When our desires are fulfilled, and we still feel unhappy - this is the moment we begin the process of letting go.

If I had been born in Germany with family of Nazis and if I had been raised with those beliefs, there was very little chance that I wouldn't be exactly like all those guards and all those people who tortured everybody.

I just try to keep my heart open. By this, I mean to try not to let my own programmed reaction to things keep me closed down for too long.

The heart in us is deeper than any emotion or psychological issue.

Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment.

We have to learn to love people even if they are not giving you what you want... and then not take it personally. If you feel hurt, you have to recognize that they are not hurting you because you are you, but because they are them. You have to try not to be so hard on yourself.

Real compassion is not emotional. Real compassion is based on the experience that all beings, which might appear separate, are actually a part of my own body, and I am a part of the body of the universe. We are not separate. So if one being hurts, I also hurt.