The dakini principle must not be oversimplified, as it carries many levels of
meaning. On an outer level, accomplished female practitioners were called
dakinis.... But ultimately, though she appears in female form, a dakini
-defies gender definitions. “To really meet the dakini, you have to go
-beyond duality,” Khandro Rinpoche teaches, referring to an essential
+defies gender definitions. "To really meet the dakini, you have to go
+beyond duality," Khandro Rinpoche teaches, referring to an essential
understanding in Vajrayana that the absolute reality cannot be grasped
-intellectually. The Tibetan word for dakini, khandro, means “sky-goer” or
-“space-dancer,” which indicates that these ethereal awakened ones have
+intellectually. The Tibetan word for dakini, khandro, means "sky-goer" or
+"space-dancer," which indicates that these ethereal awakened ones have
left the confinements of solid earth and have the vastness of open space to
play in.
-- Michaela Haas, from "Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the
Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West"
~
Drawing from Longchenpa, Jamgon Kongtrul explains the method of awakening in
-the Dzog-chen system, calling it the “Liberation as Ever-Perfect,” as the
+the Dzog-chen system, calling it the "Liberation as Ever-Perfect," as the
primordial buddha Samantabhadra... Liberation as Ever-Perfect does not refer
to the liberation of a buddha that has occurred in the past, such as that of
Buddha Sakyamuni, but to the way in which countless beings are liberated right
-- from the Translator's Introduction, "The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One,
Myriad Worlds", by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
~
- If we realize, “I am a human being. A human being can do anything,”
+ If we realize, "I am a human being. A human being can do anything,"
this determination, courage, and self-confidence are important sources of
victory and success. Without will power and determination, even something
that you might have achieved easily cannot be achieved. If you have will
During these trances many gurus of past ages, as well as mandala deities,
buddhas, and bodhisattvas, would appear directly to him and give him secret
transmissions, initiations, and teachings. As the Thirteenth Dalai Lama says
-of the Great Fifth later in this chapter, he “was continually absorbed in
-the wisdom dance that experiences all appearances as pure vision.”
+of the Great Fifth later in this chapter, he "was continually absorbed in
+the wisdom dance that experiences all appearances as pure vision."
-- Glenn H. Mullin, from "From the Heart of Chenrezig: The Dalai Lamas on
Tantra"
~
wonderful if they were free from these and all other miseries? In order to
love others, we have to be able to overcome our anger and hatred toward them.
We have to be able to forgive them for the wrongs they’ve done. To do that,
-we have to get “me” out of the way and see that when people create harm,
+we have to get "me" out of the way and see that when people create harm,
it is a reflection of their own pain, confusion, and misery. We just happened
to walk across their path. We may even have done something to antagonize
them, either deliberately or accidentally, but the reason that they got so
constitute the sangha, which consists of [all] learners and nonlearners except
for buddhas. It is by virtue of having attained their respective [dharmas]
that the eight persons* are not separated from the path by [anyone], including
-gods. Therefore, they are called “sangha.” In other words, [the sangha]
+gods. Therefore, they are called "sangha." In other words, [the sangha]
is represented by the five uncontaminated skandhas in the mind streams of said
eight persons.
To take refuge in the dharma means [to take refuge] in the analytical
cessation that is nirvana, that is, the two nirvanas [with and without
remainder] of the noble ones.
-*The eight persons are also known as “the four pairs of persons”--stream-
+*The eight persons are also known as "the four pairs of persons"--stream-
enterers, once-returners, nonreturners, and arhats, each divided into
approachers to, and abiders in, these states.
the correct techniques and methods, applied with diligence, meditation can
become a swift path to clearing confusion and unhelpful habits. Without them,
we may wander in fogginess or agitation, never having engaged in true
-meditation even after years of “sitting.”
+meditation even after years of "sitting."
At Namdroling Monastery we practiced both resting and analytical meditation.
The renowned teacher Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche believed that both types of
meditation were important, but he thought it was best to begin with analytical
-- Khenpo Gawang, "Your Mind Is Your Teacher: Self-Awakening through
Contemplative Meditation", Shambhala Publications
~
- Never think, “Even though I have confidence in the Three Jewels, it is not
-really certain that this work will be accomplished.” Instead, one should
+ Never think, "Even though I have confidence in the Three Jewels, it is not
+really certain that this work will be accomplished." Instead, one should
know that the Enlightened One is surely able to protect those who surrender
and act in accord with his words, because the Enlightened One is endowed with
the transcendental wisdom which knows all the paths of practice that are in
someone they know and trust who has already been to Machu Picchu to go with
them and show them the way. Similarly, those wishing to follow the Buddhist
path to enlightenment should rely on what are called in the teachings the
-“four authentics”: the authentic words of the Buddha (his teachings); the
+"four authentics": the authentic words of the Buddha (his teachings); the
authentic clarification of the teachings that can be found in the shastras
(commentaries) written by great masters of the past; the further clarification
that is the result of authentic personal experience; and for this experience
twelve? They are (1) ignorance, which afflicts wandering beings by keeping
them from seeing true reality. In obscuring the perception of true reality,
ignorance also functions as the source for the subsequent links, such as
-karmic formation, by grasping as if there were an “I” and “mine.” (2)
+karmic formation, by grasping as if there were an "I" and "mine." (2)
Formation afflicts wandering beings by implanting the seeds of subsequent
existence in the consciousness. In this way, when the root text states:
-“Wandering beings are afflicted due to…,” it should be understood to
+"Wandering beings are afflicted due to…," it should be understood to
apply to all the remaining links as well, from consciousness on. Accordingly,
(3) consciousness becomes infused with habitual tendencies and leads sentient
beings to the place of their birth. (4) Name and form take hold of the body
With regard to one’s behavior, one must relinquish all the limitations
implied in subject-object duality (gzung ’dzin gyi la dor ba). One should
abandon all ordinary ways of assessing outer and inner phenomena, and the
-engagement or withdrawal of the mind with regard to “good” and “bad.”
+engagement or withdrawal of the mind with regard to "good" and "bad."
One must not, through mindless clinging to sense objects, stray into the five
ordinary mental poisons. For when approached with skillful means, all are but
the display of the great and perfect equality.
-- Heidi I. Köppl, "Establishing Appearances as Divine: Rongzom Chökyi
Zangpo on Reasoning, Madhyamaka, and Purity", Shambhala and Snow Lion
Publications
+~
+ "Emptiness" is a rough translation of the Sanskrit term shunyata and the
+Tibetan term tongpa-nyi. The basic meaning of the Sanskrit word shunya is
+"zero," while the Tibetan word tongpa means "empty"—not in the sense
+of a vacuum or a void, but rather in the sense that the basis of experience is
+beyond our ability to perceive with our senses and or to capture in a nice,
+tidy concept. Maybe a better understanding of the deep sense of the word may
+be "inconceivable" or "unnameable."
+ So when Buddhists talk about emptiness as the basis of our being, we don’t
+mean that who or what we are is nothing, a zero, a point of view that can give
+way to a kind of cynicism. The actual teachings on emptiness imply an
+infinitely open space that allows for anything to appear, change, disappear,
+and reappear. The basic meaning of emptiness, in other words, is openness, or
+potential. At the basic level of our being, we are "empty" of definable
+characteristics.
+ -- Tsoknyi Rinpoche, from "The Best Buddhist Writing 2013", published by
+ Shambhala Publications and Snow Lion Publications.
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