Quotes from Lama Thubten Yeshe

When you're among peaceful, generous, happy people, you're inclined to feel happy and peaceful yourself. When you're among angry, aggressive people, you tend to become like them. The human mind is like a mirror. A mirror does not discriminate but simply reflects whatever's before it, no matter whether it's horrible or wonderful.

That also doesn't mean that your mind should be closed to other religions. You can study any religion; you can check it out. The problem is that when you choose one particular religion, you get too extreme about its ideas and then put other religions and philosophies down. This happens because you don't know the purpose of religion, why it exists or how to practice. If you did, you'd never feel insecure about other religions.

A great deal of our suffering arises because we are conflicted about reputation. Instead of being concerned about the reality of what we are, we're concerned about what other people think of us. We're too outward looking. That's incredible. As far as Buddhism is concerned, that's a sick mind; totally, clinically sick.

The moment you identify yourself as something, you are already something else.

Tantra considers it very important to eradicate such symptoms of ego. There is no point in holding garbage-concepts of yourself. You are perfect; you just need to recognize it. According to tantra, you do not need to wait until your next life to experience heaven.

Many people, even in this country, have material problems because they are concerned for only themselves. Even though society offers many good situations, they are still in the preta realm. I think so, isn't it? You are living in America but you're still living in the preta realm—of the three lower realms, the hungry ghost realm; you are still living in the hungry ghost realm.

Don't think about Buddhist terminology; don't think about what the books say or anything like that. Just ask yourself simply, "How, at this moment, do I interpret myself?" That's all.

If the religion you are practicing is a true path and gives satisfactory answers to your dissatisfied mind, you should be better than ever at dealing with your everyday life and living like a decent human being.

According to the Buddhist point of view, there is no human problem that cannot be solved by human beings.

the practice of tantra involves a combination of emptiness-yoga — through which all ordinary conceptions of one-self are dissolved — and deity-yoga — in which one cultivates the enlightened identity of a particular meditational deity.