There's a reason you can learn from everything: you have basic wisdom, basic intelligence, and basic goodness.

The truth is that good and bad coexist; sour and sweet coexist. They aren't really opposed to each other.

When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to. We feel we're supposed to be better than we are in some way. But with this practice you take yourself completely as you are. Then ironically, taking in pain - breathing it in for yourself and all others in the same boat as you are heightens your awareness of exactly where you're stuck.

Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives. It's about seeing how we react to all these things. It's seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat. It's about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness.

Treat yourself as your own beloved child.

The idea of karma is that you continually get the teaching that you need to open your heart.

The most heartbreaking thing of all is how we cheat ourselves of the present moment.