To discover your real questions, simply take a time-out. Stop looking ahead of yourself at where you’re going or backward at where you’ve been. When you do stop, there’s a sense of going nowhere. There’s a sense of gap, which is a tremendous relief. You can simply breathe and be who you are.

The truth about who we really are, beyond all appearances, is knowledge worth seeking.

In each meditation session, we gather knowledge about the mind through observation, questioning, and testing. We do this over and over, until we gradually develop a meaningful understanding of our own mind.

How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his own experience - free from the clouds of religiosity that often surround them Yet it's difficult to distinguish the tools themselves from their cultural packaging.

When we wake up from our confused state of mind, that is enlightenment.

There is no inherent awakening power in cultural forms that have become dissociated from the wisdom and practicality that gave birth to them. They turn into illusions themselves and become part of the drama of religious culture. Although they can make us happy temporarily, they can't free us from suffering, so at some point, they become a source of disappointment and discouragement. Eventually, these forms may inspire nothing more than resistance to their authority.

True wisdom is free of the dramas of culture or religion and should bring us only a sense of peace and happiness.