“We each need to make our lion’s roar – to persevere with unshakable courage when faced with all manner of doubts and sorrows and fears – to declare our right to awaken.”

We do not have to improve ourselves; we just have to let go of what blocks our heart.

Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?

To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring them to the transformative power of our heart.

Compassion for ourselves gives rise to the power to transform resentment into forgiveness, hatred into friendliness, and fear into respect for all beings.

When we let go of our battles and open our hearts to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

No matter how difficult the past, you can always begin again today.

A second quality of mature spirituality is kindness. It is based on a fundamental notion of self-acceptance.

You hold in your hand an invitation: to remember the transforming power of forgiveness and loving kindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible.

There are no holy places and no holy people, only holy moments, only moments of wisdom.

In deep self acceptance, grows a compassionate understanding.

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived How well we have loved How well we have learned to let go.

Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are.

The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?

Life without forgiveness is unbearable.

We must look at ourselves over and over again in order to learn to love, to discover what has kept our hearts closed, and what it means to allow our hearts to open.

All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.

Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.

It is not in the shallow physical imitation of men that women will assert first their equality and later their superiority, but in the awakening of the intellect of women.

And once you are awake, you shall remain awake eternally.

The people have the power. All we have to do is awaken the power in the people.

Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe.

Misery don’t call ahead. That’s why you have to stay awake – otherwise it just walks on in your door.

The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.