In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

May you know the beauty of your own true nature.

In deep self acceptance, grows a compassionate understanding.

In Buddhist practice, the outward and inward aspects of taking the one seat meet on our meditation cushion.

Yes, there are troubles in the world. There's war and hatred, there's sickness and difficulty. And there is also an undying spirit, an inviolable consciousness that is born in each of us. It is who we are, and it's everything and it's nothing.

Yet I knew that spiritual practice is impossible without great dedication, energy, and commitment.