The Buddha in Your Mirror: Practical Buddhism and the Search for Self

I learned from him that any given moment can be looked at from an infinite number of perspectives. Among all those perspectives is the way to perceive a golden path within that moment and a way to perceive a diamond within each person.

The greater my love of mankind in general, the less I love people in particular, that is to say, separately, as individuals. —Fyodor Dostoevsky

To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school…. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not theoretically, but practically. —Henry David Thoreau

This constant change or fluctuation, ex pressed by the Buddhist concept of “impermanence,” gives rise to the fundamental sufferings of human existence. But occasionally amid the flux of life, perhaps for a fleeting instant, we sense an underlying rhythm, a hum or a pulse, to all things. Such moments of insight and realization often occur after an e

The lotus flower is also symbolically prized in Buddhism because it blossoms in a muddy swamp, thereby signifying the emergence of our Buddha nature from the “swamp” of everyday desires and problems.

No matter what a person may be exhibiting at any given moment, it is only one part of a whole human being; each person contains the seed of enlightenment within and therefore deserves respect.

time. In fact, I think that’s what great mentors do; they excite within you a capacity to look at something in a new way, a way that resonates particularly within you.

This does not mean that a person facing a serious problem necessarily should stay home and chant all day. That is escapism. Rather, one should chant first for the wisdom to meet the problem head on, then go out and take determined action. In the clear light of enlightenment, we not only come to understand ourselves, we can also change ourselves and

Happiness doesn’t mean having a life free from all difficulties but that whatever difficulties arise, without being shaken in the least, you can summon up the unflinching courage and conviction to fight and overcome them.