When some great teachers of the past reflected on the rarity of human existence, they did not even feel like sleeping; they could not bear to waste a single moment. They put all their energy into spiritual practice.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The more you are preoccupied by your own physical aging, the more anxious you will become. Do not worry so much about your physical appearance. Concentrate, rather, on not wasting your life. Practice the Dharma. The more you engage in it, the more your satisfaction will grow.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

We have a long journey to make through the six realms of samsara. We should approach the Dharma like a sailor making his meticulous preparations for a voyage around the world, and prepare ourselves properly for our far longer journey, through death and rebirth.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To be attached to the reality of phenomena, tormented by attraction and repulsion, and obsessed by the eight worldly preoccupations is what causes the mind to freeze. Melt the ice of your concepts so that the fluid water of free perception can flow.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When we have enough food and clothes, enjoy good health, have whatever we need and are without troubles of any sort, we should not become attached to these benefits nor dependent on them.

Conversely, when we do not enjoy such good conditions, and when everything is going badly, we should use such a situation as a trigger for our courage and take them as the Bodhisattva path. We should not give up when conditions are difficult; on the contrary, that is precisely when we should practice the twofold Bodhicitta, bringing all our experiences onto the path.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Mind, like a crystal, is colored by its surroundings. You are bound to reflect the qualities and shortcomings of the good or bad friends whose company you keep. If you associate with the malevolent, the selfish, the rancorous, the intolerant, and the arrogant, their faults will affect you. You would do better to keep your distance.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Until you are ready to give your life and body for the sake of others in reality, which is not the case at present, you can at least do it mentally. As your mind grows used to altruistic love and compassion, your words and actions will naturally reflect that attitude.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Some people spend all their energy, and even risk their lives to achieve fame. Fame and notoriety are both no more than an empty echo. Your reputation is an alluring mirage that can easily lead you astray. Discard it without a second thought, like the snort you blow from your nose.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A bedridden patient only thinks about getting well again. He or she has no wish to remain sick forever.

Likewise, a practitioner who yearns to leave the miseries of samsara behind will make use of all the ways in which that can be done, such as taking refuge, generating the mind set on attaining enlightenment for the sake of others, undertaking positive actions and so on, with a firm determination to get out of samsara constantly in mind.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

We should live in such a way that we always have a clear conscience.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Recognizing the empty, nonexistent, insubstantial nature of the ego is meditation on absolute bodhichitta.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If you truly put the teachings into practice, as the Dharma takes birth and grows in your mindstream, all your faults will naturally diminish and all your positive qualities will spontaneously blossom, just as the sun, as it rises higher in the morning, gradually spreads increasing light throughout the world.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

It is not when things go well that you can judge a true practitioner. When adverse circumstances arise, you can clearly see shortcomings in their practice.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When the mind is positive, body and speech, the servants of the mind, will of course be positive also.

But how are we to make the mind positive? At the moment, we cling to the notion that our minds are real entities. When someone helps us, we think, ‘That person has been so good to me. I must be kind to him in return and make him my friend for lives and lives to come.’ This only goes to show that we do not know about the empty nature of the mind. As for our enemies, we think of how to harm them as much as possible… We think like that simply because we think our anger is a true and permanent reality – while in fact it is nothing at all.

We should therefore rest in the empty nature of the mind beyond all mental elaborations, in that state which is free from clinging, a clarity beyond concepts.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Everything depends on your intention. All the time, therefore, check your attitude and motivation. As Patrul Rinpoche said, everyone wants happiness, but the true way to reach perfect happiness is to bring happiness to others.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Love and non-attachment are the basis of true generosity.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Life is fragile, like a dewdrop poised on the tip of a blade of grass, ready to be carried away by the first breath of morning breeze.

It is not enough just to have a sincere desire to practice the Dharma and the intention to begin soon. Do not just passively wait for the wind of death to carry away your plans before you have gotten around to them. As soon as the idea of practicing comes to you, do it without hesitation.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When you are watching a film, people in it appear to be really fighting battles, loving each other, and so forth, but none of these things are actually happening. It is all just fantasy. Try to see all your joys and sorrows as if you were watching a movie, letting go of the idea that you have to strive hard to avoid whatever is difficult or unpleasant. This will make your happiness indestructible.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To have access to the teachings and not use them but just continue to commit negative acts is like being an idiot or a madman, and it is worse than not having access to the teachings at all.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Since there is no self, there is also no other.

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche