If you abuse power, you will be burned and then you will learn...if you live.

The spirit of the West, of America, is different than the East. The cultural conditioning is very different. It seems to be harder for people to work in teams, more difficult for people here to live in harmony, in a monastery.

To have the detached eye of the occultist, to look outward, to not be so self-reflective and to learn to step through the various viewpoints of consciousness - that we call occultism - leads to freedom.

It's suggested that enlightenment has some tremendous compassion, some driving necessity to help humanity. I don't think that's the case at all. I think humanity wishes it were the case since it's humanity that writes the various scriptures.

All the records of your past lives are contained within your own mind, just as the records of your ancestors are contained within your DNA.

Say, for example, you develop the ability to make parking meters disappear. It's probably easier to put a quarter in it. That would be the wisdom on the subject.

When you visit the Zen Monasteries, one of the first things required is that you bring a donation. They have to pay for those monasteries. The upkeep is fantastic. The monks have to be fed, and so on.