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

There is no emptiness without appearance, and there is no appearance without emptiness. That is what we call the interdependent nature.

In the end, we have nothing to lose by opening our hearts.

The true opponent in a debate on emptiness is your own ego.

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

That is the essence and mission of 'rebel buddha': to free us from the illusions we create by ourselves, about ourselves, and from those that masquerade as reality in our cultural and religious institutions.

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.