Top 20 Quotes & Sayings by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

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

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.

Sometimes we are too polite with our suffering and allow it to dominate our life.

You fall in love with your heart; you fall out of love with your head.

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

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.

Two aspects to the relative world: relaxation and time management.

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.

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.

The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego.

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.

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.

Meditation is simply getting to know your mind.

In the end, we have nothing to lose by opening our hearts.

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.

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

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.

When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment.

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

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