Better to join in with humanity than to set ourselves apart.

We are all capable of becoming fundamentalists because we get addicted to other people's wrongness.

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.

We spend all our energy and waste our lives trying to re-create these zones of safety, which are always falling apart. That's the essence of samsara - the cycle of suffering that comes from continuing to seek happiness in all the wrong places.

The wisdom, the strength, the confidence - the awakened heart and mind are always accessible -- here, now, always.

Many people hope a spiritual practice will let them avoid what they are ashamed of. But when you hide something from yourself, you are going to project it onto your world. You continually find it in others and it becomes the source of prejudices and dogmatic views. On top of that, you feel bad about yourself, because you aren't the loving, open-minded, "spiritual" person you'd like to be.

Tonglen practice begins to dissolve the illusion that each of us is alone with this personal suffering that no one else can understand.