Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

because of the unprecedented and unrepeatable matrix of conditions that have formed me.

I am who I am

Instead of clinging to habitual behavior and routines as a means to secure this sense of self, we realize the freedom to create who we are.

remember to remember.

(anguish and its origins) describe the dilemma,

Awareness is a process of deepening self-acceptance.

(cessation and the path) its resolution.

Self-confidence is not a form of arrogance. It is trust in our capacity to awaken. It is both the courage to face whatever life throws at us without losing equanimity, and the humility to treat every situation we encounter as one from which we can learn.

We need to keep taking stock of our life in an unsentimental, uncompromising way.