I don't know why I got reborn as a female. Maybe in my past life I had some sympathy or something for women, but I certainly wasn't a female last time.

It's unlikely that you were a frog in a past life.

When I was 18 I read a book about Buddhism and, before I was halfway through it I said to my mother, "I'm a Buddhist!" She said, "That's great. Finish reading the book and then you can tell me all about it." From that moment on I knew I was a Buddhist.

Just because someone is very charismatic, it doesn't mean that they're genuinely qualified.

From the point of view of the relative world, merit is very important.

Other people may tell us, "Oh, you're so much nicer." Of course you can't hope that other people will tell you that you're so much nicer, but that's always a good sign. Perhaps people find that you're easier to live with.

The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's the same in dharma practice.