A successful relationship depends on us recognising our own painful feelings and emotions inside – not fighting them, but accepting, embracing, and transforming them to get relief.
There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way. There is no way to enlightenment; enlightenment is the way.
Without compassion, you are utterly alone.
Life is real; it’s not a dream when mindfulness is there.
We may have suffered a lot because of our attachment to those things, but we don’t have the courage to release them; it doesn’t feel safe to do so. But it may be that we continue to suffer because of our attachment to those things. It may be a person, a material object, or a position in society, anything. We think that without that person or thing we will not be safe, and that is why we’re caught by it.
Invite your fear into consciousness, and smile through it; every time you smile through your fear, it will lose some of its strength.
Compassion doesn’t mean that you have to love that person who’s so difficult. But if you stop and look deeper, you’ll see that person’s difficulties. If you can accept him, then you can love him.
When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, even if by continuing to concentrate on the breath the feeling or thought passes naturally from the mind. The intention isn’t to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence.
Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.
To be a friend means to offer happiness. If love doesn’t offer happiness, if it makes the other person cry all the time, then it’s not love; it’s the opposite.
Stress accumulates in our body. The way we eat, drink, and live takes its toll on our well-being. Lying down and bringing gentle awareness to our breath, we can realize rest and recovery for our physical body.
The Four Establishments of Mindfulness are the foundation of our dwelling place. Without them, our house is abandoned; no one is sweeping, dusting or tidying up. Our body becomes unkempt, or feelings full of suffering, and our mind a heap of afflictions. When we are truly home, our body, mind, and feelings will be a refuge for ourselves and others.
Every time we truly stop and look deeply, the result is a better understanding of the true nature of what is there inside us and around us.
Time has much more value than money. Time is life. Money is nothing compared with life. In two hours of drinking tea together, we don’t get money, but we do get life.
If your love is true love, it will benefit not only humans, but also animals, plants, and minerals. When you love one person, it’s an opportunity for you to love everyone, all beings. Then you are going in a good direction, and that is true love. But if you love someone and you get caught up in suffering and attachment, then you get cut off from others. That’s not true love.
While practicing mindfulness, don’t be dominated by the distinction between good and evil, thus creating a battle within oneself.
In. Out. Deep. Slow. Calm. Ease. Smile. Release. Present moment. Wonderful moment.
You discover that the main cause of your suffering is the seed of anger in you, because it has been watered too often, by yourself and by other people.
Happiness can be attained by letting go, including letting go of your ideas about happiness.
Many years ago, I recognized that by understanding your own tradition better, you also develop increased respect, consideration, and understanding for others. I had had a naive thought, a kind of prejudice inherited from my ancestors. I thought that because Buddha had taught for forty-five years and Jesus for only two or three, that Buddha must have been a more accomplished teacher. I had that thought because I did not know the teachings of the Buddha well enough. One.