Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (Tibetan Buddhist Teacher)

Dilgo Khyentse “Rinpoche” (1910–91,) properly Dil mgo mkhyen brtse, was the most prominent 20th-century lama (religious leader) of the Nyingma (Rnying Ma) “old” lineage, the earliest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was a significant figure in the struggle to keep Tibet’s spiritual heritage alive in the 20th century.

Born in Denkok Valley, eastern Tibet, Khyentse was the fourth son of an eminent family. From an early age, he was drawn to spiritual life and let home to live in a mountain hermitage at age thirteen. He spent the next thirty years in solitary retreat, meditating on wisdom, compassion, and loving-kindness—he would break his retreat only to visit and learn from some fifty spiritual masters.

Escaping the Communist invasion of Tibet in 1959, he fled to Bhutan, where he was invited to live as the spiritual master of the royal family. As the leader of the Nyingma School 1987–91, Khyentse was the de facto custodian of a massive scriptural canon of Tibetan Buddhist teachings, whose perseveration he spearheaded after the Chinese invasion of Tibet.

As a Vajrayāna master, scholar, and poet, Khyentse taught prominent Buddhist practitioners and teachers, including the 14th Dalai Lama and the French scientist-turned-monk Matthieu Ricard.

Khyentse was an erudite scholar; he wrote some 25 volumes altogether, completing and elucidating the works of previous Buddhist masters. His works represent an encyclopedia of commentaries on the contemplative life.

Khyentse’s life and teachings are the subject of books such as The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones (1993) and The Hundred Verses of Advice (2005,) in addition to biographic films such as Spirit of Tibet: Journey to Enlightenment (1998) and Brilliant Moon (2011.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Suffering, in fact, can be helpful in many ways. It spurs your motivation and as many teachings point out, without suffering there would be no determination to be free from samsara. Sadness is an effective antidote to arrogance.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Never forget that your life passes as swiftly as a flash of lightening or a wave of your hand, while you have the opportunity to practice, don’t waste a moment: devote all your energy to the spiritual path.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To expect happiness without giving up negative action is like holding your hand in a fire and hoping not to be burned. Of course, no one actually wants to suffer, to be sick, to be cold or hungry—but as long as we continue to indulge in wrong doing we will never put an end to suffering. Likewise, we will never achieve happiness, except through positive deeds, words, and thoughts. Positive action is something we have to cultivate ourselves; it can be neither bought nor stolen, and no one ever stumbles on it just by chance.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When some great teachers of the past reflected on the rarity of human existence, they did not even feel like sleeping; they could not bear to waste a single moment. They put all their energy into spiritual practice.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Just as clouds form, last for a while, and then dissolve back into the empty sky, so deluded thoughts arise, remain for a while and then vanish in the voidness of mind; in reality nothing at all has happened.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good is it to brood over the past and fret about the future? Dwell in the simplicity of the present moment. Live in harmony with the dharma. Make it the heart of your life and experience. Be the master of your own destiny.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Our lives have no outcome other than death, just as rivers have no end other than the ocean. At the moment of death, our only recourse is spiritual practice, and our only friends the virtuous actions we have accomplished during our lifetime.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Someone who has managed to build up a great fortune may look back at his achievements with some satisfaction, reflecting proudly, “I am a rich man.” But he would do well to reflect, too, on the extent to which those riches are based on lies, deceit, and the overriding of others’ interests—negative actions that in the long run will only engender suffering.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Do not waste a single moment, like a warrior who, pierced to the heart by an arrow, knows he has only few minutes to live. It is now, while we are in good health and in possession of all our physical and mental faculties, that we should practice dharma.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The stronger our devotion, the greater the blessings. But to have no devotion is like hiding oneself in a house with all the doors and shutters closed. The sunlight will never get in.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When death finally comes, you will welcome it like an old friend, aware of how dreamlike and impermanent the whole phenomenal world really is.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

When a field has been carefully prepared and planted with seeds, and all favorable conditions are present, such as temperature, moisture, and warmth, the seeds will germinate and grow into crops. It is said that there is nothing, however difficult, that cannot become easy through familiarization. If you persevere in the practice of these instructions, you can be sure of achieving results.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Even if death were to fall upon you today like lightning, you must be ready to die without sadness and regret, without any residue of clinging for what is left behind. Remaining in the recognition of the absolute view, you should leave this life like an eagle soaring up into the blue sky.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A beautiful object has no intrinsic quality that is good for the mind, nor an ugly object any intrinsic power to harm it. Beautiful and ugly are just projections of the mind. The ability to cause happiness or suffering is not a property of the outer object itself. For example, the sight of a particular individual can cause happiness to one person and suffering to another. It is the mind that attributes such qualities to the perceived object.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

If you master your mind, it will remain naturally concentrated, peaceful and aware. You will even be able to wander around in a crowd without being distracted and carried away by desire or aversion.
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

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