When we are in a truly loving relationship, we receive the gift of being known and accepted. We become more, not less, of who we are. We receive the space in which to bloom. This is how we know we are in a loving relationship. We are blooming, and the one we love is blooming as well.

Whatever we can't love or accept in another, is a mirror of something we can't love or accept in ourselves.

God's guiding hand, the guiding Voice, resting lightly upon us is best felt and heard when we are silent and still.

Do not make this practice a source of pressure, compulsion, anxiety or pride. It is none of these. Zazen is simply a way to find your true home.

From the Zen view all beings are in the grip of the three poisons, greed, anger and delusion (ignorance).

We turn pain into suffering by adding on all kinds of beliefs, interpretations and judgments to it.

Consider for a moment what you pay attention to all day long. What seems important to you, what do you take for granted and hardly attend to at all? Write it down. Do not judge your answers. Be honest and simple. As you keep track all week long, you'll be amazed at what claims your attention, what you give your precious life force to.