Learning to live is learning to let go. Sogyal Rinpoche More Quotes by Sogyal Rinpoche More Quotes From Sogyal Rinpoche Ask yourself these two questions: Do I remember at every moment that I am dying, and that everyone and everything else is, and so treat all beings at all times with compassion? Has my understanding of death and impermanence become so keen and so urgent that I am devoting every second to the pursuit of enlightenment? If you can answer "yes" to both of these, then you really understand impermanence. Sogyal Rinpoche compassion two death Our problems, all come from nothing; they are all based on a misunderstanding that does not even exist. Sogyal Rinpoche misunderstanding problem doe In meditation take care not to impose anything on the mind, or to tax it. When you meditate there should be no effort to control, and no attempt to be peaceful. Don't be overly solemn or feel that you are taking part in some special ritual; let go even of the idea that you are meditating. Let your body remain as it is, your breath as you find it, and remain in your natural condition of unchanging pure awareness. Sogyal Rinpoche effort letting-go ideas Modern civilization is largely devoted to the pursuit of the cult of delusion. There is no general information about the nature of mind. It is hardly ever written about by writers or intellectuals; modern philosophers do not speak of it directly; the majority of scientists deny it could possibly be there at all. It plays no part in popular culture: no one sings about it, no one talks about it in plays, and it's not on TV. We are actually educated into believing that nothing is real beyond what we can perceive with our ordinary senses. Sogyal Rinpoche buddhism real believe What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of attachment to the good experiences, and free of aversion to the negative ones. Sogyal Rinpoche learning attachment life It is compassion, then, that is the best protection; it is also, as the great masters of the past have always known, the source of all healing. Sogyal Rinpoche compassion healing past The whole of meditation practice can be essentialized into these 3 crucial points: Bring your mind home. Release. And relax! Sogyal Rinpoche meditation practice home Meditation is bringing the mind home. Sogyal Rinpoche meditation mind home Perhaps the deepest reason we are afraid of death is that we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity; but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography", our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit card ... It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are? Sogyal Rinpoche spiritual jobs believe The purpose of meditation is to awaken in us the sky-like nature of mind, and to introduce us to that which we really are, our unchanging pure awareness, which underlies the whole of life and death Sogyal Rinpoche life-and-death meditation sky The point is not how long you meditate; the point is whether the practice actually brings you to a certain state of mindfulness and presence, where you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence. And five minutes of wakeful sitting practice is of far greater value than twenty minutes of dozing! Sogyal Rinpoche essence practice heart Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life. Why reflect on death? When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life now... and come to face the truth of your self. Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. Sogyal Rinpoche mirrors death thinking That goodness is what survives death, a fundamental goodness that is in each and every one of us. The whole of our life is a teaching of how to uncover that strong goodness, and a training toward realizing it. Sogyal Rinpoche training strong teaching We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved. Sogyal Rinpoche habit may Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we´re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that, with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, our mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity. Sogyal Rinpoche meditation-practice discipline dark The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble. Sogyal Rinpoche journey spiritual humble Without our familiar props, we are faced with just ourselves, a person we do not know, an unnerving stranger with whom we have been living all the time but we never really wanted to meet. Isn't that why we have tried to fill every moment of time with noise and activity, however boring or trivial, to ensure that we are never left in silence with this stranger on our own? Sogyal Rinpoche silence stranger noise I can't say it strongly enough; to integrate meditation in action is the whole ground and point and purpose of meditation Sogyal Rinpoche purpose meditation action Real devotion is an unbroken receptivity to the truth Sogyal Rinpoche unbroken devotion real At the beginning of meditation training thoughts will arrive one on top of another, uninterrupted, like a steep mountain waterfall. Gradually, as you perfect meditation, thoughts become like the water in a deep, narrow gorge, then a great river slowly winding its way down to the sea; finally the mind becomes like a still and placid ocean, ruffled by only the occasional ripple or wave. Sogyal Rinpoche ocean sea rivers
