We need courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit. But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart. We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy-mate rial or spiritual. We need a warrior’s heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.

Though outer events may be difficult, the key to our happiness is how our mind responds to them.

One day Mara, the Buddhist god of ignorance and evil, was traveling through the villages of India with his attendants. He saw a man doing walking meditation whose face was lit up in wonder. The man had just discovered something on the ground in front of him. Mara's attendants asked what that was and Mara replied, "A piece of truth." "Doesn't this bother you when someone finds a piece of the truth, O evil one?" his attendants asked. "No," Mara replied. "Right after this they usually make a belief out of it."

The light around someone who speaks truth, who consistently acts with compassion for all, even in great difficulty, is visible to all around them.

Through practice, gently and gradually we can collect ourselves and learn how to be more fully with what we do.

All of spiritual practice is a matter of relationship: to ourselves, to others, to life's situations.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another - and ourselves.