Self-Immolation

"We experience illness, problems, misery, and suffering in life but where do all of these difficulties and obstacles come from? They come from attachment to the self. As long as we mistakenly perceive the world, we think that pain and misery come from outside ourselves. By failing to understand the source of suffering, we think others bring pain and affliction upon us. We do not realize that attachment to the self is the source of all our suffering." Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

"The basis of the view is egolessness which is called in the sutras "the view of what will be destroyed." This view explains the aggregates (Skt. skandha) which continually change, are accumulated, and are destroyed. All of the aggregates are impermanent, undergo change, and are eventually destroyed. What is new eventually decays, becomes old, and finally ends. We are not a single entity but rather a coming together of the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness). These various components will change and eventually come to an end. The components are also not single. For example, a form (such as the body) does not consist of one single unit but is made up of components that are continually changing and being destroyed. The view of the self also is called "the view of that which will be destroyed" because it is a view founded upon the aggregates coming together and then dispersing. Even though elements come together and make up an entity composed of many different things, we think of them as a single entity. For example, our body is composed of many parts and yet we consider ourselves to be a single individual. We see ourselves as "one being", as an "I" or a "self" who took birth, has grown older and will die. But, in fact, the self is a composite of changing aggregates that come together, undergo change, and will finally end. As babies we had a small body and the thoughts of a baby. As a grown-up we have another body and the thoughts of an adult. As long as we are not aware of the changes that take place from childhood through adolescence to old age, we think of ourselves as a single individual. If we examine this closely, however, we discover that there is no place where the self exists and that the view of a self is nothing but a delusion. This is the delusion based on ignorance that must be eliminated." Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

"Taking another example of how mind is so important is the example of when we dream. While we are dreaming, the sensory consciousnesses are shut down and the seventh consciousness which is the "self' begins to receive perceptual information from the storehouse consciousness and this input is so vivid that we believe it is really happening to us even though we may be dreaming that we are doing something fantastic such as flying. Throughout a dream we have one part of our mind which is an awareness, a self or I, which is perceiving what is going on and there must also be another part of our mind which is creating the dream. Sometimes these two functions of mind are quite distinct so we actually don't know how the dream will tum out and at other times these two functions bleed together and we either know what is going to happen in the dream or have an ability to change the "script" or outcome of the dream. The Mind-only view is that when we are awake, the outside sensory information is so vivid that we believe that it is real and how we are interpreting what is happening to us is based on what is stored in our store-house eighth consciousness." Clark Johnson

“I understood that, in general, all things related to samsara and nirvana are interdependent. Also, I perceived that the alaya [the fundamental consciousness] is neutral. Samsara is the result of a wrong point of view. Nirvana is realized through perfect awareness. I perceived that the essence of both resided in the luminous and empty consciousness.” - Milarepa

"Even though we might say that we’re following a spiritual path or leading a meditator’s life, we’re not serious. It doesn’t matter if we sit in meditation, go to church on Sundays, visit the temple regularly or do any other kind of customary religious activity; that doesn’t mean anything. The actions that we need to do are those that actually lead us to everlasting, peaceful happiness, the truly joyful state, not those that simply bring up and down transitory pleasure. Actions that bounce us up and down are not true Dharma, not true meditation, not true religion—here I can make a definitive statement. Check up: we might think we’re doing something spiritual but is our polluted mind simply dreaming?" Lama Yeshe

us on the right

"The moment anger arises, your mind believes in a creator. You think that someone else is creating your problem. "The problem I'm experiencing came from that person." That is similar to believing in an external creator. You hold two contradictory attitudes-you talk about and believe karma and the philosophy of Buddhism, but when you encounter a difficulty in your daily life, you think that there is an external being who created it! Instead of practicing that there is no creator, you practice that there is a creator because the problem came from somebody else. "That person created my problem." In daily life, you become just like practitioners of other religions; you practice that there is a creator. Even though you do not use the word "God," you believe that there is a creator, somebody else who created your problem. With this as the basis, anger arises. But the minute that you think that you are the creator, that your mind is the creator, that whatever you are experiencing comes from karma you yourself have created, you know that there is nothing external to blame, so there is no basis for anger to arise. The wish to retaliate and harm someone else is based on the belief that the other person is harming you, that you are an innocent victim who has nothing to do with the problem." Lama Zopa Rinpoche

"The ultimate guru, the dharmakaya, the transcendental wisdom of non-dual bliss and emptiness, is eternal. It is the primordial savior (liberator), the originator (source) without beginning or end, that pervades all existence." Lama Zopa Rinpoche

“Those who worship to achieve a certain reward receive a reward that is (however) as prone to decay as a kingdom found in a dream. However, those who act righteously without hoping for reward attain nirvana and are freed from reincarnation.” - The Mahanirvana Tantra

"All forms of suffering are like a child's death in a dream. Holding illusory appearances to be true makes you weary. Therefore, when you meet with disagreeable circumstances, See them as illusory. This is the practice of bodhisattvas." Togme Zangpo, The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

"The Absolute void is Bhairava who is beyond the senses and the mind, beyond all the categories of these instruments. From the point of view of the human mind, He is most void. from the point of view of Reality, He is most full, for He is the source of all manifestation." Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra

At this time you have received a precious human life qualified with eight freedoms and ten fortunes, a precious human body that is like a dream. Receiving a precious human body is rare; it happens just once. This perfect human rebirth is highly meaningful. With it you can achieve the happiness of this life and whatever else you wish for. If you wish to again attain a human rebirth, you can. In addition, if you wish to have a body endowed with the eight favorable qualities, you can create its causes during your present precious human life. Lama Zopa Rinpoche