The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

When you have made good friends with yourself, your situation will be more friendly too.

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.

Many people hope a spiritual practice will let them avoid what they are ashamed of. But when you hide something from yourself, you are going to project it onto your world. You continually find it in others and it becomes the source of prejudices and dogmatic views. On top of that, you feel bad about yourself, because you aren't the loving, open-minded, "spiritual" person you'd like to be.

All the terrible things we do to ourselves and others from alcoholism to character assignation to abuse to murder come from one cause: the inability to stay present with an uncomfortable feeling in the body and seek short-term relief.

Meditation is not about getting out of ourselves or achieving something better. It is about getting in touch with what you already are.

You are the sky. Everything else - it’s just the weather.