The Wise Heart: Buddhist Psychology for the West

First, it teaches us how to acknowledge the content of our thoughts.

Initially it can feel difficult to offer love to ourself: for many it can trigger feelings of shame and unworthiness. Yet it is a particularly powerful practice, because whatever we do not love in our own self, we will not accept in another. Buddhist teachings explain, “You can search the whole universe and not find any being more worthy of love th

Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I calm my mind. May I be balanced. May I be at peace.

Whatever we regularly think colors our experience—all day, every day. Once we start to watch these thoughts, we discover that most of them are reruns.

a poem by America’s master calligrapher, Lloyd Reynolds. He wrote, “A bug crawls over the paper. Leave him be. We need all the readers we can get.”

Goleman, Daniel. The Meditative Mind. New York:Tarcher/Putnam, 1988.

An old Hasidic rabbi asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and day begun, for daybreak is the time for certain holy prayers. “Is it,” proposed one student, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?” “No,” answered the rabbi. “Is it when you can clearly see the lines on your own palm

have a really loving heart, and I’d just like to know that you’re praying for me.’”

Mindfulness of the body allows us to live fully. It brings healing, wisdom, and freedom.

As Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg quipped one day, “It’s easy to teach. All you have to do is ask if they’re being mindful.”