A JOLLY GOOD LIFE

Confidence is there. It is a fact. It is the case. But surprisingly, nobody noticed it before. So telling people about this state of being is simply telling the truth. You don't have to make up anything at all. This unconditional confidence manifests in our lives as appreciation: the appreciation of our intelligence, our sympathy towards self and others, the appreciation of good food and drink, appreciation for our meditation practice. Appreciating the details of life begins to open up our life so that it is no longer purely a struggle but a jolly good life. So the real way to share our understanding with others is to cheer ourselves up to begin with.

From "Unconditional Confidence," in CONQUERING FEAR, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications, Fall 2009.

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The Black Dragon Jewel

Through one word, or seven words, or three times five,
even if you thoroughly investigate myriad forms
nothing can be depended upon.
Night advances, the moon glows and falls into the ocean.
The black dragon jewel* you have been searching for is everywhere.


—Xuedou, From: Moon In Dewdrop - Writings of Zen Master Dogen, pp. 60, North Point Press


* The Black Dragon Jewel is a rare and valuable jewel found under the chin of a black dragon, symbolizing Buddha-Dharma and original face. (The image of a black dragon with a jewel is represented in the Zen monastery as a fishlike wooden carving, called a hō, which is struck with a mellet before meals.

Attentiveness

Attentiveness is the path to true life;
Indifference is the path to death.
The attentive do not die;
The indifferent are as if they are dead already.

Buddha Shakyamuni From: The Dhammapada

Buddha said

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

EATING WITH AWARENESS

When you eat with awareness, you find that there is more space, more
beauty. You begin to watch yourself, to see yourself, and you notice
how clumsy you are or how accurate you are. You notice the way you
pick up your fork and knife, and the way you put the food in your
mouth. When you practice awareness, everything becomes majestic and
good. You begin to see that you have been leading a different kind of
life in the past. You had the essence of mindfulness already, but you
hadn't discovered it. So when you make an effort to eat mindfully...,
you find that life is worth much more than you had expected.

From "Introduction to Practice," in the 1979 Seminary Transcripts,
pages 4 to 5.

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FREEDOM FROM HABITUAL TENDENCIES

There are all kinds of habitual tendencies that are connected with
holding on to what we are. People get divorced because they think
they might find a better mate. People change restaurants because they
think they might get cheaper and better food. The habitual patterns
of ego work that way. The notion of enlightenment is a sense of
freedom from those patterns. And the way to attain that freedom is by
means of the sitting practice of meditation. In sitting practice, we
look at our minds, and we maintain good posture. When we combine body
and mind that way, we find ourselves emulating the Buddha -- the way
to be properly. Then we begin to develop sympathy toward ourselves,
rather than just holding on.

From "Manifesting Enlightenment," in THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA, pages
212 to 213.

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PERCEPTION AND PERCEIVER

PERCEPTION AND PERCEIVER

The feminine principle is the perception of colors, directions, time. Thus it is the manifestation of the colorful aspect of the world. Without it, there is no perceiver of this. The perceiver is the masculine principle. In this framework, the masculine principle is not regarded as the master dominating the scene. Moreover, we are not saying that the feminine principle belongs to women and the masculine principle to men. Wherever there is a perceiver, that is the masculine principle; wherever there is a perception, that is the feminine principle.

From "Femininity," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Six, page 565.

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The Great Eastern Sun Vision:

The Great Eastern Sun Vision:
Is the expression of true human goodness, based not on arrogance or
aggression,
but on gentleness and openness. It is the way of the warrior.

The essence of this way or path is transcending cowardice and
manifesting bravery...

The fundamental aspect of bravery is being without deception.
Deception in this case is self-deception,
doubting yourself so that you are cut off from the vision of the
Great Eastern Sun.

âChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, From: Shambhala - The Sacred Path of the
Warrior, Shambhala Publications

FEMININE INSPIRATION

Feminine inspiration projects a world which it can regard as workable and friendly since it is its own creation.....An aspect of feminine inspiration is regarding what you have created as sacred. You have created Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism -- it is your production. Since it is fully yours, respect it, work with it. These teachings did not come from somewhere else; your own openness gave birth to them. Moreover, you gave birth to pleasure and pain. You built Paris, London, New York City. You produced the president of the United States. These things are the product of feminine inspiration.

From "Femininity," in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Six, page 564.

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POVERTY IS ALSO RICHNESS

The buddha of the human realm is a buddha with a begging bowl. This represents the mentality of poverty, which is the largest concern of the human realm. In order to relate with poverty, you have to speak the language of poverty. But by carrying a begging bowl, in fact, it is as though you always have something to put things into. In other words, the ultimate mentality of poverty is also the mentality of richness at the same time. Whatever situations need to be created, you can create them, and you get it. You are in command of the whole situation. So that is being extremely wealthy.

From "The Human Realm," in TRANSCENDING MADNESS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SIX BARDOS, page 247.

Meditation _Awareness of Whatever Occurs

As long as you maintain awareness or mindfulness, no matter what
happens when you practice, your practice is meditation. If you watch
your thoughts, that is meditation. If you can't watch your thoughts,
that is meditation, too. Any of these experiences can be supports for
meditation. The essential thing is to maintain awareness, no matter
what thoughts, emotions, or sensations occur. If you remember that
awareness of whatever occurs is meditation, then meditation becomes
much easier than you think.

âYongey Mingyur Rinpoche, From: The Joy Of Living, Harmony Books

Mark Twain on Madness

in one way or another all men are mad. Many are mad for money...Love is a madness...it can grow to a frenzy of despair ... All the whole list of desires, predilections, aversions, ambitions, passions, cares, griefs, regrets, remorses, are incipience madness, and ready to grow, spread and consume, when the occasion comes. There are no healthy minds, and nothing saves any man but accident--the accident of not having his malady put to the supreme test.
One of the commonest forms of madness is the desire to be noticed, the pleasure derived from being noticed. Perhaps it is not merely common, but universal.
- "The Memorable Assassination" Mark Twain

http://www.twainquotes.com/Madness.html

Signs of Successful Practice and the Signs of the Purification of Your Harmful Acts

In particular it is said that you will experience a feeling of
physical buoyancy,
little need for sleep, good health, clear thinking, and glimpses of
realization.

âJamgon Kongtrul, The Torch of Certainty, Pg. 82, Shambhala
Publications

Zen Master Dogen

Where the great function turns, entire sky moves.
Penetrate; no trace on thread road.
Alone I sing in the balcony, only moon color
dyes clouds. Winter shower moistens burning haze.


Zen Master Dogen, From: Moon In A Dewdrop, North Point Press

SIT AND DO NOTHING

The world can be explored; it is workable, wherever you go, whatever
you do. But I would like to plant one basic seed in your mind: I feel
that it is absolutely important to make the practice of meditation
your source of strength, your source of basic intelligence. Please
think about that. You could sit down and do nothing, just sit and do
nothing. Stop acting, stop speeding. Sit and do nothing. You should
take pride in the fact that you have learned a very valuable message:
You actually can survive beautifully by doing nothing.

In THE POCKET CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, page 177. Originally from "Maha Ati,"
in JOURNEY WITHOUT GOAL, page 142.


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Emotional Compassion & Compassion

You do not have to feel compassion.
That is the distinction between emotional compassion and compassion:
You do not necessarily feel it; you are it.
Usually, if you are open, compassion happens because
you are not preoccupied with some kind of self-indulgence.

âChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, From: Cutting Through Spiritual
Materialsm, Shambhala Publications

EGOLESS COMMON SENSE

Decision making based on accepting a situation is expressing faith and gentleness; therefore, it could be said to be compassion. Once you see the situation as it is, then you just involve yourself in it and it takes you along. In fact, you can tell what the end is going to be. That is developing egoless common sense. Egoless common sense is not based on "because-of-anything," but it is based on "it-will-be-so." You could project your future quite accurately or take the right path quite accurately if you had that general egoless common sense. With such precision and clarity, as well as egolessness, you are not dwelling on hope or fear. Then things take place naturally.

From "The Bardo of Dreams," in TRANSCENDING MADNESS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SIX BARDOS, page112.

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Tension

Student: If you make a decision, it is going to bring you tension, because you don't know how it is going to work out, whether it's a good or bad decision. Do you just go along and accept it?

Chogyam Trungpa: Ultimately, decisions don't come out in terms of yes and no, black and white. The ultimate answer, so to speak, would say you're right, but at the same time you are wrong. [Understanding that,] releases tension, the ultimate tension. If you are involved with something and if you reject or accept it absolutely, one hundred percent, then the tension is going to remain all the time. There is no way of solving the problem of tension by making black-and-white decisions, in other words. The only way of transcending that tension is through the acceptance of all aspects.Nothing is going to be a magic sedative. But strangely enough, once you begin to accept that, then half of the problem has been solved.

From "The Bardo of Dreams," in TRANSCENDING MADNESS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SIX BARDOS, page109.

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THE WARRIOR'S WEAPONS

If victory is the notion of no enemy, then the whole world is a friend. That seems to be the warrior's philosophy. The true warrior is not like somebody carrying a sword and looking behind his own shadow, in case somebody is lurking there. That is the setting-sun warrior's point of view, which is an expression of cowardice. The true warrior always has a weapon, in any case....The definition of warriorship is fearlessness and gentleness. Those are your weapons. The genuine warrior becomes truly gentle because there is no enemy at all.

From the manuscript of CONQUERING FEAR: THE HEART OF SHAMBHALA. Forthcoming from Shambhala Publications in 2009.


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SPIRITUAL SUPERMARKET

The study of spiritual materialism is very important. Some people
tell you to hold your breath, and you'll feel blissful. Some people
tell you to breathe out, and you'll feel blissful. Some people tell
you to eat a carrot right now! Some people say, "Stand on your
head." Some people say "Sit, then stand on one foot, then lie down
on your back and have a good massage." Or swim in cold water and that
will help you. Swim in hot water -- that will help you. Reading
this might help you. Say these few words over and over to
yourself. Or shout your words; project out. Dive in. Dive
out. Wear certain clothes. Get a certain hair cut. Do certain eye
gazes. People suggest all sorts of things, which is what's known as
the "spiritual supermarket." All these trips have been laid on the
poor Americans. We could call this spiritual democracy. It doesn't
particularly help. However, America remains a great field of
spiritual fertility. Fertile situations occur constantly, all the
time. Trying to work with this American mentality and bring it
together with the Buddhist tradition of orthodoxy, at the same time,
creates a good balance.

Edited from an unpublished transcript VIEWING AND WORKING WITH THE
PHENOMENAL WORLD, a seminar at Naropa Institute, Talk One, June 10, 1976.

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Giving Fearlessness

"Giving fearlessness" means curing disease, protecting others from misfortune,
directing them out of chasms, escorting them out of danger
and removing hindrances to their achievement of siddhi and moral conduct.
Truly, practice this type of generosity as much as you can.
Protect others from the "four injuries" :
legal punishment, enemies, thieves, and wild animals.
Then pray for the ability to save them from the miseries of the three lower realms.


Jamgon Kongtrul, The Torch of Certainty, Shambhala Publications

THE MOMENT OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Before Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, he realized things were not quite right in his world. Neurosis was continuously spreading in his kingdom. He decided to reject any approach to life that made him purely comfortable and happy and to search for some psychological sanity beyond that. He thought that meditating and studying with the holy men of the time would help him. Then he would be able to rule his kingdom and be a better king. He left his palace and studied with various gurus, who taught him all kinds of techniques: holding his breath, not holding his breath, sitting in different postures doing spiritual acrobatics, and many other approaches. But he found these techniques kept his mind very busy, rather than being simple and alone.
Having practiced for six years, he still had doubts about what he was doing. Then, it occurred to him that life is not so much a question of gain and loss. Instead, life is full of reality, and that reality rests in the mind. He realized that mind is constantly speeding, on and on. So Prince Siddhartha decided to stop that speed. He decided to sit and meditate under a bodhi tree on the banks of the Nairanjana River. His austerity had not proven to be the best way, so he decided to give that up. After sitting for a long time, not much happened. Then, he got up and walked around, and he was offered a drink of milk by a friend. He settled himself on a comfortable seat made of kusha grass. He began to relax and meditate again. At that moment, when he relaxed, the whole struggle began to dissolve. He realized that he shouldn't push so hard, but that he could give in and let himself go. That was the moment of enlightenment, which was not all that dramatic.

Edited from an unpublished transcript VIEWING AND WORKING WITH THE PHENOMENAL WORLD, a seminar at Naropa Institute, Talk One, June 10, 1976.

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We are not going to find the mind

We are not going to find the mind, because there is no thing that is
the mind. Nevertheless, we have to go through the process of sitting
down an examining the mind and examining our experience to see what is
really going on.


H.E. Kalu Rinpoche, The Gem Ornament of Manifold Ornament Instructions, KDK Publications

Zen Master Dogen

All buddhas' compassion and sympathy for sentient beings
are neither for their own sake or for others.
It is just the nature of buddha-dharma.
Isn't it apparent that insects and animals nurture their offspring,
exhausting themselves with painful labors,
yet in the end have no reward when their offspring are grown?
In this way the compassion of small creatures for their offspring
naturally resembles the thought of all buddhas for sentient beings.


Zen Master Dogen, From:Moon In A Dewdrop, North Point Press

MEDITATION IS A SACRED ACTIVITY

When a person sits and meditates, it is a special situation; it is a sacred act of some kind. It has been said by Petrul Rinpoche, a great teacher about 100 years ago, that even if you have impure thoughts in the meditation hall, those thoughts are regarded as sacred thoughts. The most impure, most crude or confused thoughts, even those are regarded as sacred thoughts. Along with that, a sense of appreciating the discipline is in itself important, whether you have accomplished the discipline over all or not. If you fall asleep on your cushion, or feel that you haven't actually sat and meditated at all -- as soon as you sit on your cushion, you begin to mentally venture out all over the world, and the only thing that reminds you is when the ending gong sounds and you realize you are meditating, supposedly, physically -- even then, even such daydreams and things like that are important. Meditation is a sacred activity.

From "The First Foundation: Mindfulness of Body," in the 1973 Hinayana-Mahayana Transcripts, page 39.

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SELF-EXISTING PLEASURE

One of the definite characteristics of the Buddhist tantra, at least on the level of mahamudra [an advanced level of practice], is not running away from sense pleasures, but rather identifying with them, working with them as part of the working basis. That is an outstanding part of the tantric message. Pleasure in this case includes every kind of pleasure: psychosomatic, physical, psychological, and spiritual. Here it is quite different from the way in which spiritual materialists might seek pleasure -- by getting into the "other." In this case, it is getting into "this." There is a self-existing pleasureableness that is completely hollow from the ordinary point of view of ego's pleasure orientation...If you look at pleasure from the point of view of nakedness, the situation of being completely exposed, any pleasure you experience is full because of its hollowness.

From "Mahamudra," in ILLUSION'S GAME: The Life and Teaching of Naropa. Pages 120 to 121.

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OBVIOUSNESS BECOMES SACREDNESS

The approach of vajrayana Buddhism to sacredness is not so much a matter of things being big and enormous and beyond the measure of one's thought; rather it has to do with things being so true, so real, so direct. We know a fire burns. We know the earth carries us. We know that space accommodates us. All these are REAL facts, and so obvious. Obviousness becomes sacredness from the point of view of vajrayana. It is not that things are sacred because they are beyond our imagination, but because they are so obvious. The magic is simplicity. Winter gets cold, summer gets warm. Everything in every situation has a little magic. If we forget to eat, we get hungry. There is a causal aspect, which is the truth. So in this case, the sacredness is a matter of truth, of the obviousness of the whole thing.

From "The Levels of Mahamudra," in ILLUSION'S GAME: The Life and Teaching of Naropa. Page 133.

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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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July 21, 2008

Of interest to readers: Yesterday, July 20, there was a ceremony to install 3,000 gold CDs of Chogyam Trungpa's teachings in the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya at Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado. This was the Speech Empowerment of the Stupa, which also contains the body relics of Chogyam Trungpa. For photos and more information on this event, go to http://chronicleproject.com/speech_empowerment/speech_empowerment.html

WHAT HAPPENED TO EGO?

Student: How can you distinguish between ego-based self-confidence
and trust in oneself?

Chogyam Trungpa: Ego doesn't cut its own ground. Ego nurses its
ground. An egoless experience like prajna, or discriminating
awareness, cuts its own ground. That's where the irritation and
resentment come from. Within the realm of resentment, a soft heart
begins to develop, softness toward oneself. The softer you become
toward yourself, the more you want to cut your ground. Somehow the
question of ego doesn't apply at that point. Ego is already
dissipating and has given up its hold on you. This is an organic
thing that happens slowly in your practice. Somebody might ask you
later, "What happened to your ego?" And you might say, "Oh, I never
thought about that."

From "Giving Birth to Intellect," in ILLUSION'S GAME: The Life and
Teaching of Naropa. Page 83.

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PROTECTING THE MIND

You might say that it is very easy to understand or experience pain. Oh no. It takes a lot of understanding to realize pain....The method used in tantra to enable us to realize pain is called mantra. In this case, mantra has nothing to do with some verbal gibberish that you repeat over and over. Mantra here is an upaya, a skillful means. The derivation of the word mantra is the Sanskrit mantraya, which is a combination of two words. Manas means "mind," and traya means "protection." So mantra protects the mind, the fundamental intelligence or wakefulness. It does not protect it by using guards or putting it under a glass dome. Protection here is clearing away obstacles, clearing away threats. All threats to that intelligence are cleared away. This is the style of protection here.

From "Pain and Hopelessness," in ILLUSION'S GAME: The Life and Teaching of Naropa. Pages 56 to 57.

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FREEDOM FROM IMPRISONMENT

The experience of mahamudra is the pinnacle of the tradition of
tantra. Maha means "great," and mudra means "sign" or "gesture." To
experience mahamudra is to realize that the literal truth, the
symbolic truth, and the absolute truth are actually one thing, that
they take place on one dot, one spot. One experiences reality as the
great symbol that stands for itself. The bliss of mahamudra is not so
much great pleasure , but it is the experience of tremendous
spaciousness, freedom from imprisonment, which comes from seeing
through the duality of existence and realizing that the essence of
truth, the essence of space, is available on this very spot. The
freedom of mahamudra is measureless, unspeakable, fathomless. Such
fathomless space and complete freedom produce tremendous joy. This
type of joy is not conditioned by even the experience of freedom
itself; it is self-born, innate.

From "Sacred Outlook," in THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA, pages 168 to 169.

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THE TRUTH OF AWARENESS

The practice of meditation is not designed to develop pleasure, but to understand the truth of suffering; and in order to understand the truth of suffering, one also has to understand the truth of awareness. When true awareness takes place, suffering does not exist. Through awareness, suffering is somewhat changed in its perspective. It is not necessarily that you do not suffer, but the haunting quality that fundamentally you are in trouble is removed. It is like removing a splinter. It might hurt, and you might still feel pain, but the basic cause of that pain, the ego, has been removed.

From THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING: AND THE PATH OF LIBERATION, forthcoming from Shambhala Publications in April, 2009. Published in association with Vajradhatu Publications. Based on teachings given at the Vajradhatu Seminaries by Chogyam Trungpa. Edited by Judith Lief.

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DEATH IS REAL

Student: What should we try to communicate to a dying person?

Chogyam Trungpa: You see, death is a very real experience. Usually, we do not connect with a sense of reality. If we have an accident -- or whatever happens in our lives -- we do not regard it as a real experience, even though it may hurt us. It is real to us as far as pain and physical damages are concerned, but still it's not real for us because we immediately look at it in terms of how it could be otherwise. There's always the idea of first aid or some other redeeming aspect of the situation. If you are talking to a dying friend or relative, you should transmit the idea that death is a real experience, rather than that it's just a joke and the person could get better. Often people tell the dying person things like, "Life is really a joke altogether. The great saints say it's not real. Life is unreal. What is death, anyway?" When we try to take this kind of approach, we become jumpy ourselves, and that jumpiness is what we end up communicating to the dying person. We should help them to understand that death is real.

From "Death and the Sense of Experience," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 138.

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LET ANGER BE IN ITS OWN PLACE

Student: If I'm angry, instead of either expressing or suppressing my anger, how can I just relate to it? Should I stop the anger and just relate to the thought process?

Chogyam Trungpa: You don't stop the anger, you just are the anger. Anger just hangs out as it is. That is relating with the anger. Then the anger becomes vivid and directionless, and it diffuses into energy. The idea of relating with the emotion has nothing to do with expressing yourself to the other person. The Tibetan expression for that is rang sar shak, which means "leave it in its own place." Let anger be in its own place.

From "Death and the Sense of Experience" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 137 to 138.

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Training the Mind

At the beginner's level, there is what is called, "training the mind."
The mind is like a crazy monkey, which leaps about and never stays in
one place...

The training, or the meditation practice, is a way to catch this
monkey to begin with. That is the starting point.
Traditionally, this training is called shamatha in Sanskrit, or shi-
ne in Tibetan, which means simply "the development of peace."

When we talk about the development of peace, we are not talking about
cultivating a peaceful state, as such, but about simplicity...

The practice of of the development of peace is one of imitating
stillness.
You are pretending to be still, although the mind is of course,
constantly jumping and relentless.


âFrom: The Teacup and The SkullcupâChogyam Trungpa On Zen and
Tantra, Pg. 72, Shambhala Publications

THE WISDOM OF FEAR

The crazy wisdom approach to fear is not regarding it as a hangup alone, but realizing it is intelligent. It has a message of its own. Fear is worth respecting. If we dismiss fear as an obstacle and ignore it, then we might end up with accidents. In other words, fear is a very wise message....The point is, you can't con fear or frighten fear. You have to respect fear. You might try to tell yourself that it's not real, that it's just false, but that kind of approach is very questionable. It is better to develop some kind of respect, realizing that neurosis also is a message, rather than garbage that you should just throw away. That's the whole starting point -- the idea of samsara and nirvana, confusion and enlightenment, being one. Samsara is not regarded as a nuisance alone, but it has its own potent message that is worthy of respect.

From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 124 to 125.

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CONSTANT REJUVENATION

The main focus of crazy wisdom is the youthfulness of the enlightened
state of being. This youthfulness is the immediacy of experience, the
exploratory quality of it. "But wouldn't exploring age us, make us
old?" we might ask. We have to put so much energy into exploring. Do
we not become like a traveler who grows old through traveling? From
the point of view of crazy wisdom, this is not the case. Exploring is
no strain. You might have to do the same thing again and again, but
each time you discover new facets of it, which makes you younger.
Discovery is related with energy that feeds you constantly.
It brings your life to a very full, healthy state. So each time you
explore, you gain new health. You constantly come back to a sense of
being up to date in your experience of the world, of your life. So
the whole thing becomes constant rejuvenation.

From "Fearlessness" in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 118 to 119.

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JUST THERE

Being open means being free to do whatever is called for in a given
situation. Because you do not want anything from the situation, you
are free to act in the way genuinely appropriate to it. And
similarly, if other people want something from you, that may be their
problem. You do not have to try to ingratiate yourself with anyone.
Openness means "being what you are." If you are comfortable being
yourself, then an environment of openness and communication arises
automatically and naturally.
It is like the idea of the moon shining on one hundred bowls
of water, so that there are one hundred moons, one in each bowl. This
is not the moon's design nor was it designed by anyone else. But for
some strange reason there happen to be one hundred moons reflected in
one hundred bowls of water. Openness means this kind of absolute
trust and self-confidence. If the bowls are there, they will reflect
your "moon-ness." If they are not there, they will not. Or if they
are only half there, then they will reflect only half a moon. It is
up to them. You are just there, the moon, open, and the bowls may
reflect you or not. You neither care nor do you not care. You are just there.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
10102, 103 to 104.

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The Records That Count

The basic problem we seem to be facing is that we are too involved
with trying to prove something, which is connected with paranoia and
a feeling of poverty. When you are trying to prove or get something,
you are not open anymore, you have to check everything, and you have
to arrange it "correctly." It is such a paranoid way to live and it
really does not prove anything. One might set records in terms of
numbers and quantities -- that we have built the greatest, the
biggest; we have collected the most, the longest, the most gigantic.
But who is going to remember the record when you are dead? Or in one
hundred years? Or in ten years? Or in ten minutes? The records that
count are those of the given moment, of now -- whether or not
communication and openness are actually taking place now....In the
sacred writings, you never read stories of the bodhisattvas, the
great practitioners of mahayana, receiving medals. And quite rightly
so, because there is no need for them to prove anything. Their action
is spontaneous. It is the open life, open communication, which does
not involve struggle or speed at all.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages
102 to 103.

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LIBERATED FROM CONVENTIONALITY

Giving birth to bodhichitta in one's heart, buddha in one's heart brings freedom. That is the notion of freedom in Buddhism altogether. We are talking about freedom from the constriction of our own capabilities. It is as if we were extraordinary children, possessing all sorts of genius, and we were being undermined by the society around us, which was dying to make us normal people. Whenever we would show any mark of genius, our parents would get embarrassed.
They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, "Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to express ourselves or to relate with such situations. So we put lids on ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are liberated from that kind of conventionality.

>From OCEAN OF DHARMA: THE EVERYDAY WISDOM OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 282.

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When One Is Meditating Properly

When one is meditating properly, it is entirely possible to think,
and the point is, that for the thought to arise at all,
there must be an aware and alert quality of mind.
Thus, when one is using this approach in meditation,
given that there is a spacious and transparently clear quality to the experience,
there is also the dynamic spark of awareness.
To be aware of the thoughts that arise in the mind,
be they nominally good or bad,
is itself an expression of that spark.
The specific nature or content of the thought is not the issue;
it is the awareness which is important.
Kalu Rinpoche

ENVIRONMENTAL GENEROSITY

Compassion has nothing to do with achievement at all. It is spacious
and very generous. When a person develops real compassion, he or she
is uncertain whether he is being generous to others or to himself,
because compassion is environmental generosity, without direction,
without "for me" and without "for them." It is filled with joy,
spontaneously existing joy, constant joy in the sense of trust, in
the sense that joy contains tremendous wealth, richness.

From "The Open Way," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, page 99.

For photos, stories about the 16th Karmapa and reports on the visit
of the 17th: http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_99.html

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IN OR OUT?

Ideas are not solid, if they are not founded on aggression or dogma.
We can have open ideas. There is no problem with that. Ideas are not
really founded on solid ground at all. They are just...ideas, which
is a very important point. If you completely buy into someone else's
idea or version of spirituality, it's like being caught in the jaws
of a crocodile. This is one of the problems with many approaches to
spirituality: either you are in it or you are not in it. In or out.
You can't actually experience the space between the two. That is a
problem, and that seems to be a spiritual materialistic trick to use
on people: trying to save them from their experience. That approach
is based on a hesitation or inability to provide everything
legitimately, step by step. If the leaders of a spiritual group feel
somewhat inadequate, they may tell potential students, "Buy it or
don't buy it." That seems to be too cheap. Spiritual discipline is
not based on becoming somebody else. But you become you in your
enlightened version. That is the whole point.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365
Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 182.
This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains many new
quotes, as well as some previously published on the Ocean of Dharma
list serv. Order your copy now at a 20% discount at
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-536-2.cfm

[Originally from THE MISHAP LINEAGE: THE LINE OF THE TRUNGPAS.
Forthcoming from Shambhala Publications.]

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Although a wholesome or harmful act may have been minute

Although a wholesome or harmful act may have been minute while it was
still a mere motivation,
by the time it yields its result it will have grown considerably.
Harmful deeds lead to miserable states of existence;
wholesome deeds lead to happy ones.
None of your deeds will be impotent.
You will not experience the results of that which you have not done

Jamgon Kongtrul, The Torch of Certainty, Pg. 82, Shambhala
Publications

However Much You Suffer

However much you suffer,
the suffering is just the dance of what is,
so you shouldn't be depressed.

Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, The Great Path of Awakening

If you are not free now, when will you ever be free?

If you're not free now,
when will you ever be free?
People of Tingri, your chance to comes only one time in a hundred.


When a delicious feast is offered to you,
take it while you can.
The clock of Dharma has struck noon,
seize the chance before it passes!


Padampa Sangye & Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Hundred Verses of Advice, Shambhala Publications

NO ENEMY

NO ENEMY
For the Shambhala warrior, the actual, basic notion of victory is not
so much that you have one-upped your enemy and therefore you are
victorious. Rather, no enemy exists at all; therefore, there is
victory. This is the idea of unconditional warriorship and
unconditional victory. In connection with this, the concept of
sacredness is that fearlessness is carried into everyday life
situations, even brushing your teeth. So fearlessness occurs all over
the place, all the time. Fearlessness here is also unconditional. In
this way, fearlessness becomes cheerful and very light. There's no
need for cowardice or fear at all, or any moments of doubt. Actually
what we're talking about is doubtlessness, we could say, rather than
fearlessness. There's no doubt. There are no second thoughts.
Everything is a complete warrior's world. So here victory is not
having to deal with an enemy at all. It is the notion of no enemy.
The whole world is a friend.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365
Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 119.
[Unpublished excerpt from Talk Five of Warriorship in the Three
Yanas. August 1978, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center.]

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains
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material. Order your copy now at shambhala.com.

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UNCONDITIONAL CHEERFULNESS

Transplanting the moon of wakefulness into your heart and the sun of
wisdom into your head can be natural and obvious. It is not so much
trying to look for the bright side of life and using that side of
things as a stepping stone, but it is discovering unconditional
cheerfulness, which has no other side. It is just one side, one
taste. From that, the natural sense of goodness begins to dawn in
your heart. Therefore, whatever we experience, whatever we see,
whatever we hear, whatever we think -- all those activities begin to
have some sense of holiness or sacredness in them. The world is full
of hospitality at that point. Sharp corners begin to dissolve and the
darkness begins to be uplifted in our lives. That kind of goodness is
unconditionally good, and at that point, we become a decent human
being and a warrior. Such an approach has to be accompanied by the
sitting practice of meditation. The practice of meditation acts as a
training ground and stronghold. Out of that, the seed of friendliness
begins to occur. The main point is to appreciate your world. That
kind of world is known as the vajra, or indestructible, world. It is
a cheerful world. It never becomes too good or too bad.



From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365
Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 98.
[Unpublished excerpt from Talk Five of Warriorship in the Three
Yanas. August 1978, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center.]

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains
quotes from the Ocean of Dharma list serv as well as much new
material. Order your copy now at shambhala.com.


All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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Our Vision of this life

Our vision of this life is just like when we wake up from sleeping,
at that moment we discover what kind of dream we had and that it is
all impermanent and unreal. For that reason, even if we have some
happiness, at the end we will leave all these things and go away.
Even if we became very famous, a very important person, with so many
dependents and great wealth, when we go away we go alone. All these
things are of no use. For that reason, it is very important that we
try to apply and integrate the Dharma.

âChogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

FRIENDLINESS TO ONESELF

The recognition of sacredness comes from developing a basic sense of
gentleness towards ourselves, so that the irritation of being stuck with
oneself is taken away. When that kind of friendliness to oneself has
occurred, then one also develops friendliness towards the rest of the
world, at the same time. At that point, sadness, loneliness, and
wretchedness begin to dissipate. We begin to develop a sense of humor. We
don't get so pissed off if we have a bad cup of coffee in the morning. A
natural sense of dignity begins to occur.



From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 10. [Unpublished excerpt from Talk Five of Warriorship in the Three Yanas. August 1978, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center.]

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains quotes from the Ocean of Dharma list serv as well as much new material. Order your copy now at shambhala.com.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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SEE THE WORLD AS SACRED

Usually in life, when we act, when we exist, we tend to have a very
wretched and small notion of what we are doing. Sometimes, we try to
be good boys and girls. We struggle, taking our journey stitch by
stitch. We go to sleep at night, we get up the next day, and we
struggle to lead our life. The ordinary approach to that is
undignified and very small, like flat Coca-Cola. Sometimes we feel
better, we try to cheer up, and it feels pretty good. But then,
behind that, there is the same familiar "me" haunting us all the
time. We don't have to be that way, at all. We actually could see our
world as a big world and see ourselves as open and vast. We can see
our world as sacred. That is the key to bringing together the sun of
wisdom with the moon of wakefulness.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. 365
Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion. Number 284.
[Unpublished excerpt from Talk Five of Warriorship in the Three
Yanas. August 1978, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center.]

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains
quotes from the Ocean of Dharma list serv as well as much new
material. It is officially available as of April 8, but you can order
your copy now at shambhala.com.


All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of
his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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Meeting My Teacher

April 4, 2008 [The 21st Anniversary of the Parinirvana (death) of Chogyam Trungpa]

MEETING MY TEACHER

Meeting my teacher, Jamgon Kongtrul, was remarkable. Throughout the whole time I was studying with my tutor and being educated at the Surmang monastery in Tibet, they were telling me stories about their admiration for people who had died, great teachers they had met, who lived in the past. I had never met any of them. According to these stories, the whole spiritual thing is that you have to be a completely religious person. Even if you are not, you should pretend. You pretend to be good, and you keep smiling at everybody. You say nice things to everybody, and you half close your eyes all the time, as if you are pretending to meditate all the time. That was the kind of story I heard.
But then, meeting Jamgon Kongtrul, I began to actually see what people really meant. It was not so much that he half-closed his eyes all the time or behaved in a saintly way, particularly. He joked around, he was very jolly, and he was very kind and soft and insightful. Sometimes he didn't even sit upright. I had been told to always sit upright. He lay down in his seat, and he accommodated people. There was immense power coming to you from that presence. From that time onward, I would say that the journey was very definite and really committed. Before that particular point, I felt that I was being made to be a charlatan and asked to make a fool of myself.

From "The Eleventh Trungpa," in MISHAP LINEAGE: THE LINE OF THE TRUNGPAS, forthcoming.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Basic Sanity

April 2, 2008

BASIC SANITY

In contrast to the traditional medical model of disturbances, the Buddhist approach is founded on the belief that basic sanity is operative in all states of mind. Confusion, from this point of view, is two-sided: it creates a need, a demand for sanity. This hungry nature of confusion is very powerful and very important. The demand for relief or sanity that is contained in confusion is, in fact, the beginning point of Buddhism. That is what moved Buddha to sit beneath the bodhi tree twenty-five hundred years ago -- to confront his confusion and find its source-- after struggling vainly for seven year in various ascetic yogic disciplines.
Basically, we are faced with a similar situation now in the West. Like Siddhartha before he became the Buddha, we are confused, anxious, and hungry psychologically. Despite a physically luxurious prosperity, there is a tremendous amount of emotional anxiety. This anxiety has stimulated a lot of research into various types of psychotherapy, drug therapy, behavior modification, and group therapies. From the Buddhist viewpoint, this search is evidence of the nature of basic sanity operating within neurosis.

From OCEAN OF DHARMA: 365 Teachings on Living Life with Courage and Compassion, number 34.

*** This new book of short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa contains quotes from the Ocean of Dharma list serv as well as much new material. It is officially available as of April 8, but you can order your copy now at shambhala.com.


All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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Vajra Pride

March 30, 2008

VAJRA PRIDE

Vajra, or indestructible, pride is the sense that basic sanity does
exist in our state of being, so we don't particularly have to try to
work it out logically. We don't have to prove that something is
happening or not happening. The basic dissatisfaction that causes us
to look for some spiritual understanding is an expression of vajra
pride: we are not willing to submit to the suppression of our
confusion. We are willing to stick our necks out. That seems to be a
first expression of the vajra-pride instinct -- and we can go on from there!

From "Let the Phenomena Play," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 60.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of
his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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Sane Romanticism

SANE ROMANTICISM

It is time to begin with the romantic approach, the sane romantic approach, not the materialistic romantic approach. Our being here together happened purely by accident. It is a very precious accident that we are able to discuss such a topic as the life of Padmasambhava, the great Tibetan teacher. The opportunity to discuss such a subject is very rare, unique, very precious. But such rare and precious situations go on constantly; our life as part of the teachings is extremely precious. Each person is here purely by accident, and since it was an accident, it cannot be repeated. That is why it is precious. That is why the dharma is precious. Everything becomes precious; human life becomes precious. There is this rare preciousness of our human life: we each have our brain, our sense perceptions, our materials to work on. We each have had our problems in the past: our depressions, our moments of insanity, our struggles -- all those make sense. So the journey goes on, the accident goes on -- which is that we are here. This is the kind of romanticism, the kind of warmth I am talking about. It is worthwhile approaching the teaching in this way.

From "Cynicism & Devotion," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 71.

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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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Our Mind

Our mind naturally possesses a kind of joy that we are not always in touch with.
In the beginning, we might have to look for it a little bit and inspire ourselves to feel happy.
If you do that every time you sit to meditate,
you will find that over time the joy will just be there and you'll recognize it.


Lama Norlha Rinpoche, Calm Abiding Meditation Seminar, Kittery Point, Maine, August 2005

THE DIGNITY OF THE TIBETAN PEOPLE

March 16, 2008

The sword of hatred is ornamented with the handle of invasion,
A red star has imprisoned the sun and moon,
The high snow-peaked mountains are cloaked in the darkness of a poisonous wind;
The peaceful valleys have been shattered by the sound of artillery.
But the dignity of the Tibetan people competes with the glory of the sky.

Composed November 10, 1972.

From FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT, page 39. Also in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume Seven, page 339.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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It is necessary to cultivate some discipline of mind

It is necessary to cultivate some discipline of mind,
for an undisciplined mind always finds excuses to act selfishly and
thoughtlessly.
When the mind is undisciplined, the body is also undisciplined, and
so is speech and action.
Buddha Shakyamuni, from: The Anguttara Nikaya

If your mind becomes firm like a rock

If your mind becomes firm like a rock,
And no longer shakes,
In a world where everything is shaking,
Your mind will be your greatest friend
And suffering will not come your way.


Buddha Shakyamuni, from: The Theragata

A SUDDEN FLASH OF ENLIGHTENMENT

A sudden flash of enlightenment does not need training. It does not require an educational system. It is inborn nature, not dependent on any kind of training at all. The whole concept of needing training for things is a very weak approach, because it makes us feel we cannot possess the potential in us, and that therefore we have to make ourselves better than we are; we have to try to compete with heroes or masters. So we try to imitate those heroes and masters, believing that finally, by some process of psychological switch, we might be able to become THEM. Although we are not actually them, we believe we could become them purely by imitating -- by pretending, by deceiving ourselves constantly that we are what we are not. But when this sudden flash of enlightenment occurs, such hypocrisy doesn't exist. You do not have to pretend to be something. You ARE something. You have certain tendencies existing in you in any case. It is just a question of putting them into practice.

From "Eternity and the Charnel Ground," in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 41 to 42.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Mind has no form

Mind has no form, no color, and no substance;
This is it's empty aspect.
Yet mind can know things and perceive an infinite variety of phenomena.
This is it's clear aspect.
The inseparability of these two aspects, emptiness and clarity,
is the primordial, continuous nature of mind.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Meditation is Not Therapeutic Practice At All

We seem to have a problem in this country
with the sense that meditation is included with psychotherapy or
physiotherapy or whatever.
A lot of Buddhists feel proud
because meditation is accepted as part of the therapeutic system, a
landmark or the Western world.
But I think that pride is simpleminded pride. Buddhism should
transcend the therapeutic practice of meditation.
Relating with gurus is quite different from going to your psychiatrist.

Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche, Glimpses of Shunyata, Shambhala
Publications

THE CHARNEL GROUND

March 8, 2008

THE CHARNEL GROUND

As a young prince who had been recently turned out of his palace, the great Tibetan teacher Padmasambhava roamed around the charnel ground, the burial ground. The genteel young prince seemed to fit in to that scene quite well, as incongruous as it might seem. He was quite fearless, and his fearlessness became accommodation as he roamed through the jungle charnel ground near Bodhgaya. There were awesome-looking trees and terrifying rock shapes and the ruins of a temple. The whole feeling was one of death and desolation....He regarded this place as another palace in spite of all the terrifying sights. Seeing the impermanence of life, he discovered the eternity of life, the constant changing process of death and birth taking place all the time....
Our civilized world is so orderly that we do not see places like this charnel ground. Nevertheless there are the greater charnel grounds of birth, death, and chaos going on around us all the time. We encounter these charnel-ground situations in our lives constantly. If we identify with Padmasambhava, we could relate with that fearlessly. We could be inspired by this chaos -- so much so that chaos could become order in some sense. It could become orderly chaos rather than just confused chaos, because we would be able to relate with the world as it is.

From "Eternity and the Charnel Ground," in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 39 to 40.

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THE BIRTH OF ENLIGHTENMENT

We have the idea that an enlightened person is supposed to be more or
less an old-wise-man type: not quite like an old professor, but
perhaps an old father who can supply sound advice on how to handle
all of life's problems or an old grandmother who knows all the
recipes and all the cures. That seems to be the current fantasy that
exists in our culture concerning enlightened beings. They are old and
wise, grown-up and solid. Tantra has a different notion of
enlightenment, which is connected with youth and innocence. We can
see this pattern in Padmasambhava's life, the life of the great
teacher who brought the tantric teachings of Buddhism to Tibet. Here
the awakened state of mind is portrayed not as old and adult but as
young and free. Youth and freedom in this case are connected with the
birth of the awakened state of mind. The awakened state of mind has
the quality of morning, of dawn -- fresh and sparkling, completely awake.

From "Primordial Innocence," in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 26 to 27.

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Milarepa & The Four Preliminaries

Milarepa & The Four Preliminaries

If he froze, he froze. If he starved, he starved. If things were
difficult, they were difficult.
He put up with it all and was able to see through it all and attain
enlightenment.
That kind of commitment came from having understood the Four Basic
Preliminaries.*

â H.E. Kalu Rinpoche Dorje Chang â

From: The Gem Ornament Of Manifold Oral Instructions - Which Benefits
Each and Everyone Appropriately, KDK Publications

* The Four Basic Preliminaries are also known as the Four Thoughts
Which Turn the Mind to Dharma:
1) Precious Human Existence, 2) Impermanence, 3) Karma - AKA - Cause
& Effect, 4) The Defects Of Samsara - Cyclic Existence.

FEMININE ENERGY

It may be interesting to discuss the basic idea of energy, or the
principle of energy.
Basic energy is called sunyata, the energy of sunyata.
And from this energy of sunyata, or of emptiness or voidness, rises
the active energy,
which is called the dakini, or the feminine, principle of energy.
The dakini energy is all pervading energy within our state of mind.
Often this energy manifests as either destructive or positive.
Thus, the dakini principle of energy also seems to describe the
source of chaos in the world,
whether there may be war, or famine, or the confusion in people's minds.
Everything is caused by this dakini principle of energy, including
positive aspects of situations as well.
That is say, there should be an intuitive understanding of how this
principle, as the symbolic aspect of mind,
can be used in the world so that a person is able to use it and live
with it as a kind of inspiration.

âChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, rom "Challenge from a Wise Demoness," an
unpublished talk given in 1970 as part of a seminar on the 100,000
Songs of Milarepa, at Karme-Choling, Vermont.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo.

CONFUSION IS UP-TO-DATE

Question: Padmasambhava brought the Buddhist teachings to Tibet many
centuries ago. Does Padmasambhava's teaching remain up-to-date? Don't
historical and cultural changes require changes in the teaching?

Chogyam Trungpa: His teaching remains up-to-date because it is based
on relating with confusion. Our confusion remains up-to-date;
otherwise it would not confuse us. And the realization of confusion
also remains up-to-date, because confusion causes our questioning and
prompts us to wake up. The realization of the confusion is the
teaching, so it is a constantly living situation, constantly lived-in
and always applicable.

From "Cynicism and Devotion," in CRAZY WISDOM, page 69.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
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Prepare To Leap

February 28, 2008 (In honor of Leap Year)

PREPARE TO LEAP

In order to overcome selfishness, it is necessary to be daring. It is as though you were
dressed in your swimsuit, standing on the diving board with a pool in front of you, and
you ask yourself: Now what? The obvious answer is: Jump. That is daring. You
might wonder if you will sink or hurt yourself if you jump. You might. There is no
insurance, but it is worthwhile jumping to find out what will happen. The student warrior
has to jump. We are so accustomed to accepting what is bad for us and rejecting what is
good for us. We are attracted to our cocoons, our selfishness, and we are afraid of
selflessness, stepping beyond ourselves. So in order to overcome our hesitation about
giving up our privacy, and in order to commit ourselves to others welfare, some kind of
leap is necessary.

From the forthcoming book: OCEAN OF DHARMA: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa. Available any week now from Shambhala Publications.


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MILAREPA'S LAST INSTRUCTIONS

February 24, 2008

[Yesterday was the annual celebration of the life of Milarepa, a
great Tibetan yogi saint.]

MILAREPA'S LAST INSTRUCTIONS

Before Milarepa died, he gave his final instructions to the assembled
students. He said,
"When I die...don't build statues or stupas in my memory.
Instead, raise the banner of meditation. Reject all that increases
ego-clinging or inner poison, even if it appears good. Practice all
that benefits others, even if it appears bad. This is the true way of
dharma. Since life is short and the time of death unknown, devote
yourselves wholly to meditation. Act wisely and courageously
according to your innate insight, even at the cost of your life. In
short, act in a way that you will not be ashamed of."

From "Milarepa: A Warrior's Life" in THE COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM
TRUNGPA, Volume Five, page 359.

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Shunyata

Shunyata means "emptiness."
It is vaguely connected with the idea of the attainment of
enlightenment.
The idea of the attainment of enlightenment is based on ignorance,
which is the opposite of enlightenment.
So if you accept shunyata,
you have to accept ignorance and enlightenment simultaneously.
Therefore the shunyata principle is accepting the language of samsara
as the language of enlightenment.
When we talk about aggression, passion, and confusion,
that automatically is the language of shunyata:
Aggression as opposed to what? Passion as opposed to what? Ignorance
as opposed to what?
That kind of open space is related to the shunyata principle.

â Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from: Glimpses of Shunyata, Shambhala
Publications

Self and Others

As you wish to be happy, so you should wish others to be happy too.
As you wish to be free from suffering, so you should wish that all
beings may also be free from suffering. You should think, âMay all
living creatures find happiness and the cause of happiness. May they
be free from suffering and the cause of suffering. May they always
have perfect happiness free from suffering. May they live in
equanimity, without attachment or hatred but with love towards all
without any discrimination.â

To feel overflowing love and almost unbearable compassion for all
living creatures is the best way to fulfil the wishes of all the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Even if for the moment you cannot actually
help anyone in an external way, meditate on love and compassion
constantly over the months and years until compassion is knit
inseparably into the very fabric of your mind.

âDilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Patrul Rinpoche

Your mind is spinning around
About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
It's a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You're completely distracted
By all these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don't be a fool: for once, just sit tight.
âPatrul Rinpoche, From: "Advice to Myself"

A BUDDHIST SAINT

February 10, 2008

A BUDDHIST SAINT

Padmasambhava was an Indian teacher who brought the complete
teachings of buddhadharma to Tibet. He remains our source of
inspiration even now, here in the West...I suppose the best way to
characterize Padmasambhava for people with a Western or Christian
cultural outlook is to say that he was a saint....The Buddhist
approach to spirituality is nontheistic. It does not have the
principle of an external divinity.The Buddhist approach to
spirituality is connected with awakening within oneself rather than
with relating to something external....A saint in the Buddhist
context -- for example, Padmasambhava or a great being like the
Buddha himself -- is someone who provides an example of the fact that
completely ordinary, confused human beings can wake themselves up.
They can put themselves together and wake themselves up....The pain,
the suffering of all kinds, the misery and the chaos that are part of
life, begins to wake them, shake them.

From "Padmasambhava and Spiritual Materialism," in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 3 to 5.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
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Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of
his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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THE MOUSE AND THE TURQUOISE

February 7, 2008 SHAMBHALA DAY

A story for the Year of the Earth Mouse

THE MOUSE AND THE TURQUOISE

There is the Tibetan story of a certain monk who renounced his samsaric, confused life and decided to go live in a cave in order to meditate all the time. Prior to this he had been thinking continually of pain and suffering. His name was Ngonagpa of Langru, the Black-faced one of Langru, because he never smiled at all but saw everything in life in terms of pain. He remained in retreat for many years, very solemn and deadly honest, until one day he looked at the shrine and saw that someone had presented a big lump of turquoise as a gift to him. As he viewed the gift, he saw a mouse creep in and try to drag away the piece of turquoise. The mouse could not do it, so it went back to its hole and called another mouse. They both tried to drag away this big lump of turquoise but could not do it. So they squeaked together and called eight more mice that came and finally managed to drag the whole lump back into their hole. Then for the first time Ngonagpa of Langru began to laugh and smile. And that was his first introduction to openness, a sudden flash of enlightenment.
So a sense of humor is not merely a matter of trying to tell jokes or make puns, trying to be funny in a deliberate fashion. It involves seeing the basic irony of the juxtaposition of extremes, so that one is not caught taking them seriously, so that one does not seriously play their game of hope and fear.

From "A Sense of Humor" in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM pp. 114-115.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

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Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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The Secular and the Spiritual

THE SECULAR AND THE SPIRITUAL

We could discuss the question of the amateurish and the genuine
warrior, in connection with the secular and the spiritual. When we
talk about the secular, we're referring to looking directly at
ourselves and discovering our existence and our health and our glory
without being influenced by any religious outlook. We are simply
discovering ourselves. Vajrayana Buddhists might say that's what they
are doing too, and maybe that's true. When we talk about a secular
approach, we're not talking about something desecrated. We are simply
talking about a situation where you have your own resources and your
existence, and you discover whatever is to be discovered from that.
We don't have to debuddhicize our discovery. We might find that what
we are actually looking for and experiencing in a secular way
coincides with Buddhist discoveries, the discoveries described in Buddhism.
Within the secular situation, we still have to use the
discipline presented by the Buddhist path. This is the discipline of
mindfulness and natural exertion, which is there so that we can
actually be open to ourselves, so that we are constantly checking on
ourselves, so to speak. In some subtle way, we might find that the
secular becomes very sacred, and very real, genuine. From that point
of genuineness, where the secular becomes sacred, we begin to
discover the true warrior as opposed to the mimicking warrior.

From Talk Three, Talks to Shambhala Training Directors, January 17,
1978. Unpublished.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used
by permission.

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Please send comments on and contributions to OCEAN OF DHARMA QUOTES
OF THE WEEK to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian at: carolyn@shambhala.com.

Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the Archive of
his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
TO SUBSCRIBE visit the Chogyam Trungpa website by clicking on the
following link: http://OceanofDharma.com