We don't always need to be sitting at the foot of the teacher, but from time to time we need someone who can overview us and give us direction.

I think, for East and West, the first thing we need is a good grounding in basic Buddhadharma.

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

Our pure awareness is not male or female.

Most of the spiritual traditions were very theistic and the idea of an external god pulling the strings didn't resonate with me. I then discovered Buddhism and found the perfect path. I felt so grateful to the Buddha for having given the path, and not just explaining the end result, but showing so clearly how to get there.

I remember asking my mother if she believed in reincarnation and she said that that sounded very sensible, and I thought, yes, it does to me too. So I always believed in it. I can't remember when I didn't.

In the texts, and as His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us, we should check the person's behavior not when they're sitting on a big throne, but behind the scenes. How do they treat ordinary people - not the big sponsors - but just ordinary people who are of no particular importance to them.