Falling into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering

We simply realize that the only thing that can keep us from being still is when we argue with what is,

No matter how deeply you’ve seen something, no matter how much you think you know something, stay in beginner’s mind. Don’t get rigid. No matter how great a revelation you may have had, no matter how great an opening in the core and depth of your being, if you stay in innocence, in the mind that’s very light, that never takes its ideas as truth, th

So waking up is a bit like what an alcoholic or a drug addict experiences when they are coming out of their addiction. Most addicts only let go of their addiction when they’ve really seen that there’s no possibility of being happy and being an addict. Up until that time, most addicts are in a constant process of negotiation with life. They think, “

We welcome all our experience, both that which is happening on the inside as well as that on the outside. When you welcome all of experience into your awareness, a certain type of stillness starts to emerge organically. I’m pointing to a stillness that is directly related to this capacity to open to all experiences, not just those that are pleasant

Even though pain and suffering can be generational, as we’re seeing, it can only be maintained in the present within the structures of our own mind—by believing our own thoughts of separation, blame, and condemnation. Coming to the end of suffering is really about beginning to see all of the ways that our mind maintains suffering through habitual p

When we can relate to ourselves from stillness, from a place before the mind, then we can begin to relate to each other from that same place. Initially it might seem quite difficult to relate to someone else without getting pulled back into the egoic mind, back into the egoic consciousness, or even into the vortex of suffering, but if you simply ho

When you let go of conflict, even for a moment, there’s a natural stopping. In the moment you’re not in conflict with yourself, in the moment where you’re willing to no longer be in opposition to anything, you come completely into now, into this moment. What you’ll begin to experience is a peace and a stillness—a deep inner quietness. At that momen

I was speaking with a woman who told me a story about her childhood, and she said, “My mother should have been more kind to me.” I asked her, “Is that really true?” She looked at me like I was crazy! She said, “Of course it’s really true! Parents should treat their children kindly. Everybody knows that!”

The most important thing when it comes to emotional openness and vulnerability is a willingness to face our fears, because many of our fears, although they’re created in the mind and memory, are also deeply lodged into our emotional makeup. They can’t just be swept away as if we’re sweeping dust off the sidewalk with a broom. There has to be a will

What actually happens when we stop judging, when we stop resisting the flow of our lives, is that we come into an alignment where we are in a natural and clear relationship with whatever presents itself.