We are like children building a sand castle. We embellish it with beautiful shells, bits of driftwood, and pieces of colored glass. The castle is ours, off limits to others. We’re willing to attack if others threaten to hurt it. Yet despite all our attachment, we know that the tide will inevitably come in and sweep the sand castle away. The trick is to enjoy it fully but without clinging, and when the time comes, let it dissolve back into the sea.

Each time you stay present with fear and uncertainty, you're letting go of a habitual way of finding security and comfort.

Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there's anywhere to hide.

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

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

People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.

We practice to liberate ourselves from a burden.