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Sogyal Rinpoche

Sogyal Rinpoche Quotes

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Famous Sogyal Rinpoche Quotes

“Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life. Why reflect on death? When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life now... and come to face the truth of your self. Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected.”

ThinkingLooksSelfFacesLife IsDeathRealizingMirrorsMeaning Of LifeLife And DeathPreparingTrue MeaningLove And DeathNear DeathFacing The TruthTrue Meaning Of LifePreparing For Death
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“Death is a vast mystery, but there are two things we can say about it: It is absolutely certain that we will die, and it is uncertain when or how we will die. The only surety we have, then, is this uncertainty about the hour of our death, which we seize on as the excuse to postpone facing death directly. We are like children who cover their eyes in a game of hide and seek and think that no one can see them.”

ThinkingChildrenTwoEyeDeathCertainDiesGamesHoursMysteryDyingExcuseUncertaintyTwo ThingsUncertainHide And SeekFacing Death
Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
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“Why exactly are we so frightened of death that we avoid looking at it altogether? Somewhere, deep down, we know we cannot avoid facing death forever. We know, in Milarepa's words: "This thing called 'corpse' we dread so much is living with us here and now."”

KnowsDeathForeverDyingFrightenedDreadCorpsesHere And NowDeep DownFacing Death
Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
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“We often wonder: "How will I be when I die?" The answer to that is that whatever state of mind we are in now, whatever kind of person we are now, that's what we will be like at the moment of death, if we do not change. This is why it is so absolutely important to use this lifetime to purify our mindstream, and so our basic being and character, while we can.”

IfsMindKindPersonsImportantStatesMomentsCharacterUseDeathDiesAnswersWonderDyingLifetimeState Of Mind
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“Switch on the television or glance at the newspaper: You will see death everywhere. Yet, did the victims of those plane crashes and car accidents expect to die? They took life for granted, as we do. How often do we hear stories of people whom we know, or even friends, who died unexpectedly? We don't even have to be ill to die: Our bodies can suddenly break down and go out of order, just like our cars. We can be quite well one day, then fall sick and die the next.”

PeopleKnowsWellsStoriesBodyDeathOrderDiesFallNextBreakDyingCarTelevisionOne DaySickDiedDown AndVictimIllAccidentsNewspapersGrantedPlanesCrashGlancesBreaking DownCar AccidentPlane CrashesLife For Granted
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“At every moment in our lives we need compassion, but what more urgent moment could there be than when we are dying? What more wonderful and consoling gift could you give to dying people than the knowledge that they are being prayed for, and that you are taking on their suffering and purifying their negative karma through your practice for them?”

PeopleNeedsGivingMomentsDeathSufferingCompassionPracticeOur LivesWonderfulDyingNegativeKarmaUrgentConsolingPurifyingMoments In Our LivesNegative Karma
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“I remember how people would often come to see my master Jamyang Khyentse simply to ask for his guidance for the moment of death. He was so loved and revered throughout Tibet, especially in the eastern province of Kham, that some would travel for months on end to meet him and get his blessing just once before they died. All my masters would give this as their advice, for this is the essence of what is needed as you come to die: "Be free of attachment and aversion. Keep your mind pure. And unite your mind with Buddha."”

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Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“There would be no chance at all of getting to know death if it happened only once. But fortunately, life is nothing but a continuing dance of birth and death, a dance of change. Every time I hear the rush of a mountain stream, or the waves crashing on the shore, or my own heartbeat, I hear the sound of impermanence. These changes, these small deaths, are our living links with death. They are death's pulses, death's heartbeat, prompting us to let go of all the things we cling to.”

IfsKnowsWould BeLife IsDeathSoundChanceMy OwnHappenedDyingBirthMountainLetting GoWaveStreamsLinksShoreContinuingReincarnationHeartbeatPulseImpermanenceBirth And DeathMountain StreamsBirth Life And Death
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“If all we know of mind is the aspect of mind that dissolves when we die, we will be left with no idea of what continues, no knowledge of the new dimension of the deeper reality of the nature of mind. So it is vital for us all to familiarize ourselves with the nature of mind while we are still alive. Only then will we be prepared for the time when it reveals itself spontaneously and powerfully at the moment of death; be able to recognize it "as naturally," the teachings say, "as a child running into its mother's lap"; and by remaining in that state, finally be liberated.”

IfsKnowsMindChildrenStillsIdeasStatesMomentsRealityRunningAbleDeathMotherDiesLeftAliveTeachingDyingAspectPreparedDeeperNo IdeaDimensionsBe PreparedLapLiberated
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“For most of us, karma and negative emotions obscure the ability to see our own intrinsic nature, and the nature of reality. As a result we clutch on to happiness and suffering as real, and in our unskillful and ignorant actions go on sowing the seeds of our next birth. Our actions keep us bound to the continuous cycle of worldly existence, to the endless round of birth and death. So everything is at risk in how we live now at this very moment: How we live now can cost us our entire future.”

RealMomentsRealityActionDeathSufferingNextAbilityResultsEmotionExistenceRiskDyingGoes OnBirthCostNegativeBoundsRoundsSeedsKarmaEndlessIgnorantCyclesObscureWorldlyOur ActionsClutchSowingBirth And DeathAbility To SeeNegative Emotions
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“This is the real and urgent reason why we must prepare now to meet death wisely, to transform our karmic future, and to avoid the tragedy of falling into delusion again and again and repeating the painful round of birth and death. This life is the only time and place we can prepare in, and we can only truly prepare through spiritual practice: This is the inescapable message of the natural bardo of this life.”

RealReasonSpiritualLife IsDeathFallNaturalPracticeDyingBirthMessagesTragedyRoundsPainfulThis LifeReason WhyDelusionAgain And AgainOnly TimeUrgentLife DeathSpiritual PracticeBirth And Death
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“At the moment of death, there are two things that count: whatever we have done in our lives, and what state of mind we are in at that very moment. Even if we have accumulated a lot of negative karma, if we are able to make a real change of heart at the moment of death, it can decisively influence our future, and transform our karma, for the moment of death is an exceptionally powerful opportunity to purify karma.”

IfsMindHeartTwoRealStatesDoneMomentsAbleDeathOpportunityPowerfulOur LivesInfluenceDyingNegativeKarmaTwo ThingsOur FutureState Of MindReal ChangeChange Of HeartNegative Karma
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“Ask yourself these two questions: Do I remember at every moment that I am dying, and that everyone and everything else is, and so treat all beings at all times with compassion? Has my understanding of death and impermanence become so keen and so urgent that I am devoting every second to the pursuit of enlightenment? If you can answer "yes" to both of these, then you really understand impermanence.”

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Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“What is born will die, What has been gathered will be dispersed, What has been accumulated will be exhausted, What has been built up will collapse, And what has been high will be brought low.”

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Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
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“In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.”

WholeLife IsDeathApproachMirrorsBuddhistMeaning Of LifeLife And DeathChaptersLife Death
Book:The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition
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