When life takes away the forms that you thought were the foundation of your life, what's left? The life that needs no foundation - that is the foundation. The formless. The essence.

Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.

People don't realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.

Only by awakening can you know the true meaning of that word.

I have spoken to many people who have begun to live in presence, and they find many changes come into their lives. Sometimes these changes happen as inner realizations - "This is what I have to do" - or they arise from the external when something suddenly happens.

[Relationships] do not cause pain and unhappiness. They bring out the pain and unhappiness that is already in you