So long as we are under the control of disturbing emotions, real happiness is hard to find.

When we encounter suffering, it is important to respond w/ compassion rather than to question the politics of those we help.

If a person's basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience.

For those who may not find happiness to exercise religious faith, it's okay to remain a radical atheist; it's absolutely an individual right, but the important thing is with a compassionate heart - then no problem.

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.

A calm mind helps our human intelligence to assess the situation realistically.

The essence of any religion is good heart. Sometimes I call love and compassion a universal religion. This is my religion.