Everything - a bird, a tree, even a simple stone, and certainly a human being - is ultimately unknowable. This is because it has unfathomable depth. All we can perceive, experience, think about, is the surface layer of reality, less than the tip of an iceberg. Underneath the surface appearance, everything is not only connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all life out of which it came. Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself.

The 'soul' is one of the words you can use to talk about your innermost being, the essence of who you are.

For spiritual teachers, it is important not to identify with the image people inevitably have of them.

Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.

So one could say that the only real problem is dysfunctional thinking, the rest are challenges, not problems.

I sometimes say to people, "I am a window frame - no more. The window frame is not that important. What is important is the light that comes through the window.

Beyond the beauty of external forms, there is more here: something that cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present.