If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. —HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

Our brains are not computer hard drives. Human memory is not a simple matter of “accurate data in, accurate data out.” It is a far more complicated, subtle, and beautiful process.

“Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.”

Letting go is how we prepare for dying. Suzuki Roshi said that renunciation is not giving up the things of the world, but accepting that they go away.

Not long after bringing her demented mother home to live with her, Gillian walked into the living room to find her beloved books, including sacred Buddhist texts, scattered across the floor. Her mother announced, “I’m tired of all these dusty old books. I’m going to give them to my dentist.” Gillian was momentarily trapped by her anger. She scolded

The philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.”

The Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah once motioned to a glass at his side. “Do you see this glass?” he asked. “I love this glass. It holds the water admirably. When the sun shines on it, it reflects the light beautifully. When I tap it, it has a lovely ring. Yet for me, this glass is already broken. When the wind knocks it over or my elbow knocks

My wife, Vanda, who is British, was initially confused by the way Americans use the term “You’re welcome.” It is more common in her home country to respond to “thank you” with something like, “Don’t mention it.” Similar, I suppose, to the informal French de rien, the Spanish de nada, or the no problem so common among millennials. The trouble with

Earth dissolves into water. Water dissolves into fire. Fire dissolves into air. Air dissolves into space. Space dissolves into consciousness.