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Rebel Buddha: On the Road to Freedom
Dzogchen Ponlop
Top 10 Best Quotes
“When you have no hope, you have nothing to fear, nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to lose.”
“Transcendent generosity is simply a willingness to be open and do whatever is necessary in the moment, without any philosophical or religious rationale. Seeing someone in need, you’re willing to share your wealth, your happiness, or your wisdom, and you’re also willing to share in the pain of others. Yet when you give, you need to do so with the awareness that your gift will be both appropriate and helpful.”
“In the beginning, our one-pointed focus on our goal of personal freedom is necessary; however, if carried to extremes, it can also lead to a kind of narrow-mindedness and sense of claustrophobia.”
“the mind’s true nature of selflessness. We must see that, in the end, the root of all our suffering, all our pain, all our confusion is our own self-clinging, our sense of self-importance. That self is always causing us pain. There is no other root cause. It is just ego—that flash of “I” that’s the central reference point in our personal universe. No matter what we’re doing, our actions always come from and reflect back to this sense of self-consciousness. It’s the starting point of duality, the splitting apart of what’s naturally whole.”
“never give up on anyone. Even if you can’t help someone now, don’t abandon him or her mentally or close the door to your heart. That is the direct word of the Buddha, our ancient revolutionary friend, and if you forget it, you’ll hear it again from the mouth of the rebel buddha you’re living with right now.”
“You’ll never find just emptiness or just compassion alone. On this elemental level, they are never divorced. It’s a somewhat romantic image—this universe of space and energy as passionate, loving, and selfless all at once.”
“We can also lose our way if we misunderstand selflessness or emptiness. When we confuse relative reality with ultimate reality, or misinterpret ultimate reality as something that destroys the conventional world, then we fall into the trap of the nihilists who see no meaning or purpose in life. Then our view of emptiness is inspired by sadness and depression, and it becomes just another tool to shut everything down. Instead of looking at the world with joy, we see it as hopeless.”
“The Buddha said long ago that when anyone in the future met with his teachings, it would be the same as meeting him in person. Therefore we can “meet the Buddha” today in the form of teachers, teachings, or our own practice. Saying we want to meet the Buddha is like saying we want to meet the awakened state of our own mind. We don’t have to change who we are in order to meet the Buddha in this way. The purpose of our meeting is not to become a student of another culture or to discover someone else’s wisdom. We’re not practicing Indian culture to become Indian, or practicing Japanese or Tibetan culture to become Japanese or Tibetan. Our purpose is to discover who we truly are, to connect with our own wisdom.”
“Maybe you think you can wake up 50 percent, just enough to get beyond the “crazy” stage but not all the way to “wisdom.” However, it’s not the message of the Buddha or the intention of Buddhism to provide a partial recovery from confusion. The message of the Buddha is that you’re awake now and that you can, if you apply yourself, realize it.”
“However, whatever your own path is, wherever it takes you, there is one instruction you should protect and always carry with you: never give up on anyone. Even if you can’t help someone now, don’t abandon him or her mentally or close the door to your heart. That is the direct word of the Buddha, our ancient revolutionary friend, and if you forget it, you’ll hear it again from the mouth of the rebel buddha you’re living with right now.”
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Book Keywords:
awakening, buddhism, freedom, the-awakened-state-of-our-mind, enlightenment
