Glimpses of rigpa

"Glimpses of rigpa can arise spontaneously through the initial cessation of struggling to maintain the processes of samsara and relaxing into a more open view. We relax and discover with a jolt that the nature of mind is non-dual. We relax and discover in a flash that the nature of view is realised. We relax and discover with surprise that there is a flicker of harmonious natural congruence in activity and being."

p207, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro Books, 2007, 978-0-9653948-4

Opportunity to discover presence

"Impermanence is a cause for celebration. Impermanence is our opportunity to discover presence. Present moments are infinite. They will never end. We will never cease to have opportunities to start again. We will never cease to have opportunities to experience presence."

p107, Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro Books, 2007, 978-0-9653948-4-0

Fourfold refuge

"The inner refuge is Lama, Yidam and Khandro/Pawo. Usually when we speak of refuge, in the Tibetan system we talk about a fourfold refuge which is Lama, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; this is a hybrid between the outer and the inner refuge. Lama is always put there first because without the Lama, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha do not exist. This is because someone has to exemplify the path. A path is all well and good; but if you cannot see anyone who has lived that, if you cannot see anyone who in some way exemplifies the fruit of that path, then what inspiration is there?"

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Open-ended opportunity

"Every emotion is an open-ended opportunity. Every feeling or sensation we experience is an expression of enlightenment-a manifestation of our spectrum of radiant energies. Yet almost always, emotions manifest as distorted reflections of those energies. These distorted reflections arise as a result of the way in which we constrict the natural display of the mirror of Mind with our compulsive intellectual contrivances."

p32, Spectrum of Ecstasy, Ngakpa Chögyam with Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 1997, 0-9653948-0-8

Refuge

"Buddhism is always the refuge of no-refuge - it is complete. It is open – it is not closed. And it is wakeful – it is not hiding in some way. Sang-gyé kyab-su ché: I establish confidence in the actuality of complete, open wakefulness."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Be kind

"Kindness flows naturally from our beginningless non-dual nature. So if we remind ourselves constantly to be kind, we constantly put ourselves in closer contact with our primordial non-dual state."

Kindness, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Manifestation of who we are

"The manifestations of who we are in terms of our behaviour in the world and our relationship with our environment, create themselves out of the view of nonduality, out of the experience of the indivisibility of emptiness and form. Hence our practice affects the nature of tangible manifestation, and the nature of our physicality also becomes a manifestation of view."

p55, Spacious Passion , Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-07-9

Nature of meditation

"When we develop confidence in view and learn to relax into direct recognition of nonduality, our speech, thought, sensation, emotion and ideation become of the nature of meditation. The energy of our being is spiritual practice."

p55, Spacious Passion , Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1-898185-07-9

Sitting Meditation

"In sitting meditation, we experience emptiness directly as the simultaneous absence of thought and presence of awareness. We experience form as the thought and sensation which arise from the condition of non-thought. We experience non-duality as the nature of Mind in which thought and the absence of thought are no longer mutually exclusive – they have the same taste."

Aro Buddhism, Ngak'chang Rinpoche

Mantra of Padmasambhava

"We sing the mantra of Padmasambhava in three different ways for differing reasons vis-à-vis their effect on the rTsa rLung system. Four contrasting qualities of sound are used in the singing: hard and soft; loud and quiet; fast and slow; high and low. Once the subtlety of the changes in quality of the sound are mastered, the singing of the mantra becomes a powerful experience and a valuable tool in terms of practising with the different characteristics of our own energy."

Aro Buddhism, Ngala Nor’dzin Pamo

Spaciousness without passion

"Spaciousness without passion has no possibility of compassion as an interactive quality. Passion without spaciousness becomes blind or blinkered obsession - a completely claustrophobic view that gives rise to highly limited and limiting activities."

p103, Wearing the Body of Visions, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, 1995, 1-898185-03-4

Compassion

"Real compassion, from the perspective of Dzogchen, is nonduality. One cannot have compassion without wisdom – compassion can only be compassion where there is wisdom, where they are nondual."

Compassion & The Nine Yanas, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Extending the experience of meditation

"It is important to take the understanding that has been discovered during this meditation practice out into our lives. This understanding needs to move beyond our meditation cushion to be a real experience. Friend, Enemy, Stranger has a 'feel good factor' that puts us in danger of becoming satisfied with the comfortable feeling of equanimity discovered through the practice."

p101, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Reference points

"Our view is the basis of all our expectations of life, our interpretations of circumstances, and our responses to the experiences we encounter in our lives. Our view governs how we are as people in the world and causes us to create an inter-penetrating network of reference points-that is, things that support our view of the way we think things are."

p99, Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor'dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, 978-1898185178

Having Devotion

"Much is said of 'devotion' in Tibetan Buddhist circles. The general idea is that you're supposed to have it. If you don't have it, there's no way forward. Because of this, many people try to have it without having it having them."

p18 Wisdom Eccentrics, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, Inc, 2011, 978-0965394864

A teaching from Künzang Dorje Rinpoche

"The most important thing with Dzogchen is presence of awareness. There are all kinds of obstacles to presence of awareness. The first is the obstacle of laziness and the second is forgetfulness. Even having received pointing out instruction we tend to forget. The third obstacle is depression Depression means blocking thought-the state where thought no longer arises."

p362 Wisdom Eccentrics, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books, Inc, 2011, 978-0965394864

If one considers oneself to be a Vajrayana practitioner

"A teaching on Seven Line Song is only valuable if it is seen to be valuable. It cannot be seen as being valuable outside the context of Vajrayana practice. If one considers oneself to be a Vajrayana practitioner, then Dorje Tsigdun will have a depth of felt importance before a word of teaching has been uttered. This is important, because if one has the right attitude it is even possible to gain some further understanding of Dorje Tsigdun from a deranged dolt like Ngakpa Chögyam. There are some aspects of this teaching which may appear simple or quite meaningless, if they are not understood through the emotional charge of devotion. You could try to hear this teaching in the ambience of the devotion you feel for your own Lamas and the traditions they hold."

Seven Line Song, Ngak'chang Rinpoche, Aro Encyclopaedia

Vajra Relationship

"If you prioritise your own concept of kindness, then you are not in vajra relationship. But even within vajra relationship it is acceptable to ask questions and to expect that the answers will be in conformity with the principles of dharma. This is a bit tricky because now it sounds as if I am saying that you get to judge whether or not what you are asked to do accords to the principles of dharma, which is not exactly what I mean. The thing is, there is no perfect solution to this problem except to be careful whom you choose as your vajra master. Within the practice of vajra relationship there is no room for doubting the vajra master."

Vajra Command, Ngakma Shardröl, Aro Encyclopaedia

Devotion to the Lama

"The idea in Vajrayana is that devotion to the Lama is the fulfilment of all the other vows because the Lama only lives to benefit beings and one could not ever do better than to carry out the Lama’s plans. That would be the best fulfilment of the bodhisattva vow as well. If one is still in the stage of thinking that one’s own interpretation of the vows is more valid than that of the Lama, this is not yet vajra relationship."

Vajra Command, Ngakma Shardröl, Aro Encyclopaedia

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