Whether we're in retreat or out in the world, we should try to develop the quality of awareness as much as possible.

The more you realize, the more you realize how much there is to realize and, at the same time, how much you realize that there is nothing to realize. So, it's an enormous job, not something that is going to be finished in this lifetime.

If you want to be a doctor, you may say, There are all these beings, they're sick, they're dying, I've got to go out and help them. And so you grab a bag full of scalpels and medicine and rush off. Even though your motivation is very pure, you end up harming beings because you don't know what you're doing.

First you have to help yourself.

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.

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

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