1,235 Quotes About Awakening

In awakening, what's revealed to us is that we are not a thing, nor a person, nor even an entity. What we are is that which manifests as all things, as all experiences, as all personalities. We are that which dreams the whole world into existence. Spiritual awakening reveals that that which is unspeakable is actually what we are.

It’s all Dhamma if we have mindfulness. When we see the animals that run away from danger, we see that they are just like us. They flee from suffering and run towards happiness. They also have fear. They fear for their lives just as we do. When we see according to truth, we see that all animals and human beings are no different. We are all mutual companions of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

The Nectar of TruthTruth is not conceptual. We can never understand or realize it through concepts and ideas. Truth is not to be understood. Rather, it is meant to be experienced, tasted, like nectar. There is nothing to understand about nectar. One must taste it, drink it, and experience it. The truth is like that. It is to be experienced and realized, not speculated about. (p. 27)

There's a transformative power that exists in the nature of Reality. There is something that can almost miraculously transform human beings. We need that. (p. 3)

The day we recognize we must let go and drop questionable priorities in life, we understand we must accept to follow our inner compass and find harmony with ourselves. Through the flow between buoyancy and acceptance, we can reach a state of awakening and enlightenment. (“A handful of dust”)

When you transform your mind, everything you experience is transformed.

Just as worn-out clothes can never again be made as new, It's no use seeing a doctor once you're terminally ill; You'll have to go. We humans living on this earth Are like streams and rivers flowing toward the ocean -All living beings are heading for that single destination.Now, like a small bird flying off from a treetop,I, too, will not be here much longer; soon I must move on.– Padampa Sangye

Inside each of us there is a noble heart. This heart is the source of our finest aspiration for ourselves and the world. It fills us with the courage to act on our aspirations. Our nobility may be obscured at times, covered over with small thoughts or blocked by confused and confusing emotions. But a noble heart lies intact within each of us nonetheless, ready to open and be offered to the world… When we clear away all that blocks it, this heart can change the world.

Inside each of us there is a noble heart. This heart is the source of our finest aspiration for ourselves and the world. It fills us with the courage to act on our aspirations. Our nobility may be obscured at times, covered over with small thoughts or blocked by confused and confusing emotions. But a noble heart lies intact within each of us nonetheless, ready to open and be offered to the world… When we clear away all that blocks it, this heart can change the world. - 17th Karmapa