1,235 Quotes About Awakening

We give something, and that opens the possibility of receiving: we naturally receive something when we give. This is how we live, whether it is in the business world, in our social lives, or in any other context. Giving and taking is happening all the time. Living is dependent on giving: we give and therefore we receive. This interdependence is natural; however, it takes a special effort to train our mind to know this well enough so that our understanding is clear and strong. – 17th Karmapa

As you develop your realization of Dharma, you reach higher and higher levels of the path, culminating in the attainment of the full enlightenment or Buddhahood. Dharma is the true refuge.

When you cultivate deeply such powerful sentiments as those articulated in Shantideva’s prayer...For as long as space exists, For as long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world, … time is totally irrelevant; you are thinking in terms of infinity.

Every day, priests minutely examine the Dharma And endlessly chant complicated sutras.Before doing that, though, they should learnHow to read the love letters sent by The wind and rain, the snow and moon.

One has to die to the separate self in oder to find the universal Self or God […] as the mystics everywhere have repeatedly told us, it is only in accepting death that real life is found. (A Universe within, p. 79)

The moment you have realized bodhicitta, you have become a Mahayana practitioner and are on the path to complete enlightenment but the moment your bodhicitta degenerates, you fall outside the fold of the bodhisattvas. Without bodhicitta, no matter how advanced you are in other practices—even if you have a direct realization of emptiness or have attained nirvana—nothing you do becomes the conduct of a bodhisattva or the cause of enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas are referred to as enlightened “heroes” or “warriors.” They are highly altruistic beings who have the wisdom to realize that by dedicating themselves to the welfare of other sentient beings, the fulfillment of their own self-interest comes automatically as a by-product.

With the wish to free all beings I shall always go for refuge To Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Until I reach full enlightenment, Inspired by wisdom and compassion, Today, in the Buddha’s presence, I generate the mind of full awakening For the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains As long as sentient beings remain Until then may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world.

Having these negative imprints on my mental continuum is unbearable. “It’s as if I’ve swallowed a lethal poison. I must practice the antidote right away and purify all this negative karma immediately, without a second’s delay.” In this way, generate strong feelings of urgency and regret.