- “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
- “The word “belief” is a difficult thing for me. I don’t believe. I must have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Either I know a thing, and then I know it – I don’t need to believe it.”
- “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
- “If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.”
- “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
- “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”
- “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”
- “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”
- “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”
- “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
- “Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.”
- “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.”
- “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”
- “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”
- “Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.”
- “A particularly beautiful woman is a source of terror. As a rule, a beautiful woman is a terrible disappointment.”
- “The man who promises everything is sure to fulfil nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition.”
- “In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.”
- “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.”
- “Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”
- “A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.”
- “It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.”
- “The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.”
- “All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination.”
- “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”
Six Lessons From Patrul Rinpoche
April 30, 2024
