There is a vast territory between what we're trying to leave behind, and where we want to go - and we don't have any maps for that territory.

Enlightenment is a group activity.

When both sides of a controversy revel in the defeat and humiliation of the other side, in fact they are on the same side: the side of war.

The state of interbeing is a vulnerable state. It is the vulnerability of the naive altruist, of the trusting lover, of the unguarded sharer. To enter it, one must leave behind the seeming shelter of a control-based life, protected by walls of cynicism, judgment, and blame.

We have to believe in a more beautiful world in order to serve it.

Traditional spirituality often made pleasure, joy, good feelings. the things to overcome. It said you couldn't just indulge in your desires; that would be selfish. Anyone who has been in a spiritual community recognizes the dangers of this kind of joyless spirituality, where everything is somber and heavy and serious. We recognize that as kind of a trap, a false path.

When do you manipulate others for your own advantage? When I notice myself doing it, usually it is when I am feeling insecure.