Differences in religious beliefs, politics, social status, and position are all secondary. When we look at someone with compassion, we are able to see beyond these secondary differences and connect to the primary essence that binds all humans together as one.

A sense of contentment is a key factor for attaining happiness

I don't take myself too seriously! That makes me happy.

We have made a great effort to maintain all levels of Buddhist education; it has helped us have a kind of renaissance, really.

Love and compassion ... are the ultimate source of human happiness, and the need for them lies at the very core of our being.

I have never been any place where I was not first invited. And upon invitation, if I feel that there is potential for making some contribution to humanity, I will comply in spite of being tired.

What acts as a far more effective circumstance for generating compassion and what, in fact, rouses us from our comfortable meditation seat is actually seeing or hearing others - encountering others directly, not just conceptually in our imagination.