The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

Rejoicing in the good fortune of others is a practice that can help us when we feel emotionally shut down and unable to connect with others. Rejoicing generates good will.

The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

Simply be present with your own shifting energies and with the unpredictabilit y of life as it unfolds.

We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake

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

At least once a year, I imagine that I am about to die. Looking back as truthfully as I can at my entire life, I give full attention to the things I wish hadn’t occurred. Recognizing these mistakes honestly but without self-recrimination, I try to rejoice in the innate wisdom that allows me to see so bravely, and I feel compassion for how I so frequently messed up. Then I can go forward. The future is wide open, and what I do with it is up to me.