Whenever we forgive, in small ways at home, or in great ways between nations, we free ourselves from the past.

Within each of us there is a silence as vast as the universe. We long for it. We can return to it.

We have only now, only this single eternal moment opening and unfolding before us, day and night.

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."

Your happiness and suffering depend on your actions and not on my wishes for you.

In any moment we can learn to let go of hatred and fear. We can rest in peace, love, and forgiveness. It is never too late. Yet to sustain love we need to develop practices that cultivate and strengthen the natural compassion within us.

We are awakened to the profound realization that the true path to liberation is to let go of everything.