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

We need to be sincere in our practice, but at the same time we can't take ourselves too seriously.

Obviously the dharma is every breath we take, every thought we think, every word we speak, if we do it with awareness and an open, caring heart.

The internet can be enormously helpful, just like books can, but I don't think it's the be all and end all for really practicing Buddhism. At a certain point, as with learning any skill, we need personal instruction from someone who is more advanced than us.

I've always loved the Sangha. I have the deepest, deepest respect for them. I'm very sorry that in the West people don't appreciate what the monastic order is about.

In Dharma practice, the most important thing is to be very sincere.

In our endless past lives, we've all done everything, you name it, we've done it. Good, bad, intermediate.