Jamgön Mipham > Quotes

“Primordial wisdom [Skt. jñāna; Tib. ཡེ་ཤེས་, yeshé; Wyl. ye shes] has many names, but in truth it refers simply to the inseparability of the ground and fruit, the one and only essence-drop [thig le nyag gcig] of the dharmakaya. If it is assessed from the standpoint of its utterly pure nature, it is the actual dharmakaya, primordial Buddhahood. For, from its own side, it is free from every obscuration. We must understand that we are Buddha from the very beginning. Without this understanding, we will fail to recognize the spontaneously present mandala of the ground, and we will be obliged to assert, in accordance with the vehicle of the paramitas, that Buddhahood has a cause. We will fail to recognize the authentic view of the Secret Mantra.”
― Jamgön Mipham, White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava

“Now when it is said that the dharmatā or ultimate nature is not an object of knowledge, this means that since the dharmatā transcends all conceptual constructs, it is not conceivable.”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“Whenever you study or contemplate the Dharma,
Rely not on the words, but on the meaning.

If the meaning is understood, then regardless of the speaker’s style,
There will be no conflict.”
― Jamgön Mipham

“But what is the point of tiring oneself over words that are being used from two quite different points of view? One should instead rely on the meaning intended.”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“One must therefore overcome one’s way of thinking about things exclusively in terms of assertion or denial. As it is said, Instead, to grasp the emptiness of things And still depend upon the karmic law of cause and fruit— It’s this that is more wonderful than wonderful, More marvelous than marvelous!8”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“Madhyamaka itself, the union of appearance and emptiness beyond all conceptual elaboration.”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“Whatever appears (form and so on) is empty; whatever is empty appears (as form and so on). Therefore, for as long as the dharmadhātu, the union of appearance and emptiness, free from the thirty-two misconceptions, is not realized, this is not yet the authentic prajñāpāramitā.”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“Panchakrama, When voidness and appearance both Are seen as each the aspect of the other, They blend together perfectly And thus are said to be united.”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“an emptiness that is just a nonimplicative negation (med dgag): the understanding that phenomena are without origin and without abiding (the simple denial, in other words, that they come into being, that they remain in being, and so on) is no more than a point of entry into Great Emptiness, the freedom from all four ontological extremes. It is therefore referred to as the “figurative ultimate” (rnam grangs pa’i don dam) or “concordant ultimate” (mthun pa’i don dam).”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva

“For Tsongkhapa, in other words, the tetralemma is not an intellectual yoga intended to push the mind beyond the confines of habitual intellection and into a meditative state free from mental proliferation. Instead it is a pedagogical tool for clarifying one’s understanding of the relationship between the two truths and for arriving at a correct idea of emptiness.63”
― Jamgön Mipham, The Wisdom Chapter: Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva