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The Home of Tibetan Buddhist Texts in Translation
ISSN 2753-4812
ISSN 2753-4812

A Compendium of Quotations

Quotations

English (42) | བོད་ཡིག (42)

A series of popular quotations previously published on our former sister site, Lotsāwa School, as A Compendium of Quotations:

Āryadeva

by Āryadeva
Commonly cited verses from Āryadeva's classic treatise on the Middle Way The Four Hundred Verses (Catuḥśataka).
Catuḥśataka Emptiness 17 Jun 2025

Asaṅga

by Asaṅga
Commonly cited verses from the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra (mdo sde rgyan), one of the Five Treatises of Maitreya.
Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra Maitreya 23 Sep 2025
by Asaṅga
Commonly cited verses from the Abhisamayālaṃkāra, the classic treatise on the hidden meaning of the Prajñāpāramitā.
Abhisamayālaṃkāra Maitreya 15 Sep 2025
by Asaṅga
Commonly cited verses from the Mahāyānottaratantra-śāstra, the classic treatise on buddha nature.
Uttaratantra Buddha Nature Maitreya 15 Sep 2025

Atiśa Dīpaṃkara

attributed to Atiśa Dīpaṃkara
Frequently cited lines on the best kind of teacher and instruction.
Following a Teacher 30 Sep 2025

Bhāviveka

by Bhāviveka
Commonly cited verses from Bhāviveka’s treatise The Heart of the Middle Way (Madhyamakahṛdaya).
Middle Way Two Truths 23 Sep 2025

Candragomin

by Candragomin
Commonly cited verses from Candragomin's Letter to a Disciple (Śiṣyalekha).
23 Sep 2025

Candrakīrti

by Candrakīrti
A selection of commonly cited verses from Candrakīrti's classic treatise The Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra).
Madhyamakāvatāra 18 Sep 2025

Dharmakīrti

by Dharmakīrti
A selection of commonly cited verses from Dharmakīrti's classic treatise on logic and epistemology, Commentary on Valid Cognition (Pramāṇavarttika).
Pramāṇa Two Truths 23 Sep 2025

Gampopa

by Gampopa Sonam Rinchen
These lines of caution, extracted from Precious Garland for the Supreme Path, have been cited by Patrul Rinpoche and other authors.
8 Oct 2025

Garab Dorje

attributed to Garab Dorje
These four lines, attributed to Garab Dorje, explain how mind's true nature is already awakened and how meditation entails simply abiding by such recognition.
Dzogchen 23 Sep 2025

Jñānagarbha

by Jñānagarbha
A selection of commonly cited verses from Jñānagarbha's treatise Distinguishing the Two Truths (Satyadvayavibhaṅga).
Two Truths 23 Sep 2025

Kamalaśīla

by Kamalaśīla
Commonly cited lines from Kamalaśīla's Stages of Meditation (Bhāvanā­krama) II.
Meditation 30 Sep 2025

Longchen Rabjam

by Longchen Rabjam
Taken from Longchenpa's Wish-Fulfilling Treasury, these three lines convey the importance of the three noble principles—generating bodhicitta in the beginning, remaining without reference during the main practice, and dedicating merit at the conclusion.
8 Oct 2025

Machik Labdrön

attributed to Machik Labdrön
Two frequently cited lines on the importance of cultivating balanced attention that is simultaneously alert and relaxed.
Meditation 7 Oct 2025

Milarepa

by Milarepa
Four commonly cited lines on the dedication of merit, through which meditators and their sponsors may attain enlightenment together.
Dedication 8 Oct 2025
attributed to Milarepa
These four lines, attributed to Milarepa, explain how deeper reflection on death and impermanence can lead to an understanding of the nature of mind, which is itself beyond death.
Impermanence 17 Sep 2025

Mipham Rinpoche

by Mipham Rinpoche
Commonly cited verses from Mipham Rinpoche's treatise Beacon of Certainty (nges shes sgron me) in which he addresses difficult points of philosophy from a Nyingma perspective.
13 Oct 2025

Nāgārjuna

by Nāgārjuna
A selection of commonly cited verses from Nāgārjuna's Ratnāvalī (Toh 4158), a letter addressed to a king and part of his collection of advice.
Karma Impermanence 15 Sep 2025

Ngok Loden Sherab

attributed to Ngok Loden Sherab
A well-known verse attributed to Ngok Loden Sherab in which he professes his inferiority to the greatest translators of earlier generations—Vairotsana, Kawa Paltsek, Chokro Lüi Gyaltsen and Rinchen Zangpo.
16 Sep 2025

Padmasambhava

attributed to Padmasambhava
Two oft-quoted lines on the need to respect the infallibility of karma even while embracing the view of the highest teachings.
Karma 2 Oct 2025
attributed to Padmasambhava
These four lines, spoken by Guru Padmasambhava to Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo during a pure vision recorded in the latter's biography, are said to constitute a pointing-out instruction.
30 Sep 2025

Sakya Paṇḍita

by Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen
Sakya Paṇḍita's famous verse in which he employs the word for "I" or "me" eight times as he asserts his own erudition and superiority in the various branches of knowledge.
Scholasticism 16 Sep 2025
by Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen
Commonly cited verses from Analysis of the Three Sets of Vows (sdom gsum rab dbye), Sakya Paṇḍita's magnum opus on the pratimokṣa precepts, bodhisattva vows and tantric samayas.
7 Oct 2025
by Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyaltsen
Commonly cited verses from The Treasury of Logic and Epistemology (tshad ma rigs gter), Sakya Paṇḍita's celebrated work on pramāṇa.
Tsema Rikter 22 Sep 2025

Śāntarakṣita

by Śāntarakṣita
A selection of frequently cited verses from Śāntarakṣita’s The Ornament for the Middle Way (Madhyamakālaṅkāra, Toh 3884).
Middle Way Emptiness 24 Sep 2025

Saraha

by Saraha
These two lines from Doha­koṣa­gīti (Toh 2224) are often cited in discussions of advanced view and meditation.
6 Oct 2025
by Saraha
These two lines from Saraha’s Dohakoṣopadeśagīti (Toh 2264) are frequently employed in discussions on the pitfalls of nihilism and mistaken views of emptiness.
17 Sep 2025

Tilopa

by Tilopa
These lines, on the need to cut attachment, are among the most frequently cited in the whole Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
8 Oct 2025

Tripiṭakamāla

by Tripiṭakamāla
Commonly cited verses from Tripiṭakamāla's Lamp for the Three Approaches (Nayatrayapradīpa, Toh 3707).
Vehicles 7 Oct 2025

Vasubandhu

by Vasubandhu
A selection of frequently cited verses from the Abhidharmakośa, Vasubandhu's influential treatise on psychology, cosmology and metaphysics.
Abhidharmakośa Karma 15 Sep 2025

Words of the Buddha

from the Words of the Buddha
This popular four-line verse on the power of intention is drawn from The Sūtra on the Array of Qualities in Mañjuśrī’s Pure Realm (Toh 59).
17 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
There are many versions of these famous four lines on the need to examine the Buddha's words rather than simply accepting them out of respect. The version here is taken from Śāntarakṣita’s Tattvasaṃgraha (Toh 4266).
8 Oct 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from the Diamond Cutter or Vajracchedikā (Toh 16), popularly known as the Diamond Sūtra.
Prajñāpāramitā 24 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from the Jewel Cloud or Ratnamegha Sūtra (dkon mchog sprin, Toh 231).
Karma 7 Oct 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from The Verse Summary of the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagāthā, Toh 13).
Prajñāpāramitā 24 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from the King of Samādhi Sūtra (Samādhirājasūtra, Toh 16).
Emptiness 24 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from the Lalitavistara Sūtra (rgya cher rol pa, Toh 95).
Buddha Śākyamuni 25 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited extracts from The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 12).
Prajñāpāramitā Emptiness 24 Sep 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited lines from the Sūtra of the Meeting of Father and Son (Skt. Pitāputra-samāgamana Sūtra; Tib. yab sras mjal ba'i mdo, Toh 60).
Two Truths Buddha Śākyamuni 6 Oct 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
Commonly cited verses from the Sūtra on the Ten Factors (Skt. Daśadharmaka Sūtra; Tib. chos bcu pa'i mdo, Toh 53).
Buddha Nature 6 Oct 2025
from the Words of the Buddha
A selection of popular quotations from the Udānavarga (ched du brjod pa'i tshoms, Toh 326), the Collection of Inspired Utterances or Deliberate Sayings, which is sometimes called the Tibetan Dhammapada.
Impermanence Karma 25 Sep 2025

Āryadeva

© Tertön Sogyal Trust. Painted by Salga.

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ISSN 2753-4812

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