The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
To discover your real questions, simply take a time-out. Stop looking ahead of yourself at where you’re going or backward at where you’ve been. When you do stop, there’s a sense of going nowhere. There’s a sense of gap, which is a tremendous relief. You can simply breathe and be who you are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Taking a pause allows you to identify your true questions and helps you connect with your authentic self.
The quote emphasizes the importance of taking time for self-reflection. By stepping away from the pressures of future expectations and past regrets, one can find clarity and a sense of peace. This stillness can lead to discovering genuine thoughts and feelings that may have been overlooked in the rush of daily life. It suggests that in moments of solitude and absence of distraction, we can breathe and embrace our true selves.
Themes
Self-ReflectionMindfulnessStillnessAuthenticityBreathing
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on personal growth, one might share this quote to encourage participants to slow down and reflect.
More from Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
All quotes →Sometimes we are too polite with our suffering and allow it to dominate our life.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
There is no inherent awakening power in cultural forms that have become dissociated from the wisdom and practicality that gave birth to them. They turn into illusions themselves and become part of the drama of religious culture. Although they can make us happy temporarily, they can't free us from suffering, so at some point, they become a source of disappointment and discouragement. Eventually, these forms may inspire nothing more than resistance to their authority.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
It is not about how much you give, it is about how much you can let go with your mind.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
It is all up to us. We are the ones who have to keep looking at our thoughts, looking for the nature of our mind. there is nobody else in control of our lives, our experiences, our freedom or our bondage.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
There is no emptiness without appearance, and there is no appearance without emptiness. That is what we call the interdependent nature.
Dzogchen Ponlop RinpocheRead
Similar quotes
Any man who, having planted a vineyard, has not yet reaped the benefits should do so at once, so that he does not die in the struggle and leave it for another to enjoy.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.
Leonardo Da VinciRead
One must lose one's life to find it.
Anne Morrow LindberghRead
Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations.
Nathaniel BrandenRead
Our self image, strongly held, essentially determines what we become.
Maxwell MaltzRead
We prematurely write off people as failures. We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail.
Malcolm GladwellRead