if we could let go

"The very act of clinging causes mental distress—have you ever noticed that longing hurts? Moreover, the exertions are futile since grasping cannot extend the life of pleasure, not even by a nanosecond. As for unpleasant sensations—in truth, they disappear in a moment, too. But when you feel averse to them, the pain doubles. It’s like trying to remove a thorn in your foot by piercing the skin with a second thorn. If we could let go, the mind wouldn't suffer."

- Cynthia Hatcher, "What's So Great About Now?"

our unique expression of the truth

“The spiritual path does not present us with a prescribed, pat formula for everyone to follow. It is not a matter of imitation. We cannot be Mother Teresa or Gandhi or the Buddha. We have to be ourselves. We must discover and connect with our unique expression of the truth. We must learn to listen to and trust ourselves.”

- Jack Kornfield. “Bringing Home the Dharma.” Shambhala Publications.

sometimes you don’t

“Sometimes you have the power to make things happen. Sometimes you don’t.”

- Judith Orloff, M.D. “The Ecstasy of Surrender.” Harmony Books, 2014-04-01.

an attitude of the soul

“True contentment is not just existential. It is an attitude of the soul rather than of the ego or personality. It is a view of life from the soul plane.”

- Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das. “Polishing the Mirror.” Sounds True.

aim our mind toward something bigger

“Knowing that we can make different choices, decide on new paths, aim our mind toward something bigger, and sustain our vision no matter what comes up, reminds us that we always have a source of light, whatever dark room we may enter.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

gentleness is more helpful than anger

“According to psychologist Kristin Neff, self-compassion has three main components. The first is self-kindness, which means cutting ourselves some slack when we fall short of our own expectations. Rather than berating ourselves, we acknowledge that imperfection, failure, and painful difficulties are inevitable in life. Self-compassionate people understand that gentleness is more helpful than anger when we cannot meet our own ideals.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

look how holy you’re becoming

“you’ve really been working on yourself

and you’re very pure and something very

high happens to you: You feel liberated.

And then: your ego walks around and pats you

on the shoulder: “pretty good!

look how holy you’re becoming.”

and you fall. . . . . .again. . .”

- Ram Dass. “Be Here Now (Enhanced Edition).” HarperCollins, 2010-10-26.

the quality of how we live now

“It is like Nietzsche’s concept of “eternal recurrence”: everything we do, he said, we should be willing to redo for eternity. Everything we do reverberates for eternity, so our ultimate concern should be the quality of how we live now.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

self-imposed suffering

“Getting caught up in memories of the past or worrying about the future is a form of self-imposed suffering.”

- Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das. “Polishing the Mirror.” Sounds True.

knowledge gives way to wisdom

“As I became more absorbed in the heart, I found it to be a place where separation disappears and knowledge gives way to wisdom.”

- Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das. “Polishing the Mirror.” Sounds True.

true wealth

“True wealth is contentment, and happiness is forgetting to worry how you are and how much you have.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

enough room to breathe

"One thing I have learned about this method, contemplative cooking, is that if you want to make anything from scratch, including your own peace of mind, you must, as Sagan advised, first invent a universe where that is possible for yourself. Where there is enough room to breathe into a more peaceful, easy, loving, and potentially wise version of yourself."

- Stacia Trask. "Strawberry-Rhubarb Being, From Scratch-That." www.peacefoodlove.com.

the reasons we judge ourselves

“One of the reasons we judge ourselves harshly is our belief that we ought to have far greater control over outcomes in life than we do.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

counting on a changeable world

“If we are counting on a changeable world, outside of our dominion or control, to give us a feeling of self-worth, we’re in trouble.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.

being right or being happy

“When you find yourself in conflict, do you care more about being right or being happy? Can you step down off your pedestal long enough to acknowledge that being right might not matter if it only prolongs suffering?”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Love Your Enemies.” Hay House, 2013-09-11.