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.

The sense that my world is stable and stationary, that change will never come and that all will go on continuously as it is, is the nature of all delusion.

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

The best defense against being hurt is to feel good about yourself and the way a person responds to you says more about them, than about you.

All conflict we experience in the world, is a conflict within our own selves.

If one's sense of self is obtained through the eyes of another it is always subject to being lost.

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.