Quotes from Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Although it is nonreligious and nontheistic, it's difficult to present Buddhism without sounding theoretical and religious. As

Siddhartha's priority was to get down to the root of the problem. Buddhism is not culturally bound. Its benefits are not limited to any particular society and have no place in government and politics. Siddhartha

Those with low self-esteem tend to have highly developed egos; they long to be Best at every Thing and valued highly by everyone they meget, and imavine their ego is repressed, weak and needs boosting

Outwardly we should practise the shravakayana, inwardly the bodhisattvayana and secretly the vajrayana.

Much of the world is jealous of the United States. Many of the religious and political fanatics who ridicule and criticize the U.S., calling Americans "Satanists" and "imperialists," would fall head over heels for a green card, if they don't already have one.

The sutras liken reincarnation to the relationship between teachers and students. A singing teacher teaches students how to sing. His students learn techniques and benefit from direct experiential advice from their teacher. But the teacher doesn't remove a song from his throat and insert it into a student's mouth. Similarly, reincarnation is a continuity of everything we have learnt, like lighting one candle from another, or a face and its reflection in a mirror.

Causes and conditions" is just another way of expressing the word "karma." Merit is any karmic activity that takes you closer to the realization of truth, toward love and compassion.

The process of relating to this reflection of the inner Buddha is called devotion. As long as there is the stream of thoughts, there is no end to the projection of samsara. Until the end of samsara, there is no end to the path. As long as there is a path, there is devotion. And as long as there is devotion, there is an outer teacher.

The Vajrayana is the path of the rug being pulled out from under your feet, so you need someone who knows how to do that.

it looks dualistic, but it has that ability to liberate you from the bondage of dualism.

Here, in this book, I will try to show that the guru is actually like the horizon. A horizon is apparent—a line where earth and sky appear to meet. But in reality, they never meet. There is only an illusion of an ending point, a point of reference where we can stand and measure and assess. In this way, the guru is like a horizon between wisdom and method, myth and truth, science and faith. D