[OceanofDharma] Quotes of the Week: Freedom

[Carolyn Gimian]

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

January 15, 2007

FREEDOM

Giving birth to bodhicitta in one's heart, buddha in one's heart, brings 
freedom. That is the notion of freedom in Buddhism, altogether...We are 
talking about freedom from the constriction of our own capabilities. It is 
as if we were extraordinary children, possessing all sorts of genius, and 
we were being undermined by the society around us, which was dying to make 
us normal people. Whenever we would show any mark of genius, our parents 
would get embarrassed. They would try to put the lid on our pot, saying, 
"Charles, don't say those things. Just be an ordinary person." That is what 
actually happens to us, with or without our parents. I don't particularly 
want to blame our parents; we have also been doing this to ourselves. When 
we see something extraordinary, we are afraid to say so; we are afraid to 
express ourselves or to relate to such situations. So we put lids on 
ourselves -- on our potential, our capabilities. But in Buddhism we are 
liberated from that kind of conventionality....Fundamentally speaking, 
ladies and gentlemen, here is the really good news, if we may call it that: 
We are intrinsically buddha and we are intrinsically good.

 From "What Is the Heart of the Buddha?" in THE HEART OF THE BUDDHA, THE 
COLLECTED WORKS OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA, Volume 3, page 311. (THE HEART OF THE 
BUDDHA is also available in paperback.)

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by 
permission.

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Carolyn Rose Gimian

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Taken from works published by Shambhala Publications,  the Archive of his 
unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.
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