Sticking with uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.