Quotes from David Michie

Tsampa is made by adding flour to the butter tea, kneading the mixture into a dough and then breaking off small pieces to eat.

Four tools," Geshe Wangpo said, looking at

in fact the only thing that really matters is inner transformation.

cause for me to become enlightened, so that I may help all other beings attain this same state.

everything depends on mind.

It can be useful to have goals. Purpose. But we should never believe that our happiness depends on achieving them. The two are quite separate.

If we believe that our happiness depends on something we don't currently have, then we cant be happy here and now. Yet here and now is the only time we can be happy. We cant be happy in future; it doesn't yet exist.

When we make judgements about things based on appearance, instead of on what really matters, we get into trouble.

Our own well-being and the well-being of those around us depends on being guided by the right priorities,

Pain is inevitable," the Dalai Lama continued. "Suffering is optional.

The sense of profound wellbeing that comes from what you give, rather than from what you receive.

We begin to believe that our happiness depends on a certain outcome or person or lifestyle. That is superstition.

When we are with pets," observed the Dalai Lama. "We can be ourselves. No need to pretend.

From our perspective the only way to enjoy a state of permanent happiness and avoid all suffering is to achieve enlightenment. This is why bodhichitta is considered to be the most altruistic of motivations. We wish to achieve enlightenment not only for ourselves but to help every other living being achieve the same state.

I thought he was going to leave me in a state of deep and continuing mystery but I really didn't mind because he'd called me 'dear boy',

If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows, as surely as one's shadow.

I was warm with the glow of acceptance.

Both happiness and unhappiness arise from thought. Our challenge is to develop those thoughts that create happiness and avoid those that cause us to suffer. So much of the time, we are having negative thoughts without realizing what is happening because we're so caught up in them. Or because we can't help ourselves. But with mindfulness, it's possible to become more aware. To observe what we are thinking, and if necessary, to change.

The true purpose of alchemy is about reining in our baser instincts –' he nodded towards me '– and realizing our highest potential.

May all beings have happiness and the true causes of happiness;

lack of self-confidence was considered, in Buddhism, to be a form of laziness, a weak mind that had to be overcome.

Wisdom is what happens when our understanding of a thing deepens to the point that it changes our behaviour.

Too much thinking is not necessary.

May all beings be free from suffering and the true causes of suffering;