When we read history we find that in all ages people have thought, this is the dark age.
This precious life is our opportunity. We are not the millions and millions of other things that are not human.
It's unlikely that you were a frog in a past life.
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.
Nowadays, mindfulness has become a catch-all word, but the general principle of trying to be more conscious and aware in our daily life is very important. Along with this, it's helpful to contemplate some of the mind training verses which are designed to take and transform all of the problems we experience.
Merit clears away obstacles.
It's only when all the dust is completely gone from the mirror, and there is only mirror, no dust, that we're really enlightened. So that's a lot of work.
We need to be sincere in our practice, but at the same time we can't take ourselves too seriously.
Just because someone is very charismatic, it doesn't mean that they're genuinely qualified.
When I was 18 I read a book about Buddhism and, before I was halfway through it I said to my mother, "I'm a Buddhist!" She said, "That's great. Finish reading the book and then you can tell me all about it." From that moment on I knew I was a Buddhist.
In this life you have obstacles.
Some students went to Milarepa and said, we should stop living in caves and meditating because we should go out and help beings as bodhisattvas. And Milarepa said that as long as space exists, so long will there be beings for you to help.
As my lama always told me, I learned that I practice better when I'm by myself.
As women become more educated and confident, they can start adding their voice.
Sometimes people come and they have so much pain and confusion in their eyes... what to do? A few words is a little bit of balm but doesn't really solve the deep disease within.
One thing in the Buddhadharma is that we are not our body, we are not our gender.
Doing retreats, getting personal teachings from time to time from inspiring teachers, all of this helps to recharge our batteries. Then we get inspired and can carry what we've gained into our daily life, which is very important.
There is an enormous joy and satisfaction in doing what you really want to do and are best fitted to do. When it all comes together like that, it gives you a wonderful sense of well-being and satisfaction knowing that you have been doing what you were intended to do for this lifetime.
When I heard that our bodies change when we get a bit older, I thought, oh good, now I'll go back to being a boy again. But it didn't happen like that.
The big lamas coming from Tibet, Ladakh, India - everywhere - have been very friendly. But I don't figure in their world. For one thing, being Western puts you outside the limits. A token female doesn't hurt - there's only one.
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.
Basically, I want to spend my time in retreat, but to my own amazement, I agreed to help with a project to start a training center for nuns. I agreed because I think it's really very important for the Western Sangha. I don't know how I'm going to help, but it's important.
We do look for inspiration amongst our own sex. Why not? You go into temples and they're full of all the lineage lamas who are male. What message does that give to a young girl, except that somehow she got trapped in the wrong body because of bad things she did in a past life?
The world is full of incredible people who are embodiments of compassion. Some of them have a spiritual path; some of them don't.
When Tibetan lamas die they stay in a realization of clear light nature of the mind for several days or weeks.
