Perhaps one of the main antidotes to depression, lack of self-esteem, loneliness and so forth is the recognition that we really do have Buddha nature. All the other problems like anger, jealousy, ambitions, are merely habitual patterns that we've learned, but aren't inherent to who we are.

We do look for inspiration amongst our own sex. Why not? You go into temples and they're full of all the lineage lamas who are male. What message does that give to a young girl, except that somehow she got trapped in the wrong body because of bad things she did in a past life?

Obviously being relaxed doesn't mean that you make no effort.

Whether we're in retreat or out in the world, we should try to develop the quality of awareness as much as possible.

The more you realize, the more you realize how much there is to realize and, at the same time, how much you realize that there is nothing to realize. So, it's an enormous job, not something that is going to be finished in this lifetime.

You can still practice to be a better and kinder and happier person. That's perfectly possible.

One thing in the Buddhadharma is that we are not our body, we are not our gender.