One time the glorious Lama Atisha was asked by his disciples, “What is the highest teaching of the path?”
Lama Atisha replied:
“The highest skill is the realization of selflessness.
The highest nobility is subduing your own mind.
The highest excellence is having a mind that seeks to help others.
The highest precept is continual mindfulness.
The highest remedy is understanding the essencelessness of all things.
The highest activity is not to conform to worldly concerns.
The highest accomplishment is the reduction and transmutation of the passions.
The highest giving is found in non-attachment.
The highest moral practice is a peaceful mind.
The highest patience is humility.
The highest effort is to abandon attachment to activities.
The highest meditation is the mind without pretension.
The highest wisdom is not to grasp anything as it appears.”
