Graham Coleman Quotes

“It is undeniably the case that in our society we do not easily accept that death is a natural part of life, which results in a perpetual sense of insecurity and fear, and many are confused at the time of the death of a loved one, not knowing what they can do to help the one that has passed away or how to address their own grief. Exploring ways of overcoming our fear of death and adopting a creative approach at the time of bereavement, that is, focusing one’s energy on supporting the one that has passed away, are both extraordinary benefits of the insights and practices that are so beautifully expressed in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. When I think of these things I often remember the Dalai Lama saying: ‘When we look at life and death from a broader perspective, then dying is just like changing our clothes! When this body becomes old and useless, we die and take on a new body, which is fresh, healthy and full of energy! This need not be so bad!’”

“Death holds up an all-seeing mirror, ‘the mirror of past actions’, to our eyes, in which the consequences of all our negative and positive actions are clearly seen and there is a weighing of our past actions in the light of their consequences, the balance of which will determine the kind of existence or mental state we are being driven to enter.”

“I bow down to and take refuge in the sacred teachings, including the doctrines of the ultimate truth, quiescent and desireless, the irreversible path of the three vehicles, and the transmissions, esoteric instructions, and treatises of the transmitted precepts and treasures.”

“If, upon looking outwards towards the external expanse of the sky, There are no projections emanated by the mind, and if, on looking inwards at one’s own mind, There is no projectionist who projects [thoughts] by thinking them, Then, one’s own mind, completely free from conceptual projections, will become luminously clear.”

“All phenomena are [ultimately] selfless, empty, and free from conceptual elaboration.”

“May all sentient beings be endowed with happiness! May they all be separated from suffering and its causes! May they be endowed with joy, free from suffering! May they abide in equanimity, free from attachment or aversion!”

“May we become exactly like you, glorious spiritual teacher! Exactly resembling you in body, retinue, lifespan, fields, and in your supreme and excellent major marks.”

“The ocean of mundane cyclic existence is like an illusion.”