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Because we're trying, because we want, it's very hard to get.

Tenzin Palmo

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Tenzin Palmo
Age: 81
Born: 1943
Born: January 1
Author
Bhikkhuni
Nun
Writer
Herts
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Trying
Hard

More quotes by Tenzin Palmo

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When I was in retreat I just did my meditation sessions and, in-between, reading and things I had to do.
Tenzin Palmo
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Just entering into the dharma and taking refuge and bodhisattva vows is a tremendous amount of merit, but we need more and more and more.
Tenzin Palmo
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If you lose interest in the dharma, then you might be reborn in a place where you are unlikely to meet with the dharma. And then you're completely off the path.
Tenzin Palmo
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The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's the same in dharma practice.
Tenzin Palmo
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I think the difference is that when we drink tea, we just drink tea. But if you're in the presence of a genuine master, they don't have to do anything but drink their tea, and yet it affects you at an incredibly profound level.
Tenzin Palmo
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In the texts, and as His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us, we should check the person's behavior not when they're sitting on a big throne, but behind the scenes. How do they treat ordinary people - not the big sponsors - but just ordinary people who are of no particular importance to them.
Tenzin Palmo
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Meditation is for you to realise that the deepest nature of your existence is beyond thoughts and emotions, that it is incredibly vast and interconnected with all other beings.
Tenzin Palmo
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Everyone should not be ordained, but for those who really feel that the only thing that matters in this world is the Dharma, then it is a logical step to adopt a form of life that automatically precludes worldly distractions.
Tenzin Palmo
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Different people are different.
Tenzin Palmo
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This precious life is our opportunity. We are not the millions and millions of other things that are not human.
Tenzin Palmo
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It's unlikely that you were a frog in a past life.
Tenzin Palmo
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Once one has understand what is Buddhadharma, what is not Buddhadharma, and once one has had enough view to see the different approaches, then it's important to really look at what speaks to one's heart.
Tenzin Palmo
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Most of the spiritual traditions were very theistic and the idea of an external god pulling the strings didn't resonate with me. I then discovered Buddhism and found the perfect path. I felt so grateful to the Buddha for having given the path, and not just explaining the end result, but showing so clearly how to get there.
Tenzin Palmo
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I think it's crucial to recognize that we are so fortunate to have this human birth where we can practice what we want, pick up and not just read books but actually understand them. This level of education is very rare throughout history, so we shouldn't take it for granted.
Tenzin Palmo
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We do have the precious opportunity of this human life.
Tenzin Palmo
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The internet can be enormously helpful, just like books can, but I don't think it's the be all and end all for really practicing Buddhism. At a certain point, as with learning any skill, we need personal instruction from someone who is more advanced than us.
Tenzin Palmo
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We have to cultivate contentment with what we have. We really don't need much. When you know this, the mind settles down. Cultivate generosity. Delight in giving. Learn to live lightly. In this way, we can begin to transform what is negative into what is positive. This is how we start to grow up.
Tenzin Palmo
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Caves are beautiful things you know. They're thermostatically controlled - warm when it's cold out and cool when it's warm. Very quiet. Nobody there. Especially in the winter - it was perfect. Also, because it's a cave, you can't do much with it.
Tenzin Palmo
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My mother was a spiritualist. We had weekly séances at our house with a neighbor who was a medium and various friends, and so I was brought up with the idea that there are many realms of being all around us. So that prepared me for Buddhism, and especially Tibetan Buddhism with all its talk of different realms and dimensions of being.
Tenzin Palmo
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Whether we're in retreat or out in the world, we should try to develop the quality of awareness as much as possible.
Tenzin Palmo