--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Realization is wonderful, but you have to…" description: "\"Realization is wonderful, but you have to expand it until there's not a single defilement left in the mind and the mind is completely open and spacious..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8e/tenzin-palmo-1431_conditions_realization-is-wonderful-but-you-have-to_116130.png" --- # Realization is wonderful, but you have to expand it until… ![“Realization is wonderful, but you have to expand it until there's not a single defilement left in the mind and the mind is completely open and spacious. Even in that condition, you still use the relative mind. You use them both.” quote by Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8e/tenzin-palmo-1431_conditions_realization-is-wonderful-but-you-have-to_116130.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8e/tenzin-palmo-1431_conditions_realization-is-wonderful-but-you-have-to_116130.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8e/tenzin-palmo-1431_conditions_realization-is-wonderful-but-you-have-to_116130.png) > “Realization is wonderful, but you have to expand it until there's not a single defilement left in the mind and the mind is completely open and spacious. Even in that condition, you still use the relative mind. You use them both.” [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True insight requires fully clearing mental obscurations, creating an open, spacious mind while still operating with ordinary cognition. **In simple terms:** Clear the mind, then act with ordinary awareness. Key Takeaway Purify the mind, then function normally. Themes mindfulness spiritual growth mental clarity dual awareness Mood calm reflective Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - Meditation retreat - Therapeutic self‑inquiry - Creative problem‑solving Key Concepts non-dual perception psychological spaciousness Practical Applications - Practice daily mental decluttering - Use both intuitive and analytical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How does a spacious mind affect decision‑making? - What practices help maintain openness while acting? A Different Perspective Even a cleared mind can be biased by cultural conditioning; openness alone doesn't guarantee wisdom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Defilement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defilement/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realization/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [“All truth is relative. Relative to your mind or the mind of another human being. When you say, 'I’m right and the next person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ries-jack-trout/all-truth-is-relative-relative-to-your-mind-or-the-mind-of-another/) Al Ries, Jack Trout > [“It is but few who hear about the Self. Fewer still dedicate their lives to its Realization. Wonderful is the one Who speaks about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-but-few-who-hear-about-the-self-fewer-still-dedicate-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The nature of the mind is completely incredible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-nature-of-the-mind-is-completely-incredible/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [I think I'm absolutely perfect. Because if I'm not good at something I completely banish it from my mind. Completely. Like it never happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-meaden/i-think-i-m-absolutely-perfect-because-if-i-m-not-good-at-something-i/) [Deborah Meaden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-meaden/) > [“In meditation practice, we neither hold the mind very tightly nor let it go completely. 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My mind has to be completely focused on my own illusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mcqueen/i-never-look-at-other-people-s-work-my-mind-has-to-be-completely/) [Alexander McQueen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mcqueen/) > [Can the mind become completely still without coercion, without compulsion, without discipline?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/can-the-mind-become-completely-still-without-coercion-without/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Only when the mind is completely alone can it know what is beauty, and not in any other state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/only-when-the-mind-is-completely-alone-can-it-know-what-is-beauty-and/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I relax my body completely, relax my mind completely, and then imagine myself at a level where anything can happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/i-relax-my-body-completely-relax-my-mind-completely-and-then-imagine/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [The very attention given to finding out if the mind can be completely quiet is quietness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/the-very-attention-given-to-finding-out-if-the-mind-can-be-completely/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“There is nothing simpler than carrying out the impossible. You just have to imagine what you must do, and turn your mind off completely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frei/there-is-nothing-simpler-than-carrying-out-the-impossible-you-just/) [Max Frei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frei/) > [If you want to become enlightened, you've got to get all the bullshit out of your life. You have to clear up your mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-want-to-become-enlightened-you-ve-got-to-get-all-the-bullshit/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“My mind is completely addicted to him. Jacobism - he's my disease.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-ingro/my-mind-is-completely-addicted-to-him-jacobism-he-s-my-disease/) [Jessica Ingro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-ingro/) > [You can look only when the mind is completely quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-look-only-when-the-mind-is-completely-quiet/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) ## More by Tenzin Palmo > [All of us are playing roles, and there's nothing wrong with playing roles because we have to live in this world - the problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/all-of-us-are-playing-roles-and-there-s-nothing-wrong-with-playing/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-very-best-players-when-they-are-practicing-put-everything-they-ve/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [I really don't know what I could teach and don't really plan to teach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/i-really-don-t-know-what-i-could-teach-and-don-t-really-plan-to-teach/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [If you go to any nunnery and ask them what the main obstacle is, they'll always say low self-esteem and lack of confidence. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/if-you-go-to-any-nunnery-and-ask-them-what-the-main-obstacle-is-they/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [For any practice to work, the mind which is meditating on the object must merge. Often they are facing each other. 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