in a moment of ego we refuse to put down what we carry in order to open the door. Time and time again, we are offered the chance to truly learn this: We cannot hold on to things and enter. We must put down what we carry, open the door, and then take up only what we need to bring inside.

This is a lifelong process, one that never ends, but always begins.

The mind is a spider that, if allowed, will tangle everything and then blame the things it clings to for the web it wants to be free of. I have done this with dreams of greatness and hopes of love, wanting so badly to see myself clearly in the water, while I kept stirring and stirring. Perhaps the hardest thing I've learned, and still struggle

This biological fact holds the secret of all relationship. It is cellular proof that beneath any resistance we might pose and beyond all our attempts that fall short, there is in the very nature of life itself some essential joining force.

Amazingly, nothing else in nature is indirect.

So, to find peace, to live peace, we need to keep restoring our original Oneness.

Once during the day, think of who you are as living energy and not as a goal to be achieved or an obstacle to be overcome. Feel yourself without inventory.

we put ourselves fully before another, it makes love possible, the way the stubborn land goes soft before the sea.

So when confusion or pain seems to tighten what is possible, when sadness or frustration shrinks your sense of well-being, when worry or fear agitates the peace right out of you, try lending your attention to the nearest thing. Try watching how the dust lifts and resettles when you blow on it. Watch how the pawprints of your neighbor's retriever,