The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment.

For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes.

Sitting meditation gives us a way to move closer to our thoughts and emotions and to get in touch with our bodies.

In truth, there is enormous space in which to live our everyday lives.

Most spiritual experiences begin with suffering. They begin with groundlessness. They begin when the rug has been pulled out from under us.

We feel that we have to be right so that we can feel good... The whole right and wrong business closes us down and makes our world smaller.

Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.