People assume that happiness stems from collecting things outside of yourself, whereas true happiness stems from removing things from inside of yourself

Always embrace the common humanity that lies at the heart of us all.

There is a true feminist movement in Buddhism that relates to the goddess Tārā. Following her cultivation of bodhicitta, the bodhisattva's motivation, she looked upon the situation of those striving towards full awakening and she felt that there were too few people who attained Buddhahood as women. So she vowed, 'I have developed bodhicitta as a woman. For all my lifetimes along the path I vow to be born as a woman, and in my final lifetime when I attain Buddhahood, then, too, I will be a woman.'

If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.

I request you to try to be warm-hearted. I ask this of you because these mental attitudes actually bring us happiness.

We should reflect on the idea that since the beginning of time sentient beings have been mentally unstable because they have been slaves of delusion, they lack the eye of wisdom to see the path leading to nirvana and enlightenment, and they lack the necessary guidance of a spiritual teacher. Moment by moment they are indulging in negative actions, which will eventually bring about their downfall.

The nature of our motivation determines the character of our work.