It takes tremendous self-restraint on the part of the student not to want to monopolize the teacher's attention, to live a very controlled life and a happy life, and of course, be dedicated to the cause.

In Nirvana, it is you, my friend, who goes away. You take an eraser and erase yourself. It's like the Road Runner cartoons where in the middle of the cartoon, the hand of the artist appears on the screen and erases the Road Runner.

Love can be used to drain people. Through eye contact people send a cord out to drain you long distance. Through sexual manipulation, anyone who can make you like them can drain you.

Of course, there are the old hardcore teacher types like me who sit around and tell jokes, realizing, what's the difference anyway - it's all timeless.

The only reason you feel pain is because you're so busy looking at yourself instead of looking at the wonderful patterns of light. If you become absorbed in the wonderful patterns of light, then there's no pain.

In the advanced practice, the relationship between the Zen master and the student becomes very terse. The Zen master will expect things of the student because the student is in graduate school.

You don't need anybody to tell you what is right or wrong. What you need, perhaps, is someone to show you how to come to those understandings.