Quotes from Sogyal Rinpoche

Samsara is the mind turned outwardly, lost in its projections. Nirvana is the mind turned inwardly, recognizing its true nature.

The purpose of meditation is to awaken in us the sky-like nature of mind, and to introduce us to that which we really are, our unchanging pure awareness, which underlies the whole of life and death

Our buddha nature is as good as any buddha's buddha nature.

Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow.

The whole of meditation practice can be essentialized into these 3 crucial points: Bring your mind home. Release. And relax!

Meditation is bringing the mind home.

Learning to live is learning to let go.

The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.

The most essential thing in life is to establish an unafraid, heartfelt communication with others.

Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life reveals just the opposite: that letting go is the real path to freedom.

What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of attachment to the good experiences, and free of aversion to the negative ones.

Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected.

In this complex world, the best way to survive is to be genuine.

Light must come from inside. You cannot ask the darkness to leave; you must turn on the light.

The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble.

Generally we waste our lives, distracted from our true selves, in endless activity. Meditation is the way to bring us back to ourselves, where we can really experience and taste our full being.

There is only one way of attaining liberation and of obtaining the omniscience of enlightenment: following an authentic spiritual master.

Living with the immediacy of death helps you sort out your priorities in life. It helps you to live a less trivial life.

More important than finding the teacher is finding and following the truth of the teaching.

What the world needs more than anything are Bodhisattvas of peace, lawyers, politicians, teachers working tirelessly for the enlightenment of themselves and others.

In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.

Tomorrow or the next life - which comes first, we never know.

Yet is our deepest desire is truly to live and go on living, why do we blindly insist that death is the end? Why not at least try and explore the possibility that there may be a life after?

We are fragmented into so many different aspects. We don´t know who we really are, or what aspects of ourselves we should identify with or believe in. So many contradictory voices, dictates, and feelings fight for control over our inner lives that we find ourselves scattered everywhere, in all directions, leaving nobody at home. Meditation, then, is bringing the mind home.