Rinpoche Dzogchen Quotes & Sayings

There is no inherent awakening power in cultural forms that have become dissociated from the wisdom and practicality that gave birth to them. They turn into illusions themselves and become part of the drama of religious culture. Although they can make us happy temporarily, they can't free us from suffering, so at some point, they become a source of disappointment and discouragement. Eventually, these forms may inspire nothing more than resistance to their authority. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Farewell count without a head — William The Silent

When words, half love, all tenderness,
Were hourly heard, as hourly spoken,
When the long, sunny days of bliss
Only by moonlight nights were broken. — The Bronte Sisters

Sometimes we are too polite with our suffering and allow it to dominate our life. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

The being of any group from the point of view of the group members themselves is very curious. If I think of you and him as together with me, and others again as not with me, I have already formed two rudimentary syntheses, namely, We and Them. However, this private act of synthesis is not in itself a group. In order that We come into being as a group, it is necessary not only that I regard, let us say, you and him and me as We, but that you and he also think of us as We. I shall call such an act of experiencing a number of persons as a single collectivity, an act of rudimentary group synthesis. — R.D. Laing

There is no emptiness without appearance, and there is no appearance without emptiness. That is what we call the interdependent nature. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

If bankers can push the loans and make more profits for the bank, they get paid higher bonuses. They often also get stock options. If the bank goes under, they get to keep all of these salaries and options - and the government will bail out the bank. These guys will take their money and run, which is pretty much what they're doing now. — Michael Hudson

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has a remarkable ability to present the wisdom of the Buddha's teachings in a manner that is as fresh and accessible as it is profound. With Rebel Buddha, he goes straight to the core of the spiritual path, showing how the Buddha's liberating insights transcend race, religion, and culture. This book is sure to provoke, inspire, and move us one step closer to creating a thoroughly modern approach to spirituality. — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his own experience - free from the clouds of religiosity that often surround them Yet it's difficult to distinguish the tools themselves from their cultural packaging. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

To discover your real questions, simply take a time-out. Stop looking ahead of yourself at where you're going or backward at where you've been. When you do stop, there's a sense of going nowhere. There's a sense of gap, which is a tremendous relief. You can simply breathe and be who you are. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

It is possible to state as a general principle that the mesodermic phagocytes, which originally (as in the sponges of our days) acted as digestive cells, retained their role to absorb the dead or weakened parts of the organism as much as different foreign intruders. — Elie Metchnikoff

In the end, we have nothing to lose by opening our hearts. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

You fall in love with your heart; you fall out of love with your head. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

The truth about who we really are, beyond all appearances, is knowledge worth seeking. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

I have always loved Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams as role models - I read all their interviews and agree with the fundamentals of how they manage the limelight and also how they look and carry themselves. A huge part of beauty is how you carry yourself and how you deal with certain situations. — Brittany Snow

When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Rick said, "Is there some place we can go and talk?"
"You want to talk?," Keir raised an eyebrow. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Nah, I want to tell you this joke I heard."
Keir nodded, patient. "Shoot."
"Two Irish cops walk into a bar. The first cop says ... " Rick's voice dropped. He said gruffly, "I love you. Come home."
Keir managed to keep his voice steady. "What's the other cop say?"
The sweetness of Rick's smile was like a kick in his chest. "That's what I'm here to find out, boyo. — Josh Lanyon

She is mad, and I am sane. To speak to her, even the first word, would be an acknowledgement and an acceptance of her madness, and from there I would have no choice but to follow her down the hole until both of us would be here alone in this ship among the clouds, endlessly circling the earth, our needs carefully ministered to by mechanical men, howling ourselves hoarse and counting off the ticks of the clock before the moon falls out of the sky. — Dexter Palmer

The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

It is not about how much you give, it is about how much you can let go with your mind. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

I don't want people poking around in my private stuff. They've no business in it. My work is what I give to people, that's my job, and that's where it stops. — Brendan Gleeson

What is drama, and what is dharma? I guess you could say drama is illusion that acts like truth, and dharma is truth itself - the way things are, the basic state of reality that does not change from day to day according to fashion or our mood or agenda. — Ponlop Rinpoche, Dzogchen

In each meditation session, we gather knowledge about the mind through observation, questioning, and testing. We do this over and over, until we gradually develop a meaningful understanding of our own mind. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

And most of all his eyes-his eyes have this crazy hope and crazy longing and ridiculous giddiness in them — John Green

The storytelling ... is kind of amazing. — Lisa Schwarzbaum

When we recognize that the seemingly object nature of reality is nothing different than the subject nature of mind, which is rigpa, it is called enlightenment. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

We actually need intelligent doubt and skepticism; they protect us against mistaken views and propaganda. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it an apostle is hardly likely to look out. — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

True wisdom is free of the dramas of culture or religion and should bring us only a sense of peace and happiness. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

I still noticed that little streak of rebelliousness coming up in me again - the same sense of dissatisfaction I had felt earlier with the empty rituals and institutionalized values of all religious traditions. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

I actually wanted to be a tennis player. — Constance Jablonski

It is all up to us. We are the ones who have to keep looking at our thoughts, looking for the nature of our mind. there is nobody else in control of our lives, our experiences, our freedom or our bondage. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

That is the essence and mission of 'rebel buddha': to free us from the illusions we create by ourselves, about ourselves, and from those that masquerade as reality in our cultural and religious institutions. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Suddenly you've worked yourself up to the top of the pecking order and you say to yourself, okay, this is going to be fun. — Michael Douglas

Two aspects to the relative world: relaxation and time management. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Those who commit suicide, pensive, lonely, philosophers, are awake in life, which is a serious crime. In life everybody must be asleep. — Bangambiki Habyarimana

Meditation is simply getting to know your mind. — Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche