Sublime

“Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 5.16

“Choose what gives you life.”

“Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I’m bound to the good. In the same way an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim: ‘whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.’ ” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.15

Regardless of subject matter, this is the only thing worth teaching: how to uncover that original center and how to live there once it is restored.

“Pass through this brief patch of time in harmony with nature, and come to your final resting place gracefully, just as a ripened olive might drop, praising the earth that nourished it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.48.2

If we can work toward this kind of authenticity, then the living kindness—the water of compassion—will naturally flow.

When confronted with injustice or the needs or suffering

Allow yourself to be fully known, and you will know what you need to know.