As my lama always told me, I learned that I practice better when I'm by myself. Tenzin Palmo More Quotes by Tenzin Palmo More Quotes From Tenzin Palmo One of the beauties of the Buddhadharma is there are so many approaches, and not everything is right for everybody. Tenzin Palmo approach In India many people come to discuss things with me. I sometimes say that half of them come saying, "I have a problem, I want to find a teacher." The other half say, "I have a problem because I have a teacher!" So it's not so simple. Tenzin Palmo simple teacher people Meditation is a way to take us to a deeper level of awareness. Tenzin Palmo levels meditation way We're normally caught up in the current of our thinking, feelings and emotions. With awareness, we can observe it all without being swept away. This gives us access to something much vaster and deeper than our usual compressed minds. All of us can access this. It's not so difficult. With some instruction and practice, anybody can do it. Tenzin Palmo practice giving thinking We have to know what is Buddhadharma and what is not Buddhadharma. It needn't go on forever. You don't have to spend 18 years at it. But still, a basic and uncompromised understanding of Buddhist principles is important. Very basic: the three signs of being, the four noble rruths, karma, and so on. Tenzin Palmo karma buddhist years All of us are playing roles, and there's nothing wrong with playing roles because we have to live in this world - the problem is only when we believe in those roles. Tenzin Palmo roles believe world When one has a decisive realization of the inherent nature of the mind, which has no ego, it has no sense of duality between oneself and the cup, and a deep sense of interpenetration of the whole dharma. Then whatever we do is spontaneously perfect Buddha activity. And anybody who is even slightly tuned in will get a very deep experience of that. Tenzin Palmo ego perfect mind When Tibetan lamas die they stay in a realization of clear light nature of the mind for several days or weeks. Tenzin Palmo light realization mind If we want to be musicians, dancers or sportspeople, we can download a certain amount and watch DVDs and read books, but in the end we need someone to assess us and give us personal instruction. The two go together. Tenzin Palmo dvds two book I've always loved the Sangha. I have the deepest, deepest respect for them. I'm very sorry that in the West people don't appreciate what the monastic order is about. Tenzin Palmo sorry order people You can still practice to be a better and kinder and happier person. That's perfectly possible. Tenzin Palmo stills persons practice There are many wonderfully qualified teachers out there, but that doesn't mean that each teacher is suitable to the same person, anymore than people fall in love with the same person. Tenzin Palmo falling-in-love teacher mean My mother was a spiritualist. We had weekly séances at our house with a neighbor who was a medium and various friends, and so I was brought up with the idea that there are many realms of being all around us. So that prepared me for Buddhism, and especially Tibetan Buddhism with all its talk of different realms and dimensions of being. Tenzin Palmo buddhism mother ideas The Tibetans have many teachings on how to die, consciously, and how to remain in the clear light, and it works. You can see it working, and they can stay in that state for hours, days, or weeks. Tenzin Palmo week light teaching Because we're trying, because we want, it's very hard to get. Tenzin Palmo hard want trying As a human being, we have everything we need. It's enough suffering to give us incentive to go on, but not so much that we don't know where to turn. Tenzin Palmo suffering giving needs To become effortless takes a lot of effort. It's good to compare it to learning an instrument or learning a sport. Tenzin Palmo instruments effort sports Traditionally, women didn't have much a role in Buddhism. The books were all written by monks, for other monks. So the general view of the feminine was rather misogynistic, with women playing the role of the forbidden other, waiting to pounce on innocent little monks! In that society, it was hard for women to become educated and get the deeper teachings and really become accomplished. Tenzin Palmo buddhism teaching book There are wonderful beings in this world. Tenzin Palmo this-world wonderful world My mother was superb. Even when I said to her, when I was nineteen, oh, I'm going to India. Her immediate reaction was, oh yes dear, and when are you leaving? She didn't say, oh how could you leave me, your mother? Or wait a bit dear until you get a bit older and you know your own mind. She just said, well, when are you going? And that was because she loved me, not because she didn't love me. Tenzin Palmo leaving mother waiting
