In poetry, and in my study in graduate school, I was drawn to a particular poet, Theodore Roethke. I did a dissertation on "The Evolution of Matter and Spirit in the Poetry of Theodore Roethke" for my Ph.D.

If you must go to a negative place of power, go to them in a very conservative way. You must go to them when your power is up. It is like going to war. You have got to be ready if you are going to survive.

Is there Chance? No. There is karma. Karma causes all things to happen. There is only one thing karma cannot decide, and that is how far you will evolve in this lifetime.

Happiness is not freedom. You may become happy tomorrow; but I assure you, your happiness will be smashed by the pains of your body as you age, by the all-encompassing death that swallows up everything and everyone in this world.

Self-hate doesn't create enlightenment. It just causes you to not enjoy the current moment.

Everything is subtle. Everything has a million sides. Everything is a manifestation of god. Everything is light. All beings are infinite. All things are perfect, in their own way.

Be the exceptional being who separates themselves from the herd and the fate of the herd.