I am determined to practice deep listening. I am determined to practice loving speech.
In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.
To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.
Our notions about happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. We fail to see the opportunity for joy that is right in front of us when we are caught in a belief that happiness should take a particular form.
The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.
In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.
If we do not know how to take care of ourselves and to love ourselves, we cannot take care of the people we love. Loving oneself is the foundation for loving another person.
Those who are without compassion cannot see what is seen with the eyes of compassion.
Being rich is an obstacle to loving. When you are rich, you want to continue to be rich, and so you end up devoting all your time, all your energy, in your daily life to stay rich.
There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.
Being vegetarian here also means that we do not consume dairy and egg products, because they are products of the meat industry. If we stop consuming, they will stop producing. Only collective awakening can create enough determination for action.
As long as you find something beautiful, good, and true to believe in and abide by, you have the equivalent of God in your life.
May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.
If you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Anxiety, the illness of our time, comes primarily from our inability to dwell in the present moment.
Know that life can only be found in the present moment.
When our beliefs are based on our own direct experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us.
We will not just say, “I love him very much,” but instead, “I will do something so that he will suffer less.” The mind of compassion is truly present when it is effective in removing another person’s suffering.
The miracle is walking on the earth, not walking on water or fire. The real miracle is walking on this earth.