Most spiritual experiences begin with suffering. They begin with groundlessness. They begin when the rug has been pulled out from under us.
While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves.
Resistance to unwanted circumstances has the power to keep those circumstances alive and well for a very long time.
I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.
We can stop thinking that good practice is when it’s smooth and calm, and bad practice is when it’s rough and dark. If we can hold it all in our hearts, then we can make a proper cup of tea.
The Buddha taught that we’re not actually in control, which is a pretty scary idea. But when you let things be as they are, you will be a much happier, more balanced, compassionate person.
Being fully present isn’t something that happens once and then you have achieved it; it’s being awake to the ebb and flow and movement and creation of life, being alive to the process of life itself.
Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back.
The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.
Opening to the world begins to benefit ourselves and others simultaneously. The more we relate with others, the more quickly we discover where we’re blocked.
Patience is not learned in safety.
Honesty without kindness, humor, and goodheartedness can be just mean.
Discomfort of any kind becomes the basis for practice. We breathe in knowing our pain is shared.
The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something – usually ourselves.
When you open the door and invite in all sentient beings as your guests, you have to drop your agenda.
In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.
When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast and limitless.
Let the hard things in life break you. Let them effect you. Let them change you. Let these hard moments inform you. Let this pain be your teacher. The experiences of your life are trying to tell you something about yourself. Don’t cop out on that. Don’t run away and hide under your covers. Lean into it.
The problem is that the desire to change is fundamentally a form of aggression toward yourself. The other problem is that our hang-ups, unfortunately or fortunately, contain our wealth. Our neurosis and our wisdom are made out of the same material. If you throw out your neurosis, you also throw out your wisdom.
Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news.” – Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
One piece of advice that Don Juan gave to Carlos Castaneda was to do everything as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered, while all the time knowing that it doesn’t matter at all.