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

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

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

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.

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.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

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

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

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

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

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

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 most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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

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

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.