Quotations and Sayings

Quotations and Sayings

Balloon Liberation Messages
Date Posted:
September 2013

Rinpoche advised the following, to be written on balloons for a Balloon Liberation ceremony.

1. May the mainland Chinese government realize that His Holiness Dalai Lama is the embodiment of all the buddhas, be totally devoted to his holy wishes, and invite His Holiness to China. May billions of Chinese see His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s face and hear his Buddhadharma. May they totally enjoy the happiness of Dharma and may they offer Tibet back to the Tibetan people. May His Holiness Dalai Lama be the religious and political leader and establish Buddhadharma, so that there will be millions more bodhisattvas than before. May that help to spread Buddhadharma in the world and may people have the opportunity to achieve enlightenment.

2. May we continue forever to offer service to the monasteries that preserve and spread Dharma, offering salaries to all the teachers who educate and offering all the expenses for the geshes’ examinations and the Jamyang Kunche debate. May special offerings be given to the monks who memorize thousands of texts and expand and spread the Dharma. May the monasteries produce more realized and learned pure good-hearted teachers, spread Dharma all over the world and bring all sentient beings to enlightenment.

3. May we be able to build stupas and scriptures, especially the two very large Maitreya Buddha statues, to purify sentient beings’ karma and defilements, and bring them to enlightenment as quickly as possible. May we especially generate love and kindness and bodhicitta, and bring sentient beings to enlightenment as quickly as possible. May all the funding be found immediately.

4. May Dharma books produced by the organization be most beneficial for sentient beings, not only by reading or doing practice, but by keeping them in the house, seeing and touching them. Just by that, may all their holy wishes succeed immediately according to holy Dharma.

5. May all the suffering of sentient beings be healed and may their negative karma be purified immediately. May they immediately actualize the path of guru devotion, the three principal aspects of the path, the two stages and the unified state of Vajradhara in this lifetime. May everybody immediately abandon thoughts of harming others and only become a source of happiness to others.

6. May all the hospice patients who joined the FPMT purify the negative karma accumulated from beginningless rebirth immediately. May they die with compassion for sentient beings, and faith in the Buddhadharma, with no fear of death and may they be extremely happy. May they be born in a pure land and get enlightened. May they receive a perfect body, meet a perfect teacher and achieve enlightenment.

7. May Geshe Sopa Rinpoche and all the gurus have a long life.

Quotes by Lama Yeshe
Date Posted:
November 2009

The following are quotes by Lama Yeshe.

It would be wonderful if you could recognize that your own attachment is the cause of every single problem that you experience. Problems with your husband, wife, children, society, authorities, everybody; having a bad reputation; your friends not liking you; people talking badly about you; hating your teacher, your lama, or your priest; all this truly comes from your own attachment. You can really check up…

We Westerners always have to blame something external when things go wrong, "I'm not happy, so I'd better change this." We're always trying to change the world around us instead of recognizing that it's our own attachment that we have to change. 
   — Lama Yeshe
   From Every Problem on Earth Comes From Attachment 

***

My approach is to expose your ego so that you can see it for what it is. Therefore, I try to provoke your ego. There’s nothing diplomatic about this tactic. We’ve been diplomatic for countless lives, always trying to avoid confrontation, never meeting our problems face to face. That’s not my style. I like to meet problems head on, and that’s what I want you to do, too.
   — Lama Yeshe
   From Questions and Answers in Ego, Attachment and Liberation

***

You must recognize that your real enemy, the thief who steals your happiness, is the inner thief, the one inside your mind, the one you have cherished since beginningless time. Therefore, make the strong determination to throw him out and to never let him back in.
   — Lama Yeshe
   From Developing Equilibrium

 

Quotes by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Date Posted:
November 2009

Rinpoche gave the following advice.

The most happy thing in my life, the most fulfilling thing, is to work for and to benefit sentient beings. Even just the mere thought to cause happiness for sentient beings, to benefit them, to free them from suffering—this is the BEST offering to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the best puja, this is what pleases their holy minds most.

***

One must practice with the bodhisattva attitude every day. People can't see your mind, what people see is a manifestation of your attitude in your actions of body and speech. Pay attention to your attitude all the time, guard it as if you are the police, or like a nanny cares for a child, like a bodyguard, or like you are the guru and your mind is your disciple.

***

The office is a place for Dharma practice. When one goes to the office, dealing with people, one has to recognize it's a place to practice lam-rim, the three principles of the path, tantra, and the six paramitas. The six paramitas fit very well with daily life—they offer protection for you. Everything is there.

***

When you recognize your problem comes from your concept or your concept is the problem, you don't blame others

***

The essence of collecting the most extensive merit in your daily life is through the attitude of always keeping your motivation in bodhicitta, the thought to benefit all sentient beings. The more sentient beings you think about, the more merit you collect.

***

Try to think, whatever you do, 24 hours a day, of sentient beings: when you chant mantras, eat, go to sleep, go to work, and when you are talking; if you can, keep your mind in that thought.

Then, with every action you collect numberless merits. Not only do you have a happy, satisfying, fulfilling life every day and every moment, but, especially, it is the best thing for the future, and not only liberation from samsara, but enlightenment.

***

If you are suffering, use it as the cause to bring happiness to others. This way, whatever kind of life experience you have, you use it on the path. There is no interruption to Dharma practice and one’s life is most beneficial.

***

Each one of us is responsible for all other living beings’ happiness besides our own. As a result, your loving kindness is the most wish-fulfilling thing in life, more precious than anything else in the world. That makes for a most satisfying, fulfilling life.

***

Whatever problem one experiences, one can think about the benefits of problems and how they are beneficial for one’s own life, to develop one’s mind in compassion, to develop loving kindness, patience, wisdom, and all the positive qualities for the path to liberation.

By thinking of the benefits, one develops this precious quality, this most healthy positive way of thinking that brings happiness, and that stops you from harming yourself and harming others.

***

Use problems as ornaments, seeing them as extremely precious, because they make you achieve enlightenment quickly, by getting you to achieve bodhicitta. Experience these problems on behalf of all sentient beings, giving all happiness to sentient beings. This is the ornament.

***

Dedicating your life to achieving lam-rim realizations, with the goal of liberating numberless beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bringing them to enlightenment is what I regard as the most important thing in the world.

 

Protecting the Mind
Date Posted:
November 2009

Rinpoche gave the following advice.

You should be like the guru and your mind the disciple, or you should be like the police and protect your mind. You know what is right and beneficial based on what is beneficial for yourself and others.

 

Buddhist Slogans
Date Posted:
November 2009

Rinpoche offered variations of the following Buddhist statements with the idea that they could be used on car stickers, placards for Dharma centers, bookmarks, key-chains, hats, shirts, bumper stickers, mugs, pens, and pins/badges.

Letting go of attachment is (not losing anything), it’s achieving inner peace and satisfaction.
By letting go of attachment you gain inner satisfaction and peace.
Letting go of attachment brings inner satisfaction and peace.

***

Cherishing others is opening the door for all happiness of oneself and all others.
Cherishing others opens the door to every happiness for self and others.
Cherishing others opens the door to happiness.

***

Cherish everyone as/greater than/more than your/the most precious wishfulfilling jewel.
Cherish everyone as the most precious wish-fulfilling jewel.
Cherish everyone as the most precious jewel.

***

Cherish everyone because they are fulfilling all your wishes.

***

Think that everyone you meet is fulfilling all your wishes.

***

Less desire means less pain, more satisfaction, more freedom, better meditation, more realization, more inner peace and happiness in life.
Less desire means less pain, more satisfaction, freedom and peace.
Less desire brings less pain, more freedom, better meditation and realization.
Less desire means less pain.
Less desire means less pain and more satisfaction.

***

The root of your problems ceases when you cherish others.
The root of your life’s problems becomes non-existent when you cherish others.

***

No desire means no pain of attachment and pain of anger and jealousy (disturbing emotional pain). There is tranquility/peace, openness, (no barriers), space for sincere love and compassion arises.
No desire means no emotional pain of attachment, anger, and jealousy. There is peace, openness, and space for genuine love and compassion to arise.

***

The sun shining of real happiness starts in your life (only) when you start to cherish others.
The sun of real happiness shines in your life when you start to cherish others.

***

If/When there is no anger inside, there is no enemy outside.
No anger inside means no enemy outside.

***

See everyone as most precious and fulfilling all your wishes.
See everyone as precious and fulfilling all your wishes.

***

Cherishing others is the source of all happiness.

***

For happiness, cherish others.

***

Every second of my human life is more precious than the sky filled with wish-granting/most precious jewels.
Every second of this human life is more precious than skies of wish-granting jewels.
Every second of this human life is more precious than skies of jewels.

***

Every second of my human life has all the/unbelievable freedom to choose hell or enlightenment, samsara or liberation/enlightenment.
In every second of this human life there is freedom to choose between hell or enlightenment, samsara or liberation.
Every second of this human life gives us the freedom to choose between hell and enlightenment, samsara and liberation.

***

The hell realm could appear this minute, so practice Dharma right now.
Hell can appear any moment, so practice Dharma now.

***

Death could come any minute, so transform life/the mind into Dharma.
Death could come any minute, so make your mind Dharma.
Death could come any minute, so transform your life into Dharma.

***

There is no new samsaric pleasure ever experienced/No samsaric pleasure is new, so let go of clinging, which creates/causes samsara.
No pleasure is new, so let go of the clinging that creates samsara.
There is no samsaric pleasure that is new, so let go of the clinging that creates samsara.

 

Advice to Put on Stickers
Date Posted:
October 2009

Rinpoche made the following statements, suitable for printing on stickers for cars, windows, etc.

Like molding dough in your hand, you can definitely turn your mind whichever way you want for any happiness in life, including achieving full enlightenment – peerless happiness. .

***

Like molding dough in your hand, you can definitely turn your mind whichever way you want in life, so as not to be in hell and instead achieve enlightenment, including achieving peace and happiness, with no more problems.

***

Everything has to do with your own attitude, your own thinking, your motivation,
Therefore, one can stop all problems right now and achieve peace and happiness. .

***

Less desire means less pain, more satisfaction, more freedom in your life, more inner peace and happiness.

***

If one does not remember death, one doesn't remember Dharma, so why not take the opportunity to practice and enjoy life with Dharma. This is the safest life now and in the future.

***

Since the “I” that exists is merely imputed there is nothing to cherish, nothing to cling too. Goodbye to depression, worries, and fears.

***

The sun of real happiness shines in your life when you start to cherish others.

***

Since you don't like problems, you have no choice except to practice Dharma. That gives freedom and liberation.

***

The root of problems in your life becomes non-existent when you start to cherish others.

***

No desire means no disturbing emotions, pain of attachment, pain of anger, and pain of jealousy, and there is tranquillity, peace, openness, no barriers, and space for sincere love and compassion.

***

Every moment of this human life is to be free from samsara and to achieve everlasting liberation, to be free from the suffering of the lower realms, to achieve the body of a happy migratory being, to be free from suffering and to achieve happiness, abandon non-virtue and practice the virtue of giving up cherishing the “I” and cherishing others, abandoning working for the self and working for others.

***

Being free from desire means being free from problems in the mind, which means being free from external problems.

***

No desire means no pain, no disappointment, no problems, but inner happiness, peace, and satisfaction.

***

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