A dog, however nice he is, and sweet-tempered, doesn't have much of a range of options. A human being does.

With sincerity from the depths of your heart to do the best you can, just keep going and don't worry too much that you're not Milarepa or Rechungpa.

The problem is that our inherent ignorance keeps us in samsara and unable to benefit ourselves and others on a really deep level.

I think the problem with Western students is they're very ambitious.

If you see young tulkus when they're with other little monks, it's like in a Broadway show or something where the main character is spotlighted and the others kind of fade into the background. And you think, who is that tulku? Because that's all you see, even though they're all dressed the same and they're all the same age, but it's like the tulku is illumined. They don't look like the other ones.

We don't always need to be sitting at the foot of the teacher, but from time to time we need someone who can overview us and give us direction.

To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the quickest and most effective ways to do this is in isolation, with very few distractions, working very hard at it and spending all your time and efforts at changing your mind.