Until you are open, you cannot receive.

To become effortless takes a lot of effort. It's good to compare it to learning an instrument or learning a sport.

Yes, times are not good, but when were times good? This is samsara.

When one has a decisive realization of the inherent nature of the mind, which has no ego, it has no sense of duality between oneself and the cup, and a deep sense of interpenetration of the whole dharma. Then whatever we do is spontaneously perfect Buddha activity. And anybody who is even slightly tuned in will get a very deep experience of that.

Just entering into the dharma and taking refuge and bodhisattva vows is a tremendous amount of merit, but we need more and more and more.

Our relative being is what rules our relative world.

We should develop a deep appreciation for all the we have, and not waste it, otherwise we'll die with deep regrets.