Quotes from Thupten Jinpa

Such veneration, however, is not accorded to the person himself because of his own greatness, but rather is accorded to the teaching that the teacher embodies and exemplifies.

I am" is but a deception; "I want" is but an appeasement [of ego]; "The other" is but an enemy's word; "I do not want" is a hindrance. 39 "Self and others" are terms of division; "Attachment and aversion" words of conflict; He who makes such distinctions Has become deficient in profound Dharma.

Focus the mind with ease, lucidity, and vibrancy, not allowing it to fall under the influence of either dullness or excitation. This is presented by the following line: Place your mind on the basis-of-all, the actual path.175 You should identify the ordinary mind and place it in a state free of negation or affirmation.

caught tightly in a marriage of afflictions and karma,

This too is illusionlike, it is dreamlike.

The Dalai Lama once said that he envisions a time when, just as today we accept good diet and exercise as key to physical health, the world will come to recognize the importance of mental care and training for mental health and human flourishing. That time may not be so far away.

With whom you've had close connections since beginningless time;

Thus make sure your enthusiasm for mind training remains undiminished. As for the pledges of the Great and Lesser vehicles you have taken, [75] you should, by sailing the great ship of shame and conscientiousness, which are the [true] antidotes, learn to guard them undiminished, not tainted by even the slightest infractions.

Recognizing your own self as the enemy186

If you do not thoroughly exchange Your own happiness with others' suffering, You will not become a buddha. Even in samsara there will be no happiness.178

What use is this great demon for me?187

Furthermore, because your spiritual teachers, parents, and bodhisattvas are objects of special significance—the fruitional effects are inconceivably [grave] if you accumulate negative karma in relation to them—single them out [for special focus] and engage in the training.

duplicity, and deviousness—toward

The prince saw the teacher and felt immeasurable joy, A joy that was most extraordinary.

So long as I fail to view this [the self] as the enemy, so long will I continue to seek the well-being of this self.

Instead you recognize all such tasks as obligations, so boastfulness toward others simply does not occur.

pursuing virtuous activities in the pure realms. Therefore, those capable of training the mind are not vulnerable to the proliferation of the five degenerations and remain contented. If you know how to train the mind, even your body, the body of a mind training yogi, is known as the "city that is a source of joy." For all happiness—of this and future lives, of self and others—comes

With your fangs of four powers

Alternatively, you can recite the following when no one is around: "May the sufferings of all sentient beings and those sufferings' causes ripen upon me, and may my own self be subdued and annihilated. May my virtues ripen on all sentient beings, and may they become endowed with happiness." From the depth of your bones, cultivate the thought "O my dear mother, my dear brother [and sister] sentient beings!