Top 120 Sakyong Mipham Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “In a speedy and aggressive culture, we need different principles to live by-bravery and insight. The first moment of bravery is building trust in the mind, which we do in meditation. When we know how to create peace in our own mind, we can transform the world.”

— Sakyong Mipham

52. “To protect this earth is to protect the very spirit of life.”

— Sakyong Mipham

53. “The most outrageous thing we can do in this world is to accept what happens and fly with it.”

— Sakyong Mipham

54. “A lot of people talk about the spirituality of Buddhism, and it is a spiritual discipline. But in Shambhala there also is a notion that you have to be synchronized with both heaven and earth.”

— Sakyong Mipham

55. “The first thing you have to do is acknowledge the basic and fundamental goodness of all beings. If you don’t, then you are going to have conflict. That’s at the core of Shambhala.”

— Sakyong Mipham

56. “If we can feel confident in our goodness, it will illuminate our life and society.”

— Sakyong Mipham

57. “We live in a culture where information is becoming easier to access. Certain special practices have been kept very quiet and secret, and those traditions need to be respected. But there are a lot of teachings people can access that would benefit them greatly.”

— Sakyong Mipham

58. “The self-assured strength that grows from knowing that we already have what we need makes us gentle, because we are no longer desperate.”

— Sakyong Mipham

59. “Being fooled into trying to make things work out for ‘me’ is called samsara.”

— Sakyong Mipham

60. “Part of the notion in Shambhala teachings is that everybody can live their lives so they get weaker and more stressed out as they go along, or so they get more fortitude and strength.”

— Sakyong Mipham

61. “The most important thing is having the right mind – a mind that can see it. Once you have an open mind, you see a lot of auspicious coincidence taking place.”

— Sakyong Mipham

62. “The nature of our mind may be displayed in many ways, but Ashe is the fundamental basis.”

— Sakyong Mipham

63. “It is said that if our intention is to help others-even if we are unable to follow it through-we will never have any regret. Regret is a result of trying to make “me” happy.”

— Sakyong Mipham

64. “When people say that meditation makes them calm, they are often referring to this stability of the mind. A stable mind creates the foundation for a happier and more contented person.”

— Sakyong Mipham

65. “As the conceptual, material world increases its hold on us, and inanimate objects become more lifelike, we humans must become more human. Open hearts, kindness and care-these are our most precious gifts.”

— Sakyong Mipham

66. “My books definitely are ambassadors, as you called them. They express what the vision is, what the purpose is.”

— Sakyong Mipham

67. “Shambhala does have unique teachings, as do many Buddhist traditions. For example, certain teachings within Shambhala have to do with raising the personal windhorse, or the energy of the individual, so a person has good fortitude to be able to live a good life.”

— Sakyong Mipham

68. “I think we are very environmental people. We need to be supported environmentally. Books very much have that imprint on the mind.”

— Sakyong Mipham

69. “Being human is a precious situation, and we shouldn’t waste time in useless activities.”

— Sakyong Mipham

70. “As a leader, you have the choice to determine what you are going to do and how you are going to engage others. You can decide to act compassionately regardless of what the weather is – whether it is cloudy or sunny – or whether things are inspirational or not.”

— Sakyong Mipham

71. “A lot of times people do spiritual practice just for themselves. I try to turn that a little bit. I try to make spiritual practice more a part of the community. I write about infusing people with compassion.”

— Sakyong Mipham

72. “I think Shambhala can be a very strong force as a social example of how you can try to live a life balanced in terms of both the spiritual and the secular.”

— Sakyong Mipham

73. “It seems we all agree that training the body through exercise, diet, and relaxation is a good idea, but why don’t we think about training our mind?”

— Sakyong Mipham

74. “One of the characteristics of every great teacher I’ve known is tremendous exertion. It’s interesting: You may see them as spiritual people or compassionate people, but the driving force is that incredible exertion – and their ability to sustain it.”

— Sakyong Mipham

75. “The principles of Buddhism and Shambhala can be effective in helping the course of what is happening in the world.”

— Sakyong Mipham

76. “I want people to know you can live a life that is less aggressive and still have success.”

— Sakyong Mipham

77. “If ruling our world stems from developing certainty in our sanity, how do we discover it? The Shambhala teachings instruct us to “put our mind of fearfulness in the cradle of loving-kindnes.””

— Sakyong Mipham

78. “I would say courage first; then wisdom, which is a sense of knowledge and confidence; and also the wish and desire to uplift. The underlying notion is “How do I help?” That attitude really is a spiritual journey and a path.”

— Sakyong Mipham

79. “Certain teachers have tremendous amounts of experience. They are articulate, and they give wonderful discourse. But at some point along the road, they themselves learned from and studied a book.”

— Sakyong Mipham

80. “Our root fantasy is that “I” am real and that it’s possible for “me” to be happy.”

— Sakyong Mipham

81. “A lot of people dabbling means Buddhism has come into the mainstream, where people begin to use these terms and ideas, and they become less foreign.”

— Sakyong Mipham

82. “I think there is a tendency for people to become more isolated as they move along a spiritual path. With more development, people get more isolated. Also, as they have more wealth, they get more isolated.”

— Sakyong Mipham

83. “To shift the direction of our planet, we must now be willing to experiment with the theory that within the speed and stress, we are good.”

— Sakyong Mipham

84. “Each of us holds human destiny in our hands. It will be completely determined by how the mind feels about itself.”

— Sakyong Mipham

85. “Ultimately, as individuals we each have to ask ourselves to be courageous and apply certain principles.”

— Sakyong Mipham

86. “Sometimes it seems like most people are being pulled into a negative energy, but then you meet strong individuals or strong leaders and they are free from it.”

— Sakyong Mipham

87. “A lot of people do their practice. They meditate on compassion. Then they yell at people afterwards. NThat is not quite working. One of the things I try to emphasize is contemplative meditation – bringing your thought and intention into meditation.”

— Sakyong Mipham

88. “Shambhala is a Buddhist tradition with its own unique view and approach.”

— Sakyong Mipham

89. “Fundamentally, Buddhism is for the awakenment and benefit of beings. So, you can’t say, “Oh, you can’t have it because you’re not ready for it.” That goes against the fundamental principle.”

— Sakyong Mipham

90. “You have people who are good at English but don’t have the training in Buddhism or Shambhala, or they have the training but are not good in English. Getting that mixture is really rare.”

— Sakyong Mipham

91. “When we are certain that the way to accomplish our own wishes is to help others, we have no regrets.”

— Sakyong Mipham

92. “It’s one thing to have the attitude of enlightenment and another thing to act in an enlightened way, which is conduct or activity...”

— Sakyong Mipham

93. “You need to eat well, sleep well, and have a roof over your head, but don’t go much further than that before extending yourself to others.”

— Sakyong Mipham

94. “We humans have come to a crossroads in our history: we can either destroy the world or create a good future.”

— Sakyong Mipham

95. “What is my great wish and intention, is to make a base of compassion and to encourage people to work to shift the energy.”

— Sakyong Mipham

96. “If we do not push ourselves enough, we do not grow, but if we push ourselves too much, we regress. What is enough will change, depending on where we are and what we are doing. In that sense, the present moment is always some kind of beginning.”

— Sakyong Mipham

97. “In looking for my mind, I discovered that it seems to be in many different places. Sometimes it is drinking a glass of water, remembering swimming in the summer, feeling the breeze. In this contemplation I observed that the self is more elusive than I thought.”

— Sakyong Mipham

98. “For me, language and how I use it are very important. I held back on doing a poetry book, walking the fine line between trying to be helpful and just putting more junk out there.”

— Sakyong Mipham

99. “Poetry is a language for when you can’t quite write prose about something, you can’t quite say it, but if you do a poem, it kind of gets to the point.”

— Sakyong Mipham

100. “You need to become more genuine to who you are. So, people pushing you can help take you to the level where you really understand the principles and enter them into action.”

— Sakyong Mipham