one breath at a time

“If you have to let go of distractions and begin again thousands of times, fine. That’s not a roadblock to the practice—that is the practice. That’s life: starting over, one breath at a time.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Real Happiness - Enhanced Ebook Edition.” Workman Publishing, 2010.

relaxed perseverance

"The desire to know something is wisdom at work. Being mindful is not difficult. But it’s difficult to be continuously aware. For that you need right effort. But it does not require a great deal of energy. It’s relaxed perseverance in reminding yourself to be aware. When you are aware, wisdom unfolds naturally, and there is still more interest."

- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, "The Wise Investigator", tricycle.com

those that lead to insight and balance

“I like the Buddhist tradition of replacing the modifiers “good” and “bad” to describe human behavior with “skillful” and “unskillful.” Unskillful actions are those that lead to pain and suffering; skillful actions are those that lead to insight and balance.”

- Sharon Salzberg. “Real Happiness - Enhanced Ebook Edition.” Workman Publishing, 2010.

always right where you are

“You don’t have to rush off to India, because the guru and the teaching are always right where you are, right here, right now.”

- Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das. “Polishing the Mirror.” Sounds True.

you can trip over tomorrow

“Always plan ahead...but worry too hard over next year, and you can trip over tomorrow”

- Robert Jordan. “Crossroads of Twilight.” Tom Doherty Associates.

there is a way

"Fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to walk into it. When I walk into my fear, practice there, sit upright in the middle of it, completely open to the experience, with no expectation of the outcome, anything is possible. When our circumstances look impossible or terrifying, there is a way."

- Judith Randall, "The Hidden Lamp", tricycle.com

we muddle ahead together

"At our best, we muddle ahead together, hoping to get things right occasionally and trying not to do too much damage along the way. It is in the muddling that we find our humanity, and in doing so, if we are lucky, we find each other."

- Andrew Cooper, "Sex in the Sangha . . . Again", tricycle.com