“Stopping the endless pursuit of getting somewhere else is the perhaps most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.”

Self-judgment continues to arise – it’s a strong habit – but the fact that I made a conscious commitment to recognize it has helped me stop feeding the story of being unworthy.

The trance of unworthiness keeps the sweetness of belonging out of reach. The path to “the sweetness of belonging,” is acceptance – acceptance of ourselves and acceptance of others without judgment.

But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.

With mindfulness training we are able to recognize when we get lost in our mental dramas, and bring a kind and nonreactive presence to the feelings that accompany them.

Extend an act of kindness each day. No one has to know. It can be a smile, reassuring words, a small favor – without expecting something in return.

On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.

When we open to love, we become love.

Fear of being a flawed person lay at the root of my trance, and I had sacrificed many moments over the years in trying to prove my worth. Like the tiger Mohini, I inhabited a self-made prison that stopped me from living fully.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns.

In a basic way, acceptance is seeing clearly what’s happening and holding it with kindness. This is a radical antidote to the suffering of judging mind.

Our attitude in the face of life’s challenges determines our suffering or our freedom.

Become a witness to your thoughts.

Happiness lies not in finding what is missing, but in finding what is present.

Radical Acceptance is the willingness to experience ourselves and our lives as it is.

Imperfection is not our personal problem – it is a natural part of existing.

Emotions are the interaction of thoughts and of sensations in the body.

I was seeing the effects of what music can do — how it can be healing and bring people joy, but on the flip side, there was this ugliness. I saw the greed and the He-Mans that were willing to f*ck over children.

There are nice things in the world – and I mean nice things. We’re all such morons to get so sidetracked.

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.

I find very often that very ugly women have really handsome men and vice versa because they don’t have any competition. Sometimes handsome men have avoided me.

I’d rather wear jewels in my hair than anywhere else. The face should have the advantage of this brilliance.

The mind of man is a thousand times more beautiful than the earth on which he dwells.

Beauty is more than just shining for others. You don’t need to have the perfect face to be beautiful. Being ugly or beautiful is a matter of energy, and true beauty comes from the heart.

Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.