Silence, Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Shambhala, 2002, 1-57062-944-7