Buddhism itself is all about empowering yourself, not about getting what you want.

There's nothing more important on our spiritual path than developing gentleness to oneself.

Lean into the sharp points and fully experience them. The essence of bravery is being without self-deception. Wisdom is inherent in (understanding) emotions.

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

To cultivate equanimity we practice catching ourselves when we feel attraction or aversion, before it hardens into grasping or negativity.

All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy. (10)