JETSUN MILAREPA QUOTES

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation...Know that the world of appearances are illusory, and have compassion for those who don't understand.

Awareness is luminous, in its depths is bliss.

My religion is to live - and die - without regret.

My fear and doubts have vanished like mist into the distance, never to disturb me again. I will die content and free from regrets. This is the fruit of dharma practice.

In the gap between thoughts nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once.

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death. Knowing this, one should, from the very first, renounce acquisitions and storing-up, and building, and meeting; and, faithful to the commands of an eminent Guru, set about realizing the Truth. That alone is the best of religious observances.

All the water and drink you've consumed from beginningless time until now has failed to satisfy your thirst or bring you contentment. Drink therefore of this stream Of enlightened mind, Fortunate Ones.

All the wealth you’ve acquired from beginningless time until now has failed to fulfill all your desires. Cultivate therefore this wish-granting gem of moderation, O fortunate ones.

Your vicious deeds and mischievous intentions Weary you, but do no harm to me.

What use are sacrifices if you do not overcome attachment and revulsion?

Life is short, and the time of death is uncertain; so apply yourselves to meditation. Avoid doing wrong, and acquire merit, to the best of your ability, even at the cost of life itself. In short, act so that you will have no cause to be ashamed of yourselves; and hold fast to this rule.

Behold and search your unborn mind; Seek not for satisfaction in samsara. I attain all my knowledge through observing the mind within.

Those who recite many scriptures but fail to practice their teachings are like a cowherd counting another's cows. They do not share in the joys of the spiritual life. 

Comprehending beyond good and evil opens the way to perfect skill. Experiencing the dissolution of duality, you embrace the highest view. 

To attain Buddhahood … we must scatter this life’s aims and objects to the wind.

How senseless to disregard one's life by fighting foes Who are but trail flowers.
How foolish to spend your lifetime without meaning When a precious human body is so rare a gift.

Though the thunder crashes, It is but empty sound;
Though the rainbow is richly-colored, It will soon fade away.
The pleasures of this world are like dream-visions…

If ye realize the Emptiness of All Things, Compassion will raise within your heart;
If ye lose all differentiation between yourselves and others, fit to serve others ye will be;
And when in serving others ye shall win success, then shall ye meet with me;
And finding me, ye shall attain to Buddhahood.

Rest in a natural way like a small child.
Rest like an ocean without waves.
Rest within clarity like a candle flame.
Rest without self-concerns like a human corpse.
Rest unmoving like a mountain.

He who realizes the nature of his own mind knows
That the mind itself is wisdom-awareness,
And no longer makes the mistake of searching for Buddha from other sources.
In fact, Buddha cannot be found by searching,
So contemplate your own mind.
This is the highest teaching one can practice;
This very mind is the tathagatagarbha, buddha nature, the womb of the buddhas.

Having meditated on love and compassion,
I forgot the difference between myself and others.
Having meditated on my lama,
I forgot those who are influential and powerful.
Having meditated on the yidam,
I forgot the coarse world of the senses.
Having meditated on the instruction of the secret tradition,
I forgot the books of dialectic.
Having tasted the joys of solitude,
I forgot the need to please my relatives and friends.
Having assimilated the teaching in the stream of my consciousness,
I forgot to engage in doctrinal polemics.
Having lived in humility in body and mind,
I forgot the disdain and arrogance of the great,
Having made a monastery within my body,
I forgot the monastery outside.
Having embraced the spirit rather than the letter,
I forgot how to play with words.