The biggest obstacle to taking a bigger perspective on life is that our emotions capture and blind us.

If you ask why we meditate, I would say it's so we can become more flexible and tolerant to the present moment.

The way I regard those who hurt me today will affect how I experience the world in the future. In any encounter, we have a choice: we can strengthen our resentment or our understanding and empathy. We can widen the gap between ourselves and others or lessen it.

So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.

If we want there to be peace in the world, we have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid in our hearts, to find the soft spot and stay with it. We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility. That’s the true practice of peace.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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