The very first noble truth of the Buddha points out that suffering is inevitable for human beings as long as we believe that things last—that they don’t disintegrate, that they can be counted on to satisfy our hunger for security.

Hold the sadness and pain of samsara [suffering, confusion] in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun [fundamental awake human nature]. Then the warrior [brave enough to look at & work with reality] can make a proper cup of tea.

Don’t worry about achieving. Don’t worry about perfection. Just be there each moment as best you can.

Appreciate everything, even the ordinary... Especially the ordinary.

The real thing that we renounce is the tenacious hope that we could be saved from being who we are.

We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice.

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