As Gandhi wisely points out, even as we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts as well. It is not a question of who is healed first. When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy, more healing is made available for others. And when we serve others with an open and generous heart, great healing comes to us.

The last place we tend to look for healing is within ourselves.

All life has emptiness at its core; it is the quiet hollow reed through which the wind of God blows and makes the music that is our life.

A kind life...is fundamentally a life of courage.

Because we do not rest we lose our way...Poisoned by the hypnotic belief that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort, we never truly rest. And for want of rest, our lives are in danger.

Be not afraid. A kind life, a life of spirit, is fundamentally a life of courage-the courage simply to bring what you have, to bring who you are.

The more spacious and larger our fundamental nature, the more bearable the pains in living.