The first noble truth of the Buddha is that when we feel suffering, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong. What a relief.

Our wisdom is all mixed up with what we call our neurosis. Our brilliance, our juiciness, our spiciness, is all mixed up with our craziness and our confusion, and therefore it doesn’t do any good to try to get rid of our so-called negative aspects, because in that process we also get rid of our basic wonderfulness. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we’re doing rather than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we’re doing. The key is to wake up, to become more alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves.

If it's painful, you become willing not just to endure it but also to let it awaken your heart and soften you. You learn to embrace it.

It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up space.

Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future.

Sitting meditation gives us a way to move closer to our thoughts and emotions and to get in touch with our bodies.

By the way that we think and by the way that we believe in things, in that way our world is created.