“It is awareness of both our shared pain and our longing for happiness that links us to other people and helps us to turn toward them with compassion.”

All beings want to be happy, yet so very few know how. It is out of ignorance that any of us cause suffering, for ourselves or for others.

Thinking we are only supposed to have loving & compassionate feelings can be a terrible obstacle to spiritual practice.

Mindfulness, also called wise attention, helps us see what we’re adding to our experiences, not only during meditation sessions but also elsewhere.

It is never too late to turn on the light. Your ability to break an unhealthy habit or turn off an old tape doesn’t depend on how long it has been running; a shift in perspective doesn’t depend on how long you’ve held on to the old view.

Our practice rather than being about killing the ego is about simply discovering our true nature.

We can understand the inherent radiance & purity of our minds by understanding metta. Like the mind, metta is not distorted by what it encounters.

All forms of meditation strengthen & direct our attention through the cultivation of three key skills: concentration, mindfulness & compassion or loving & kindness.

In those moments when we realize how much we cannot control, we can learn to let go.

Effort is the unconstrained willingness to persevere through difficulty.

Even when we do our very best to treat those close to us with utmost respect and understanding, conflict happens. That’s life. That’s human nature.

If we turn away from our own pain, we may find ourselves projecting this aversion onto others, seeing them as somehow inadequate for being in a troubled situation.

over time, offering loving kindness to all beings everywhere, including ourselves, unites us to one another so that we know that we can not go forward forgetting those left behind.

We don’t need any sort of religious orientation to lead a life that is ethical, compassionate & kind.

While happiness is an end in itself, it is also the state of mind we can have right now.

Mindfulness is the agent of our freedom. Through mindfulness we arrive at faith we grow in wisdom & we attain equanimity.

People turn to meditation because they want to make good decisions, break bad habits & bounce back better from disappointments.

Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.

The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.

The highest realms of thought are impossible to reach without first attaining an understanding of compassion.

Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.

Take care of others wholeheartedly, of both our friends and our enemies. This is the basis for true compassion.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.

We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror.