Your situation is really no different from someone who is dying of cancer. When you see death, you will see that there is no escape from this moment. So what should you do? The only thing to do is to see and deal with this moment as it is—right now, right here.

In Sanskrit, the word for “right” is samma. It means “to go along with,” “to go together,” “to turn together.” It originally comes from a term that means “to unite.” So “right” is a state of being in which everything can live together, or turn together, united.

To accept life in a straightforward manner is to have a flexible mind, not clinging to ideas of good or bad, right or wrong. We need to learn how solemn, dignified, and sublime human life really is. No matter who we are, we should respect others and not judge them.

you can practice the bodhisattva’s six perfections: giving, morality, patience, effort, imperturbability, and wisdom. The practice of giving is not a matter of having no desires but of keeping your balance within the realm of desire. This is difficult, but you can learn it. The practice of morality comes with the full understanding that you can’t l

We need to practice compassion every day.

the term life force is just a concept. But the actual life force is not a concept. It is nothing we can grasp. It’s the activity that makes the material world come alive.

When you do zazen, or anything else, do it with wholeheartedness.

In a way, the practice of giving is exactly the same as right view, because when you correctly understand human life, you will see that all beings are interconnected and interpenetrated with each other.

We always live now. All we have to do is entrust ourselves to the life we now live.