Judged by the normal standards of human affairs, the lives of men and women of God may look overburdened with suffering, and even inconclusive.
We look at the world through our likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, opinions and judgments. We want everyone to behave as we think they should; otherwise we get agitated. But we are here to accept the world as it is, even as we work to make it better.
A calm mind releases the most precious capacity a human being can have: the capacity to turn anger into compassion, fear into fearlessness, and hatred into love.
When someone at peace and free from hurry enters a room, that person has a calming effect on everyone present.
Whatever we have done, we can always make amends for it without ever looking back in guilt or sorrow.
Meditation is warm-up exercise for the mind, so that you can jog through the rest of the day without getting agitated or spraining your patience.
When we go slower, we are more patient and when we are more patient we have a choice in how we respond.
Nothing really worth having comes quickly and easily. If it did, I doubt that we would ever grow.
The real essentials of life – compassion, kindness, good will, forgiveness – are what is fundamental to living as a true human being.
God made the senses turn outwards, man therefore looks outwards, not into himself. But occasionally a daring soul, desiring immortality, has looked back and found himself.
Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose.