The “mind,” as I mean it in this book, consists of the experiences and information that are represented by a nervous system.

The painful residues of events can get caught in the nets of emotional memory, but without context and perspective. The conscious mind may forget, but as Babette Rothschild wrote, the body remembers.

As the interpersonal neurobiologist Dan Siegel summarizes it, the mind uses the brain to make the mind.

Letting be, letting go, and letting in form a natural sequence.

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

In the Theravadan tradition, there’s a lovely meditation that offers four kinds of warm wishes for five types of people,

Explore the seven ways of being—steadiness, lovingness, fullness, wholeness, nowness, allness, and timelessness—and try to get a clear sense of each one. Imagine or feel that they are already natural for you, already part of who you are.

always consider whether his actions were skillful and led to beneficial results. He told Rahula to reflect in this way before, during, and after all acts of thought, word, and deed. If an action was skillful and beneficial, fine; otherwise don’t do it.

This is healthy desire in a nutshell: pursuing beneficial ends with skillful means while being at peace with whatever happens.