Start Where You Are: How to accept yourself and others

the basis of this whole teaching is that you’re never going to get everything together.”

“You can become a refugee because when you aren’t afraid of yourself, you don’t feel that you need a protected place to hide in.

We would like to believe that when things are still and calm, that’s the real stuff, and when things are messy, confused, and chaotic, we’ve done something wrong, or more usually someone else has

The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness – life’s painful aspect – softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

Nobody ever encourages you to allow yourself to feel wounded first and then try to figure out what is the right speech and right action that might follow.

It doesn’t matter that you can’t do it every time. Just the willingness, the strong determination to do it, is sowing the seeds of virtue.

how do we create space for other people and ourselves to connect with our own wisdom? How do we create a space where we can find out how to become more a part of this world we are living in and less separate and isolated and afraid?

we can relate to the enemy in a way in which we can start to be able to exchange ourself for other.

This big solid me – “I have a problem. I am lonely. I am angry. I am addicted” – begins somehow to be aerated when you just go against the grain and own the feelings yourself instead of blaming the other.