Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. Why? Because it is all we ever have.

When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.

What if rather than being disheartened by the ambiguity, the uncertainty of life, we accepted it and relaxed into it?

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.

It's helpful to remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever arises, without picking and choosing.

Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. . . Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold: if we just do the right things, someone will appreciate us and take care of us. . . Nontheism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves.