The hallucination of separateness prevents one from seeing that to cherish the ego is to cherish misery. We do not realize that our so-called love and concern for the individual is simply the other face of our own fear of death or rejection. In his exaggerated valuation of separate identity, the personal ego is sawing off the branch on which he is sitting, and then getting more and more anxious about the coming crash!

If we are unduly absorbed in improving our lives we may forget altogether to live them.

Of course, you can’t force your mind to be silent. That would be like trying to smooth ripples in water with a flatiron. Water becomes clear and calm only when left alone.

The morning glory which blooms for an hour differs not at heart from a giant pine that lives for a thousand years.

A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world.

LSD is simply an exploratory instrument like a microscope or telescope, except this one is inside of you instead of outside of you.

The trouble with many religions, accused of wishful thinking, is that they are not wishful enough. They show a deplorable lack of imagination.