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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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

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

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.