Sakyong Mipham famous quotes

Whatever we do lays a seed in our deepest consciousness, and one day that seed will grow.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Karma #One Day #Consciousness

Even when we speak of selflessness, the mind goes to "me." We think, "I'm selfless," but everything is selfless.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Thinking #Mind #Selfless

Our power comes not from suppressing others but from uplifting them.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Uplifting

If we do not appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the human heart, how can we appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the natural world?
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Heart #Appreciate #World

We humans have come to a crossroads in our history: we can either destroy the world or create a good future.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#World #Crossroads #Good Future

Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Karma #Gravity

In meditation we are continuously discovering who and what we are.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Meditation #Discovering

This is bravery: using the challenge of daily life to sharpen our mind and open our heart.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Heart #Bravery #Challenges

Meditation practice is relevant because in meditation our conceptual mind relaxes and we can feel who we are at heart.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Heart #Practice #Meditation

If the mind is flexible, the world is flexible.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Mind #World

We suffer because we want life to be different from what it is. We suffer because we try to make pleasurable what is painful, to make solid what is fluid, to make permanent what is always changing.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Suffering #Trying #Want

It seems we all agree that training the body through exercise, diet, and relaxation is a good idea, but why don't we think about training our mind?
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Exercise #Thinking #Ideas

If you want to be miserable, think of yourself.  If you want to be happy, think of others.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Thinking #Want #Miserable

In a speedy and aggressive culture, we need different principles to live by-bravery and insight. The first moment of bravery is building trust in the mind, which we do in meditation. When we know how to create peace in our own mind, we can transform the world.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Bravery #Meditation #Mind

The most outrageous thing we can do in this world is to accept what happens and fly with it.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#World #Accepting #This World

Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Mind #Body #Movement

Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Karma #Moving #Two

...This jewel is the wisdom and compassion that it takes to act not on behalf of ourselves but for all beings. This is where real confidence and competence come from. Once we possess this jewel, our life becomes blessed.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Wisdom #Real #Blessed

It is said that if our intention is to help others-even if we are unable to follow it through-we will never have any regret. Regret is a result of trying to make "me" happy.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Regret #Helping Others #Trying

If we do not push ourselves enough, we do not grow, but if we push ourselves too much, we regress. What is enough will change, depending on where we are and what we are doing. In that sense, the present moment is always some kind of beginning.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Too Much #Kind #Moments

Changing our decision sets up a bad habit. It reinforces decision-making as an expression of bewilderment and ignorance, instead of wisdom and freedom.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Ignorance #Expression #Decision

Every moment of our life is important.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Important #Life Is #Moments

When we are using this term 'basic goodness,' we are talking about our inherent completeness.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Talking #Goodness #Term

When stress is the basic state of mind, even good things stress us out. We have to learn to let go.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Letting Go #Stress #Mind

It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor-the determining factor of success and happiness is contentment.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Contentment #Matter #Rich

If we cut speed and relax with what’s going on in our life right now, kindness and patience will naturally come about.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Kindness #Cutting #Relax

Being fooled into trying to make things work out for 'me' is called samsara.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Work Out #Trying #Samsara

There are no boundaries-only possibilities
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Boundaries #Possibility #No Boundaries

You need to eat well, sleep well, and have a roof over your head, but don’t go much further than that before extending yourself to others.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Sleep #Over You #Needs

When I ask people to contemplate selflessness, the sometimes react as if I've asked them to put their house on the market or give away all their money. If there was a self that existed in the way we think, discovering selflessness would be like putting our house on the market. But in the Buddhist tradition, the discovery of selflessness is called "completely joyful." It's not called "the raw end of the deal," or "I'd rather go back to bed," or "This is scary and depressing."
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Depressing #Buddhist #Thinking

In looking for my mind, I discovered that it seems to be in many different places. Sometimes it is drinking a glass of water, remembering swimming in the summer, feeling the breeze. In this contemplation I observed that the self is more elusive than I thought.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Summer #Drinking #Swimming

The self-assured strength that grows from knowing that we already have what we need makes us gentle, because we are no longer desperate.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Knowing #Self #Needs

Caring for others is the basis of worldly success.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Caring #Caring For Others #Bases

Being human is a precious situation, and we shouldn't waste time in useless activities.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Time #Waste #Useless

We can't hire out our own inner work, but we can do the manual labor with delight and decency.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Delight #Labor #Decency

When the mind is totally present, it is relaxed, nimble, and sensitive. It feels lighter and clearer. It notices everything, but it is not distracted by anything. It is the feeling of knowing exactly where you are and what you are doing.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Knowing #Feelings #Mind

Sometimes people feel disappointed when they hear about practicing compassion: "You mean I have to be nice?" It's kind of a letdown. We often overlook compassion, seeing it as merely a pit stop on the way to more advanced practices. We want something more; we don't even know what. But that's just a trick of our mind. One of the greatest teachings is to practice compassion.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Nice #Teaching #Mean

As the conceptual, material world increases its hold on us, and inanimate objects become more lifelike, we humans must become more human. Open hearts, kindness and care-these are our most precious gifts.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Kindness #Heart #Inanimate Objects

Many of us are slaves to our minds. Our own mind is our worst enemy. We try to focus, and our mind wanders off. We try to keep stress at bay, but anxiety keeps us awake at night. We try to be good to the people we love, but then we forget them and put ourselves first.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Love #Stress #Night

When we have gone beyond the boundaries of hope and fear, we are able to work with whatever comes our way.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Gone #Able #Way

When people say that meditation makes them calm, they are often referring to this stability of the mind. A stable mind creates the foundation for a happier and more contented person.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#People #Meditation #Mind

The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Mind #Benefits #Body

After you run, there's a sense of accomplishment; you feel like your life is meaningful. It's a moment of clarity.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Meaningful #Running #Accomplishment

Enlightened Society is all about nurturing the human spirit - waking up to the goodness, kindness and strength that we already have.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Kindness #Wake Up #Waking

I hope you will attain enlightenment. I am here to tell you that you already have! But you don't know... The difference between the Buddha and us is the confidence in knowing that he was enlightened.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Differences #Knowing #Enlightenment

When we appreciate something, that means we have allowed ourselves to relax and take it in.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Mean #Appreciate #Relax

The nature of our mind may be displayed in many ways, but Ashe is the fundamental basis.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Mind #Way #Fundamentals

True happiness is always available to us, but first we have to create the environment for it to flourish.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Firsts #True Happiness #Environment

We want to infuse our day with good habits so that we can turn seemingly mundane situations into a ceremony of goodness.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Want #Habit #Goodness

Our mind is always subject to being distracted by thoughts of what happened in the past and ideas of what could happen in the future, but the living experience is what is happening NOW.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Past #Ideas #Mind

The wise are balanced, and the foolish are extreme.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Wise #Foolish #Balanced

The bones and tendons of the mind are mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness is the mind’s strength, and awareness is its flexibility. Without these abilities, we cannot function. When we drink a glass of water, drive a car, or have a conversation, we are using mindfulness and awareness.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Glasses #Water #Car

When we are certain that the way to accomplish our own wishes is to help others, we have no regrets.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Regret #Helping Others #Wish

It's one thing to have the attitude of enlightenment and another thing to act in an enlightened way, which is conduct or activity...
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Attitude #Enlightenment #Way

When I was going into one of my first meditation retreats, I asked my father, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, for some advice. He said, "How you act when you're alone affects the rest of your life." Even in solitude, the ruler engages in virtue.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Father #Advice #Meditation

What is really happening in meditation is that we are developing the ability to think when we want to, and to not think when we don’t want to.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Thinking #Meditation #Want

To shift the direction of our planet, we must now be willing to experiment with the theory that within the speed and stress, we are good.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Stress #Speed #Theory

To protect this earth is to protect the very spirit of life
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Earth #Spirit #Protect

If we can feel confident in our goodness, it will illuminate our life and society
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Goodness #Feels

Shambhala vision is universal. It has no bias towards one type of culture or group. It is not ethnocentric and does not encourage one specific kind of person, race, or religion. Shambhala vision promotes a universality in relationship to basic goodness. All human beings are basically good and an enlightened society, at various levels of manifestation, can occur in any culture.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Race #Vision #Doe

Running and meditation are very personal activities. Therefore they are lonely. This loneliness is one of their best qualities because it strengthens our incentive to motivate ourselves.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Running #Lonely #Loneliness

If ruling our world stems from developing certainty in our sanity, how do we discover it? The Shambhala teachings instruct us to "put our mind of fearfulness in the cradle of loving-kindnes."
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Love #Teaching #Our World

Each of us holds human destiny in our hands. It will be completely determined by how the mind feels about itself.
-- Sakyong Mipham

#Destiny #Hands #Mind