In the beginning especially, we won't realize we're changing.

Sometimes people come and they have so much pain and confusion in their eyes... what to do? A few words is a little bit of balm but doesn't really solve the deep disease within.

All the other religions I had ever read about dealt with the idea of God, and your relationship with God. Buddhism is the only religion that deals with man himself and the nature of the mind - how to deal with yourself and your condition, here and now, as opposed to having to deal with something outside yourself.

The first thing is to learn how to quiet the mind, relax the mind, and bring the awareness to the front so that we are conscious of what we're doing when we're doing it without all the commentary.

There are wars, there's pestilence, there are plagues, there is corruption in religious circles, corruption in the government, when was it not?

When I was in retreat I just did my meditation sessions and, in-between, reading and things I had to do.

In one way I would like to teach, but I have no qualifications to teach Westerners.