One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are.

We can work with ourselves in the same way. We don’t have to be harsh with ourselves when we think, sitting here, that our meditation or our oryoki or the way we are in the world is in the category of worst horse. We could be very sympathetic with that and use it as a motivation to keep trying to develop ourselves, to find our own true nature. Not

Our journey of making friends with ourselves is not a selfish thing. We’re not trying to get all the goodies for ourselves. It’s a process of developing loving-kindness and a true understanding for other people as well.

It does take coming to know your anger, coming to know your self-deprecation, coming to know your craving and wanting, coming to know your boredom, and making friends with those things.

Being satisfied with what we already have is a magical golden key to being alive in a full, unrestricted, and inspired way.

As Suzuki Roshi says in his talk, that’s exactly the point: because we find ourselves to be the worst horse, we are inspired to try harder.

arrogance is just a cover-up for really feeling that you’re the worst horse, and always trying to prove otherwise.

Inquisitiveness or curiosity involves being gentle, precise, and open—actually being able to let go and open.

being as precise as you can and simultaneously as kind as you can, the ability to let go seems to happen to you.