Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allowing ourselves to move gently toward what scares us.

When Things Fall Apart” and I quote “Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don't get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It's a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs.

By not knowing, not hoping to know and not acting like we know what's happening, we begin to access our inner strength.

The teacher will never give up on the student no matter how mixed up he or she might be

We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.

At some point, we realize that what we do for ourselves benefits others, and what we do for others benefits us.

Surrendering, letting go of possessiveness, and complete nonattachment-all are synonyms for accumulating merit.