Whatever your object is, try to remain steadily mindful of it. Be aware of the sense of applying attention to an object, like shifting a spotlight onto something. Also be aware of sustaining attention to an object—staying in touch with it continuously.

For a day, or even just an hour, use only wise speech (that is, well intended, true, beneficial, not harsh, timely, and—if possible—welcome).

It’s helpful to extend your exhalations because the “rest-and-digest” parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) handles exhaling while also slowing your heart rate, so longer exhalations are naturally relaxing.

The five types of people are benefactor, friend, neutral person, oneself, and someone who is challenging for you.

Compassion-focused meditation stimulates specific parts of the brain involved with the sense of connection, positive emotion, and reward, including the middle orbitofrontal cortex, behind where your eyebrows meet.

Radically for his time, the Buddha said that it is not birth but intentional actions of thought, word, and deed that make a person truly noble.

May I be loving, open, and aware in this moment. If I cannot be loving, open, and aware in this moment, may I be kind. If I cannot be kind, may I be nonjudgmental. If I cannot be nonjudgmental, may I not cause harm. If I cannot not cause harm, may I cause the least harm possible. Larry Yang

These three kinds of meditation—focused attention, open awareness, abiding as awareness—form a natural sequence.

As soon as we make a distinction between one group and another, it’s a slippery slope to favoring “us” and looking down on “them.”