All ego really is, is our opinions, which we take to be solid, real, and the absolute truth about how things are.

Lower your standards and relax as it is.

Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what's out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive.

Difficult things provoke all your irritations and bring your habitual patterns to the surface. And that becomes the moment of truth. You have the choice to launch into your lousy habitual patterns, or to stay with the rawness and discomfort of the situation and let it transform you.

Sometimes people's spiritual ideas become fixed and they use them against those who don't share their beliefs - in effect, becoming fundamentalist. It's very dangerous - the finger of righteous indignation pointing at someone who is identified as bad or wrong.