Tao Te Ching
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
One of the most basic themes that runs through almost all of our “lineage holders,” describes a refusal to fall into sectarianism, status quo views, cultural and conventional opinions; but rather, a courage and willingness to follow the truth of aware experience to wherever it might lead. This approach to life is what Chögyam Trungpa describes in this life-changing book. Based on another common theme—basic goodness—it promotes a way of living and changing the world, not through aggression or any kind of attempt to imitate a concept but instead through self-knowledge, openness, authenticity, bravery, and gentleness.
Themes
Quotes from Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
“[The Shambhala teachings are] a manual for people who have lost the principles of sacredness, dignity, and warriorship in their lives.”
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“A warrior doesn’t need color television or video games… doesn’t need to read comic books… the world of entertainment doesn’t arise.”
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60. Less is More
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“Basically, the point is to serve the world. Tools, which help us to shape our world... should be given special respect.”
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“Because of the extraordinary vastness of perception, you have possibilities of communicating with the depth of the world—the world of sight, the world of sound—the greater world.”
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“Being without doubt means you have experienced mind and body being synchrnonzed together.”
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“cowardice is trying to live our lives as though death were unknown... Entertainment should be promoted and any thought of death should be avoided.”
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“He feels the joy and sorrow of love in everything he does. He feels hot and cold, sweet and sour, simultaneously. Whether things go well or things go badly, whether there is success or failure, he feels sad and delighted at once.”
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24. Unnecessary Baggage
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“If we try to solve society’s problems without overcoming the confusion and aggression in our own state of mind, then our efforts will only contribute to the basic problems.”
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21. Following Empty Heart
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“If you do not start at home, you have no hope of helping the world… the first step is learning to rule your household, your immediate world…. If you do so, then the next step will come naturally. If you don't, then your contribution to this world will only be further chaos.”
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54. Planting Well
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“If you want to solve the world’s problems, you have to put your own household, your own individual life, in order first… the first step in learning how to rule is learning to rule your household, your immediate world.”
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17. True Leaders
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“In modern times, we don't think very highly of the Romans, with all of their debauchery and corrupt rulers... But there was some power and wisdom in the Roman civilization, which we should not overlook.”
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“inscrutability is based on fearlessness. This is unlike the conventional concept of inscrutability, which is deviousness or a blank wall… From this fearlessness, you develop gentleness and sympathy, which allow you to be noncommittal, but with a sense of humor.”
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15. Inscrutability
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“Look into every situation and examine it, so that you won’t be fooling yourself by relying on belief alone. Instead, you want to make a personal discovery of reality through your own intelligence and ability.”
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71. Sick of Sickness
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“Seeing one drop of water can be seeing all water... water of water”
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“Slowing down any impulse is said to be the best way... you begin to appreciate natural hierarchy... respect for elders, sympathy for kin, and confidence in colleagues.”
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“the discipline of genuinely working for others comes from appreciateing hierarchy... from realizing that such a world as this was created for you.”
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“The essence of cowardice is not acknowledging the reality of fear... We are petrified of our death... we are afraid that we can't handle the demands of the world.”
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“the failure to appreciate the resourcefulness of human existence—which we call basic goodness—has become one of the world's biggest problems.”
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“The key to warriorship and the first principle of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are… If we are willing to take an unbiased look, we will find that, in spite of all our problems and confusion, all our emotional and psychological ups and downs, there is something basically good about our existence.”
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51. Mysterious Goodness
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“The result of letting go is that you discover a bank of self-existing energy that is always available to you – beyond any circumstance. It actually comes from nowhere, but is always there. It is the energy of basic goodness.”
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62. Basic Goodness
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“the warrior’s journey is based on resting in the state of warriorship rather than struggling to take the next step.. which is not based on ego-centered concerns but on resting in unconditional confidence, free from aggression.”
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46. Enough
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“We always have a choice; we can limit our perception so that we close off vastness, or we can allow vastness to touch us.”
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“We must face the fact that fear is lurking in our lives, always, in everything we do... True fearlessness is not the reduction of fear, but going beyond fear.”
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“We perceive spontaneously with a prelanguage system... either you look and see beyond language—as first perception—or you see the world through the filter of your thoughts.”
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“Whatever you may be doing, every minute of every hour is a new chapter, a new page.”
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55. Forever Young
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“When we draw down the power and depth of vastness into a single perception, then we are discovering and invoking magic.”
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4. The Father of All Things
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“when we say that human beings are basically good, we mean that they have every faculty they need, so that they don’t have to fight with their world.”
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10. The Power of Goodness
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“When we see things as they are, they make sense to us: the way leaves move when they are blown by the wind, the way rocks get wet when there are snowflakes sitting on them. We see how things display their harmony and their chaos at the same time. So we are never limited by beauty alone, but we appreciate all sides of reality properly.”
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76. The Soft and Flexible
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“When you meet a person with authentic presence, you find he has an overwhelming genuineness, which might be somewhat frightening because it is so true and honest and real. You experience a sense of command radiating from the person of inner authentic presence. Although that person might be a garbage collector or a taxi driver, still he or she has an uplifted quality, which magnetizes you and commands your attention. This is not just charisma.”
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“you don’t spell out the truth, you imply the truth with wakeful delight… When you spell out the truth it loses its essence and becomes either ‘my’ truth or ‘your’ truth… By implying the truth, the truth doesn’t become anyone’s property.”
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70. Inscrutable
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