One of the great blights suffered by modern people is a lack of self-esteem or healthy sense of self. It leads some new students to ask if taking on the suffering of others in tonglen practice might cause them to lose confidence in themselves. Quite the opposite is true. The attitude we cultivate as bodhisattvas — of longing to offer the best of everything to others and willingly accept all loss, unpleasantness or difficulty — actually bolsters our confidence and completely eradicates a lack of self-esteem.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices
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Further quotes from the book Not for Happiness:
- As they truly are
- Merely the product of your own perception
- To reject your aggression is a weakness
- Rip that ego apart
- Spiritual practice is like riding a bicycle
- Maintaining a strong grip on the habits
- Everything we experience is a product of mind
- It’s all a matter of motivation
- The signs of progress
- The merit of maintaining mindfulness
- No substitute for being guided by a guru
- Wealth is contentment
- Mind-made illusions
- No end to samsara’s sufferings
- Dharma is not a therapy
- What Is Bodhichitta
- What is merit
- Our fundamental problem
- Adapting the Dharma