We have to face the pain we have been running from. In fact, we need to learn to rest in it and let its searing power transform us.
Joko BeckPractice has to be a process of endless disappointment. We have to see that everything we demand (and even get) eventually disappoints us. This discovery is our teacher.
Joko BeckWe are always doing something to cover up our basic existential anxiety. Some people live that way until the day they die.
Joko BeckWe have self-centered minds which get us into plenty of trouble. If we do not come to understand the error in the way we think, our self-awareness, which is our greatest blessing, is also our downfall.
Joko BeckWhat does open us is sharing our vulnerabilities. Sometimes we see a couple who has done this difficult work over a lifetime. In the process, they have grown old together. We can sense the enormous comfort, the shared quality of ease between these people. It is beautiful, and very rare. Without this quality of openness and vulnerability, partners don't really know each other; they are one image living with another image.
Joko Beck