Rev. Danny Fisher

Today’s quote is from the Third Jamgön Kongtrul, Karma Lodrö Chökyi Senge (1954-1992), who “became one of the foremost holders of the Kagyu Lineage, and wore the mantle of regency with humility and great dignity” following the death of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa in 1981.  He was involved in the search for the 17th Karmapa when he was tragically killed in car accident in 1992.  This is the quote:

The Tibetan word for Buddhism, nangpa, has the meaning of internalizing, indicating that we need to turn inward and work within ourselves. By doing so and gaining a clearer sense of who we really are, we develop a sense of our existence as it relates to all that surrounds us. If we look outside and try to figure out what is out there based on confused mental projections, we will never recognize who we are. What is fundamentally true is that the experience of pain or pleasure is not so much what is happening externally as it is what is happening internally: the experience of pain or pleasure is mainly a state of mind. Whether we experience the world as enlightened or confused depends on our state of mind.