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The thing to do in this lifetime is to create more merit.

Tenzin Palmo

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Tenzin Palmo
Age: 81
Born: 1943
Born: January 1
Author
Bhikkhuni
Nun
Writer
Herts
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Create
Thing
Merit
Lifetime

More quotes by Tenzin Palmo

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I remember asking my mother if she believed in reincarnation and she said that that sounded very sensible, and I thought, yes, it does to me too. So I always believed in it. I can't remember when I didn't.
Tenzin Palmo
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In the very deep darkness of this world, little pinpoints of light show up very brightly and can shine a long way.
Tenzin Palmo
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Actually we've got countless lifetimes, so relax.
Tenzin Palmo
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We don't want to go to heaven. We want to be reborn so that we can keep going and realize the dharma so we can benefit other beings, endlessly. It's a very different thing.
Tenzin Palmo
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We do look for inspiration amongst our own sex. Why not? You go into temples and they're full of all the lineage lamas who are male. What message does that give to a young girl, except that somehow she got trapped in the wrong body because of bad things she did in a past life?
Tenzin Palmo
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To become effortless takes a lot of effort. It's good to compare it to learning an instrument or learning a sport.
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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Perhaps one of the main antidotes to depression, lack of self-esteem, loneliness and so forth is the recognition that we really do have Buddha nature. All the other problems like anger, jealousy, ambitions, are merely habitual patterns that we've learned, but aren't inherent to who we are.
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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Until time and space exist... I vow to come back for the benefit of other beings.
Tenzin Palmo
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I think if you really start practicing, the energy comes. I was always very happy and grateful for the opportunity to have the time, solitude and good health to be able to do it.
Tenzin Palmo
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From a Buddhist point of view, the first thing to help is yourself, to get your own mind together. And to really understand how to benefit beings, not just on the physical level, but on all levels. Then there are endless beings you can benefit.
Tenzin Palmo
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I do think that someone who decides to devote themselves entirely to the spiritual life, that that is more meritorious.
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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As women become more educated and confident, they can start adding their voice.
Tenzin Palmo
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I'd say look at the teacher's students. Do you want to be like them? If you see a good and harmonious sangha, and if they're practicing well and are good people with good hearts, then you have a cause for trust.
Tenzin Palmo
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If you go to any nunnery and ask them what the main obstacle is, they'll always say low self-esteem and lack of confidence. It will take time. But the difference between the first girls from Ladakh who became nuns, to the girls we have now, is very encouraging.
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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Many people are benefiting beings, but from a dharma point of view, if you are a dharma practitioner, then the first priority is to get yourself together.
Tenzin Palmo
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Nowadays, mindfulness has become a catch-all word, but the general principle of trying to be more conscious and aware in our daily life is very important. Along with this, it's helpful to contemplate some of the mind training verses which are designed to take and transform all of the problems we experience.
Tenzin Palmo