Wise Saying from Living and Dying

All such powerful thoughts are that of Sogyal Rinpoche's book. I have been reading this book at random because it is dated. Meaning, every day of every month for 12 months , there are special and beautiful thoughts to think about.

I will start with 16 September...as I wish to know what was stated therein on this eventful day.

16 September

If your mind is able to settle naturally of its own accord, and if you find you are inspired simply to rest in its pure awareness, then you do not need any method of meditation. However, the vast majority of us find it difficult to arrive at that state straight away. We simply do not know how to awaken it, and our minds are so wild and so distracted that we need a skillful means or method to evoke it.
By 'skillful' I mean that you bring together your understanding of the essential nature of your mind, your knowledge of your various, shifting moods, and the insight you have developed through your practice into how to work with yourself, from moment to moment. By bringing these together, you learn that art of applying whatever method is appropriate to any particular situation or problem, to transform that environment of your mind.

1 May

"If you spent one tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years!" - Ramakrishna

12 May

Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality. - Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

10 April

There are rough as well as gentle waves in the ocean; strong emotions come, like anger, desire, jealousy. The real practitioner recognizes them not as a disturbance or an obstacle but as a great opportunity. The fact that you react to arising such as these with habitual tendencies of attachment and aversion is a sign not only that you are distracted but that you do not have the recognition and have lost the ground of Rigpa. To react to emotions in this way empowers them and binds you even tighter in the chain of delusion.
The great secret of Dzogchen is to see right through them, as soon as they arise, to what they really are: the vivid and electric manifestation of energy of Rigpa itself. As you gradually learn to do this, even the most turbulent emotions fail to seize hold of you and instead dissolve, as wild waves rise and rear and sink back into the calm of the Ocean.

Finally 23 October

When little obstacles crop up on the spiritual path, a good practitioner does not lose faith and begin to doubt, but has the discernment to recognize difficulties, whatever they may be, for what they are - just obstacle. Equally, it is by failing to recognize an obstacle for what it is, and therefore taking it seriously, that it is empowered and solidified and becomes a real blockage.

Above are excerpts from Sogyal Rinpoche's Book - "Glimpse After Glimpse" , Daily Reflections on Living and Dying.