Khyentse Quotes & Sayings

Proud families spend fortunes on a one-day wedding ceremony for a marriage that may or may not last, while on the same day, in the same village, people are dying of starvation. A tourist makes a show of giving a ten-dollar tip to the doorman for pushing a revolving door, and the next minute he's bargaining for a five-dollar T-shirt from a vendor who is trying to support her baby and family. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Driven by the hunger for fame and originality, we are like these monkeys, thinking that we are so clever in discovering things and convincing our fellow humans to see what we see, think what we think, driven by ambition to be the savior, the clever one, the seer of all. We have all kinds of small ambitions, such as impressing a girl, or big ambitions, such as landing on Mars. And — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

He past is only an unreliable memory held in the present. The future is only a projection of our present conceptions. The present itself vanishes as soon as we try to grasp it. So why bother with attempting to establish an illusion of solid ground?.. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If it were not for certain people's greed for wealth, the highways would be filled with cars powered by the sun, and no one would be starving. Such advances are technologically and physically possible, but apparently not emotionally possible. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

It is vital to understand that however positive this worldly life, or even a small part of it, may appear to be, ultimately it will fail because absolutely nothing genuinely works in samsara. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Simply allow your thoughts and experiences to come and go, without ever grasping at them. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Mindfulness should guide all your actions and your spiritual endeavors. Whatever you do, always apply three essential points: undertake the action with the intention of doing so for the good of all beings; execute it with perfect concentration, free of attachment to concepts of subject, object, and action; and, finally, dedicate the merit you have created to the enlightenment of all beings. — Dilgo Khyentse

If we allow our thoughts to arise and dissolve by themselves,
they will pass through our mind as a bird flies through the sky,
without leaving a trace. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Subconsciously we are lured by the expectation that we will reach a stage where we don't have to fix anything ever again. One day we will reach "happily ever after." We are convinced of the notion of "resolution." It's as if everything that we've experienced up until now, our whole lives to this moment, was a dress rehearsal. We believe our grand performance is yet to come, so we do not live for today. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

We live under threat from painful emotions: anger, desire, pride, jealousy and so on. Therefore we should always be ready to counter these with the appropriate antidote. True practitioners may be recognized by their unfailing mindfulness. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

It is our mind, and that alone, that chains us or sets us free. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Siddhartha's priority was to get down to the root of the problem. Buddhism is not culturally bound. Its benefits are not limited to any particular society and have no place in government and politics. Siddhartha — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

To wish happiness for others, even for those who want to do us harm, is the source of consummate happiness. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When a rainbow appears vividly in the sky, you can see its beautiful colors, yet you could not wear as clothing or put it on as an ornament. It arises through the conjunction of various factors, but there is nothing about it that can be grasped. Likewise, thoughts that arise in the mind have no tangible existence or intrinsic solidity. There is no logical reason why thoughts, which have no substance, should have so much power over you, nor is there any reason why you should become their slave. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To expect happiness without giving up negative action is like holding your hand in a fire and hoping not to be burned. Of course, no one actually wants to suffer, to be sick, to be cold or hungry - but as long as we continue to indulge in wrong doing we will never put an end to suffering. Likewise, we will never achieve happiness, except through positive deeds, words, and thoughts. Positive action is something we have to cultivate ourselves; it can be neither bought nor stolen, and no one ever stumbles on it just by chance. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Once you have the View, although the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it's not particularly flattered, and when the clouds appear, it's not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle from inside as you see the facade of samsara and nirvana; the View will keep you constantly amused, with a little inner smile bubbling away all the time. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A beautiful country is a dream-like illusion. It is senseless to cling to it. Unless the inner forces of negative emotions are conquered, strife with outer enemies will never end. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A beautiful object has no intrinsic quality that is good for the mind, nor an ugly object any intrinsic power to harm it. Beautiful and ugly are just projections of the mind. The ability to cause happiness or suffering is not a property of the outer object itself. For example, the sight of a particular individual can cause happiness to one person and suffering to another. It is the mind that attributes such qualities to the perceived object. — Dilgo Khyentse

Like a child at the cinema, we get caught up in the illusion. From this comes all of our vanity, ambition, and insecurity. We fall in love with the illusions we have created and develop excessive pride in our appearance, our possessions, and our accomplishments. It's like wearing a mask and proudly thinking that the mask is really you. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Much of the world is jealous of the United States. Many of the religious and political fanatics who ridicule and criticize the U.S., calling Americans "Satanists" and "imperialists," would fall head over heels for a green card, if they don't already have one. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Don't even think for a moment that you are not going to die. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Most of the time we are trying to make the good things last, or we are thinking about replacing them with something even better in the future, or we are sunk in the past, reminiscing about happier times. Ironically, we never truly appreciated the experience for which we are nostalgic because we were too busy clinging to our hopes and fears at the time. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

It's vital always to bear in mind that we practise for the sake of all other beings, and that the enormity of this aspiration is what makes dharma practice both extremely powerful and inexhaustible, virtually guaranteeing that the result will be infinitely beneficial. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Sentient beings, self and others, enemies and dear ones-all are made by thoughts. It is like seeing a rope and mistaking it for a snake. When we think that the rope is a snake, we are scared, but once we see that we are looking at a rope, our fear dissipates. We have been deluded by our thoughts. Likewise, mentally fabricating self and others, we generate attachment and aversion. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To believe that life's problems will somehow work themselves out, everything bad is fixable and something about samsara has to be worth fighting for makes it virtually impossible to nurture a genuine, all-consuming desire to practise the dharma. The only view that truly works for a dharma practitioner is that there are no solutions to the sufferings of samsara and it cannot be fixed. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

There will be times, for example, when you feel you are faking it. However hard you try genuinely to practice, it just doesn't feel right. And on the rare occasions it does feel authentic, the sensation is over almost before it began. So, try to be content with your practice, whatever it feels like, even when you are doing little more than paying it lip service, because at least you are making an effort. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Never forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

However, the path itself must eventually be abandoned, just as you abandon a boat when you reach the other shore. You must disembark once you have arrived. At the point of total realization, you must abandon Buddhism. The spiritual path is a temporary solution, a placebo to be used until emptiness is understood. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

[from the Acknowledgments page] ...and while comments are very welcome, I would suggest it is a waste of your precious time. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Our lives have no outcome other than death, just as rivers have no end other than the ocean. At the moment of death, our only recourse is spiritual practice, and our only friends the virtuous actions we have accomplished during our lifetime. — Dilgo Khyentse

May the suffering of all beings be pacified. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If one were truly aware of the value of human life, to waste it blithely on distractions and the pursuit of vulgar ambitions would be the height of confusion. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The towns and countryside that the traveller sees through a train window do not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them. Neither disturbs the other. This is how you should see the thoughts that pass through your mind when you meditate. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If you vanquish ego-clinging today, tonight you will be enlightened. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Like a robe wears out over time and turns to rags, life wears out from day to day, from second to second. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Welcome the view that the things which you think are wrecking your life - like your thoughts and emotions, or illness and death - are actually gifts for your transformation... Whether life presents us with a pleasant sound or an unpleasant sound, a pleasant smell or an unpleasant smell, a pleasant thought or an unpleasant thought, it's sheer delight because instead of identifying with the experience, we simply touch it and let it go. — Dilgo Khyentse

One is a Buddhist if he or she accepts the following four truths: All compounded things are impermanent. All emotions are pain. All things have no inherent existence. Nirvana is beyond concepts. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

A more appropriate question to ask a Buddhist is simply, "What is life?" From our understanding of impermanence, the answer should be obvious: "Life is a big array of assembled phenomena, and thus life is impermanent." It is a constant shifting, a collection of transitory experiences. And although myriad life-forms exist, one thing we all have in common is that no living being wishes to suffer. We — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Seeing the world with all the unspoiled simplicity of a young child, you are free from concepts of beauty and ugliness, good and evil, and no longer fall prey to conflicting tendencies driven by desire or repulsion. Why trouble yourself about all the ups and downs of daily life, like a child who delights in building a sand castle but cries when it collapses? To get what they want and be rid of what they dislike, look how people throw themselves into torments, like moths plunging into the flame of a lamp! Would it not be better to put down your heavy burden of dreamlike obsessions once and for all? — Dilgo Khyentse

Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future? Remain in the simplicity of the present moment. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Day by day, be content with whatever you have and satisfied with whatever happens. Everything else will then fall naturally into place. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Renunciation mind has nothing to do with sacrificing. When we talk about renunciation, somwhow we get all scared because we think that we have to give up some goodies, somehing valuable, some important things. But there is nothing that is important; there is nothing that is solidly exisiting. All that you are give up is actually a vague identity . You realize thigs is not true; it's noe the ultimate. This how and why to develop renunciation — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Obstacles can arise from good as well as bad circumstances, but they should never deter or overpower you. Be like the earth, which supports all living creatures indiscriminately, without distinguishing good from bad. The earth is simply there. Your practice should be strengthened by the difficult situations you encounter, just as a bonfire in a strong wind is not blown out, but blazes even brighter. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To go beyond samsara and nirvana, we will need
the two wings of emptiness and compassion.
From now on, let us use these two wings
to fly fearlessly into the sky of the life to come. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

As long as we are mindful and aware, no one practice is better than another. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Those who seek happiness in pleasure, wealth, glory, power, and heroics are as naive as the child who tries to catch a rainbow and wear it as a coat. DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE — Matthieu Ricard

Although it is nonreligious and nontheistic, it's difficult to present Buddhism without sounding theoretical and religious. As — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Oh son, watch the illusory spectacle! All birth and death is projected by delusion, not existing in reality. I am beyond coming and going. — Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro

I remember how people would often come to see my master Jamyang Khyentse simply to ask for his guidance for the moment of death. He was so loved and revered throughout Tibet, especially in the eastern province of Kham, that some would travel for months on end to meet him and get his blessing just once before they died. All my masters would give this as their advice, for this is the essence of what is needed as you come to die: "Be free of attachment and aversion. Keep your mind pure. And unite your mind with Buddha." — Sogyal Rinpoche

It is such a mistake to assume that practicing dharma will help us calm down and lead an untroubled life; nothing could be further from the truth. Dharma is not a therapy. Quite the opposite, in fact; dharma is tailored specifically to turn your life upside down - it's what you sign up for. So when your life goes pear-shaped, why do you complain? If you practice and your life fails to capsize, it is a sign that what you are doing is not working. This is what distinguishes the dharma from New Age methods involving auras, relationships, communication, well-being, the Inner Child, being one with the universe, and tree hugging. From the point of view of dharma, such interests are the toys of samsaric beings - toys that quickly bore us senseless. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

The sutras liken reincarnation to the relationship between teachers and students. A singing teacher teaches students how to sing. His students learn techniques and benefit from direct experiential advice from their teacher. But the teacher doesn't remove a song from his throat and insert it into a student's mouth. Similarly, reincarnation is a continuity of everything we have learnt, like lighting one candle from another, or a face and its reflection in a mirror. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest enemy, habit, against itself. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Devotion is the essence of the path, and if we have in mind nothing but the guru and feel nothing but fervent devotion, whatever occurs is perceived as his blessing. If we simply practice with this constantly present devotion, this is prayer itself. When all thoughts are imbued with devotion to the guru, there is a natural confidence that this will take care of whatever may happen. All forms are the guru, all sounds are prayer, and all gross and subtle thoughts arise as devotion. Everything is spontaneously liberated in the absolute nature, like knots untied in the sky. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Once you overcome the hatred within your mind, you will discover that in the world outside, there is no longer any such thing as even a single enemy. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Ideally the ultimate retreat is to retreat from the past and the future to always remain in the present. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

THE INNER BUDDHA As Jigme Lingpa said, the moon has all the qualities necessary for its reflection to appear on the surface of a clear lake. If the moon did not have a shape or substance, and if it didn't reflect the light of the sun, it would not be possible for it to appear on the water's surface. Furthermore, the quality of clear water is that it can reflect, and when the moon and the water - two entirely separate entities - are perfectly aligned without any obstruction between them, a reflection of the moon will appear effortlessly, without intention. Similarly, our inner Buddha has qualities that enable it to manifest effortlessly and without intention. When there are no obstacles, the Buddha will reflect spontaneously in sentient beings who have the merit. Some — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Don't follow after the object of hatred, look at the angry mind. Anger liberated by itself as it arises is mirrorlike wisdom.

Don't chase after the object of pride, look at the grasping mind. Self-importance liberated as it arises is the wisdom of equanimity.

Don't hanker after the object of desire, look at the craving mind. — Dilgo Khyentse

It's never too early or too late to benefit beings. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

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 a sentient being 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. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Outwardly we should practise the shravakayana, inwardly the bodhisattvayana and secretly the vajrayana. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

When death finally comes you will welcome it like an old friend, being aware of how dreamlike and impermanent the pheneomenal world really is. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

it looks dualistic, but it has that ability to liberate you from the bondage of dualism. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Every time we make an assumption - for example, that we understand our spouse - we are exposing ourselves like an open wound. Assumptions and expectations that rely on someone or something else leave us vulnerable. At any moment, one of the uncountable possible contradictions can pop up and sprinkle salt on our assumptions, causing us to flinch and howl. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people "feel good," and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the "rightness" of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the teachings we find in the pith instructions. So, if you are only concerned about feeling good, you are far better off having a full body massage or listening to some uplifting or life-affirming music than receiving dharma teachings, which were definitely not designed to cheer you up. On the contrary, the dharma was devised specifically to expose your failings and make you feel awful. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

The Vajrayana is the path of the rug being pulled out from under your feet, so you need someone who knows how to do that. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Even if death were to fall upon you today like lightning, you must be ready to die without sadness and regret, without any residue of clinging for what is left behind. Remaining in the recognition of the absolute view, you should leave this life like an eagle soaring up into the blue sky. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Meditation is one of the rare occasions when we're not doing anything.
Otherwise, we're always doing something, we're always thinking something, we're always occupied.
We get lost in millions of obsessions and fixations.
But by meditating-by not doing anything-
all these fixations are revealed and our obsessions will naturally undo themselves like a snake uncoiling itself. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Spending your time with true spiritual friends will fill you with love for all beings and help you to see how negative attachment and hatred are. Being with such friends, and following their example, will naturally imbue you with their good qualities, just as all the birds flying around a golden mountain are bathed in its golden radiance. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Examine the nature of hatred; you will find that it is no more than a thought.
When you see it as it is, it will dissolve like a cloud in the sky. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Meditation could be said to be the Art of Simplicity: simply sitting, simply breathing and simply being. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

An important characteristic of calm abiding meditation is to let go of any goal and simply sit for the sake of sitting. We breathe in and out, and we just watch that. Nothing else. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

When sunlight falls on a crystal, lights of all colors of the rainbow appear; yet they have no substance that you can grasp. Likewise, all thoughts in their infinite variety are utterly without substance. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Here, in this book, I will try to show that the guru is actually like the horizon. A horizon is apparent - a line where earth and sky appear to meet. But in reality, they never meet. There is only an illusion of an ending point, a point of reference where we can stand and measure and assess. In this way, the guru is like a horizon between wisdom and method, myth and truth, science and faith. D — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

If you dream that you are flying and continue to believe that you can fly even after you wake up, that becomes a problem. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

On the day that you were born, you began to die. Do not waste a single moment more! — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

It is not appropriate to ask a Buddhist, "What is the purpose of life?" because the question suggests that somewhere out there, perhaps in a cave or on a mountaintop, an ultimate purpose exists. The — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

We are like monkeys who dwell in the forest and shit on the very branches from which we hang. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

With the power of compassion there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Love and nonattachment are the basis of true generosity. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Instead of allowing ourselves to be led and trapped by our feelings, we should let them disappear as soon as they form, like letters drawn on water with a finger. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To meet someone who really hurts you is to meet a rare and precious treasure. Hold that person in high esteem, and make full use of the opportunity to eradicate your defects and make progress on the path. If you cannot yet feel love and compassion for those who treat you badly, it is a sign that your mind has not been fully transformed and that you need to keep working on it with increased application. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche