People who work to bring about perfection see work as an extension of themselves. The point is to do a good job. That will empower you. To do a poor job will make you weaker.

The primary quality that Lao Tzu seems to emobdy is humility, which is the image of water - seeking the common level of existence.

The essence of all practice is to be cool. Life is not worth getting excited about because whatever you perceive is an illusion.

I entered a spiritual community when I was 20, which I was in for 11 year, with very strict meditative practices, with an Eastern teacher. It was very much like a religious order.

Take the level of dedication that anyone had to get to the top in any field, and apply it to self-discovery. Except that when you get to the top of anything else, it washes away. You will die. The only thing that stays with you forever is your awareness.

You will have to put aside some things in your life, habits, ideas, ways of seeing life. You will have to learn new things, and then new things and then new things - forever.

Sri Krishna's message is the message of anyone who comes from far away. His message is the same as Buddha, Lao Tsu, Bodhidharma, Milarepa, Padmasambhava.