“Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.”
“We choose ignorance because we can. We choose awareness because we can. Samsara and nirvana are simply different points of view based on the choices we make in how to examine and understand our experience. There’s nothing magical about nirvana and nothing bad or wrong about samsara. If you’re determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so, and that the opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you’re already good, whole, and complete. It’s about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind. In other words, Buddhism is not so much concerned with getting well as with recognizing that you are, right here, right now, as whole, as good, as essentially well as you could ever hope to be.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of“Confusion, I was taught, is the beginning of understanding,”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The funny thing about the mind is that if you ask a question and then listen quietly, the answer usually appears.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The teachings of the Buddha—and the lesson inherent in this exercise in non-meditation—is that if we allow ourselves to relax and take a mental step back, we can begin to recognize that all these different thoughts are simply coming and going within the context of an unlimited mind, which, like space, remains fundamentally unperturbed by whatever occurs within it.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“...I began to see that when the pace of external of material progress exceeded the development of inner knowledge, people seemed to suffer deep emotional conflicts without any internal method of dealing with them. An abundance of material items provides such a variety of external distractions that peolpe lose the connection ito their inner lives.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“All phenomena are expressions of the mind.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“After a few years of asking some very pointed questions in public teachings and in private counseling sessions, I began to see that when the pace of external or material progress exceeded the development of inner knowledge, people seemed to suffer deep emotional conflicts without any internal method of dealing with them.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Let your own experience serve as your guide and inspiration. Let yourself enjoy the view as you travel along the path. The view is your own mind, and because your mind is already enlightened, if you take the opportunity to rest awhile along the journey, eventually you’ll realize that the place you want to reach is the place you already are.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“An ancient text called the Avatamsaka Sutra describes the universe as an infinite net brought into existence through the will of the Hindu god Indra. At every connection in this infinite net hangs a magnificently polished and infinitely faceted jewel, which reflects in each of its facets all the facets of every other jewel in the net. Since the net itself, the number of jewels, and the facets of every jewel are infinite, the number of reflections is infinite as well. When any jewel in this infinite net is altered in any way, all of the other jewels in the net change, too.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“limited by what is commonly referred to as dualism—the idea of a distinct and inherently real “self” that is separate from an apparently distinct and inherently real “other.” As we’ll explore later, dualism is not a “character flaw” or defect. It’s a complex survival mechanism deeply rooted in the structure and function of the brain—”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Through applying intention as well as attention to an experience, a person is able to shift the meaning of an experience from a painful or intolerable context to one that is tolerable or pleasant. Over”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“if, as the Buddha proposed in the first teachings he gave upon attaining enlightenment, the essence of ordinary life is suffering, then one of the most effective antidotes is laughter—particularly laughter at oneself. Every aspect of experience assumes a certain kind of brightness once you learn to laugh at yourself.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Like the jewels of Indra’s net, anything that affects one of these tiny particles automatically affects another, regardless of how far they’re separated by time or space. And since one of the current theories of modern physics holds that all matter was connected as a single point at the start of the big bang that created our universe, it’s theoretically possible—though as yet unproven—that whatever affects one particle in our universe also affects every other one.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“In so doing, we regain the innocent perspective most of us knew as children. Our hearts open up to others, like flowers blossoming. We become better listeners, more fully aware of everything going on around us, and are able to respond more spontaneously and appropriately to situations that used to trouble or confuse us. Gradually, perhaps on a level so subtle we might not even notice it’s happening, we find ourselves awakening to a free, clear, loving state of mind beyond our wildest dreams.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The opportunity to receive these transmissions also taught me, in an indirect way, the extremely valuable lesson that to whatever degree a person commits himself or herself to the welfare of others, he or she is repaid a thousandfold by opportunities for learning and advancement. Every kind word, every smile you offer someone who might be having a bad day, comes back to you in ways you'd never expect.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“As in other exercises my father taught me, the way to begin is to sit up straight, breathe normally, and gradually allow your mind to relax. “With your mind at rest,” he instructed those of us in his little teaching room in Nepal, “just allow yourself to become aware of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations passing through it. And as you watch them pass, simply ask yourself, ‘Is there a difference between the mind and the thoughts that pass through it? Is there any difference between the thinker and the thoughts perceived by the thinker?’ Continue watching your thoughts with these questions in mind for about three minutes or so, and then stop.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The point of the exercise is simply to watch everything that passes through your awareness as it arises out of emptiness, momentarily appears, and dissolves back into emptiness again—a movement like the rising and falling of a wave in a giant ocean. You don’t want to block your thoughts, emotions, and so on; nor do you want to chase after them. If you chase after them, if you let them lead you, they begin to define you, and you lose your ability to respond openly and spontaneously in the present moment. On the other hand, if you attempt to block your thoughts, your mind can become quite tight and small.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The habit of thinking that things exist “out there” in the world or “in here” is hard to give up, though. It means letting go of all the illusions you cherish, and recognizing that everything you project, everything you think of as “other,” is in fact a spontaneous expression of your own mind.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“When you transform your mind, everything you experience is transformed.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Objectless shinay meditation doesn’t mean just letting your mind wander aimlessly among fantasies, memories, or daydreams. There’s still some presence of mind that may be loosely described as a center of awareness.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“For example, children who were regularly humiliated and criticized by their parents or other adults may experience inappropriately strong feelings of fear, resentment, or other unpleasant emotions when dealing with authority figures in adult life.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Whatever passes through your mind, don’t focus on it and don’t try to suppress it. Just observe it as it comes and goes.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“One of the earliest lessons I was taught by my father was that Buddhists don’t see the mind as a discrete entity, but rather as a perpetually unfolding experience.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“when Buddhists talk about emptiness, we don’t mean nothingness, but rather an unlimited potential for anything to appear, change, or disappear.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Nonconceptuality is an experience of the total openness of your mind. Your awareness is direct and unclouded by conceptual distinction such as “I” or “other,” subjects and objects, or any other form of limitation. It’s an experience of pure consciousness as infinite as space, without beginning, middle, or end. It’s like becoming awake within a dream and recognizing that everything experienced in the dream isn’t separate from the mind of the dreamer.
– Mingyur Rinpoche”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Now forget everything you just said, because if you try to remember it exactly, you’ll turn everything you learned into a concept, and we’ll have to start all over again.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“on a strictly cellular level, repeated experience can change the way the brain works. This is the why behind the how of the Buddhist teachings that deal with eliminating mental habits conducive to unhappiness.
...
because experience changes the neuronal structure of the brain, when we observe the mind this way, we can change the cellular gossip that perpetuates our experience of our “self.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Even though thoughts and emotions come and go, the mind’s natural clarity is never disturbed or interrupted.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“There is very little difference between the two sets of teachings, except perhaps that the dzogchen teachings focus on cultivating a deep understanding of the view of the fundamental nature of mind, while the mahamudra teachings tend to focus on meditation practices that facilitate direct experience of the nature of mind.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Just realizing the meaning of mind encompasses all understanding. —JAMGÖN KONGTRUL,”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“As we contemplate the enormous variety of factors that must come together to produce a specific sense of self, our attachment to this “I” we think we are begins to loosen. We become more willing to let go of the desire to control or block our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and so on and begin to experience them without pain or guilt, absorbing their passage simply as manifestations of a universe of infinite possibilities.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“All you have to do is remember that whatever’s going on inside someone else’s mind is the same thing that’s going on in yours. When you remember this, you realize that there’s no reason to be frightened of anyone or anything.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“EMPTINESS: THE REALITY BEYOND REALITY Emptiness is described as the basis that makes everything possible. —THE TWELFTH TAI SITUPA RINPOCHE, Awakening the Sleeping Buddha”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“As my father explained after we’d finished, the point of the exercise was to recognize that there really is no difference between the mind that thinks and thoughts that come and go in the mind.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“dawning of compassion, the awakening of an inborn capacity to identify with and understand the experience of others.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“the basis of your experience is the same in dreams and in waking life: thoughts, feelings, and sensations that vary according to changing conditions. If you bear this comparison in mind, whatever you experience in waking life begins to lose its power to affect you. Thoughts are just thoughts. Feelings are just feelings. Sensations are just sensations. They come and go in waking life as quickly and easily as they do in dreams. Everything”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“You can enjoy your perceptions without actively engaging them, looking at them in the same way you’d look at the objects you’d experience in a dream.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Confusion, I was taught, is the beginning of understanding, the first stage of letting go of the neuronal gossip that used to keep you chained to very specific ideas about who you are and what you’re capable of. Confusion, in other words, is the first step on the path to real well-being.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“It’s often the case that the first lessons we learn in life are the most important ones. “Look both ways before crossing the street.” “Don’t take candy from a stranger.” “Don’t play with matches.” Children hear these things from their parents again and again, for good reason; and yet, as important as these childhood lessons are, we always seem to forget them. Human beings, by nature, take risks. That’s how we learn. But some lessons can be deadly, while others can cause lasting pain. That’s why, even as adults, we have to repeat the lessons we learned as children, and pass them on to our own children. Certain lessons just bear repeating.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Experience is always changing, like the movement of clouds against the sky. Realization—the stable awareness of the true nature of your mind—is like the sky itself, an unchanging background against which shifting experience occur.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The essence of the Buddha’s teachings was that while formal practice can help us to develop direct experience of emptiness, wisdom, and compassion, such experiences are meaningless unless we can bring them to bear on every aspect of our daily lives. For it’s in facing the challenges of daily life that we can really measure our development of calmness, insight, and compassion.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Meditation is actually a very simple exercise in resting in the natural state of your present mind, and allowing yourself to be simply and clearly present to whatever thoughts, sensations, or emotions occur.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“The real point of meditation is to rest in bare awareness whether anything occurs or not. Whatever comes up for you, just be open and present to it, and let it go. And if nothing occurs, or if thoughts and so on vanish before you can notice them, just rest in that natural clarity.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness“Meditation is really a process of nonjudgmental awareness. When we meditate, we adopt the objective perspective of a scientist toward our own subjective experience.”
― The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness
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