Life's work is to wake up, to let the things that enter your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.

This moving away from comfort and security, this stepping out into what is unknown, uncharted and shaky - that's called liberation.

We can stop thinking that good practice is when it’s smooth and calm, and bad practice is when it’s rough and dark. If we can hold it all in our hearts, then we can make a proper cup of tea.

Feeling irritated, restless, afraid, and hopeless is a reminder to listen more carefully.

If we begin to get in touch with whatever we feel with some kind of kindness, our protective shells will melt, and we'll find that more areas of our lives are workable. AS we learn to have compassion for ourselves, the circle of compassion for others-what and whom we can work with, and how-becomes wider.

What you do for yourself, any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself, will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you’re doing for others, and what you do for others, you’re doing for yourself.

At the root of all the harm we cause is ignorance.