Using your human life to achieve trivial aims is like storing garbage in a golden vase.

“Look at the country where you are now. How many people have ever heard the term “the Three Jewels” or the sound of OM MANI PADME HUM? And how many have not? You can appreciate the rarity of hearing the Dharma and the even greater rarity of meeting an authentic teacher. But even so-called Dharma practitioners hardly know how to follow a spiritual teacher properly: they live with plenty of expectations, plenty of defects, and plenty of wild thoughts. Using your human life to achieve trivial aims is like storing garbage in a golden vase.”

— Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, from “Pith Instructions”

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