We can't hire out our own inner work, but we can do the manual labor with delight and decency.
Sakyong MiphamKarma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results.
Sakyong MiphamThe self-assured strength that grows from knowing that we already have what we need makes us gentle, because we are no longer desperate.
Sakyong MiphamWhen we are using this term 'basic goodness,' we are talking about our inherent completeness.
Sakyong MiphamCertain teachers have tremendous amounts of experience. They are articulate, and they give wonderful discourse. But at some point along the road, they themselves learned from and studied a book.
Sakyong MiphamWhen I ask people to contemplate selflessness, the sometimes react as if I've asked them to put their house on the market or give away all their money. If there was a self that existed in the way we think, discovering selflessness would be like putting our house on the market. But in the Buddhist tradition, the discovery of selflessness is called "completely joyful." It's not called "the raw end of the deal," or "I'd rather go back to bed," or "This is scary and depressing."
Sakyong Mipham