All life is precious.
Chapter 1, p. 14
Working with our patterns requires great kindness and gentleness: the same qualities parents apply when they comfort children crying in the dark.
Chapter 1, p. 8
I kept going - taking small, tentative steps, acknowledging the fear and letting it come up within an open, comforting embrace instead of trying to push it away.
Chapter 1, p. 9
In my own small case of trying to cross a bridge there were no mysterious syllables, only four simple words: Real but not true.
Chapter 1, p. 10
Anything is possible. The point is to keep your heart and mind open to the likelihood of change...
Chapter 2, p. 33
I felt myself becoming aware of something growing brighter and more intense in my own body, my own mind, my own heart. That something... is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings. .. In many Buddhist teachings, it's known as "buddha nature".
Chapter 3, p. 41
Neither rejecting nor accepting, we simply acknowledge the experience and let it pass.
Chapter 3, p. 49
We'll realize that we're always sheltered, always safe, and always home.
Chapter 3, p. 49
The key - the how of Buddhist practice - lies in learning to simply rest in the bare awareness of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions as they occur.
Chapter 3, p. 53
Every Buddhist meditation practice ultimately turns toward a reconnection with essence love.
Chapter 3, p. 62
Do you want to experience a taste of essence love? Just close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. What is it you wish for? Don't think about it, just feel it.
Chapter 3, p. 62
Relax... Until you sense some small spark of well-being, or what might be called "okayness". ...That is a taste of essence love: a small, bright experience of okayness.
Chapter 3, p. 63
Just an intrinsic feeling, however small, however dim, of well-being, some part within you that is warm and content. So connect with that.
Chapter 3, p. 63
Every time you connect, a little bit more clarity stays around the love. ... Your mind becomes clearer. You experience expanded possibilities.
Chapter 3, p. 64
And... a little miracle occurs: You're giving, without expectation of return. Your very being, becomes, consciously or not, an inspiration to others. Your spark has begun to grow.
Chapter 3, p. 64
That was a big lesson for me. I can't know, I can't judge, I can't teach until I know and understand other people's experience.
Chapter 3, p. 66
"Just as I want to reconnect with my spark, other beings also feel the same way". .. As you allow these thoughts to roll around in your heart you'll actually begin to find yourself actively engaged in wishing for others' happiness and freedom from pain.
Chapter 3, p. 68
You don't lose anything by sharing. Strength grows by giving it away.
Chapter 3, p. 73
That's the position in which most of us find ourselves. We believe deep down that we've lost something precious and are seeking it outside ourselves, never realizing that we are carrying it within us wherever we go.
Chapter 3, p. 75
..developing bodhicitta often requires some sacrifice, a decision to place the well-being of another above our own desire, needs, hopes, and fears.
Chapter 3, p. 75
That's one of the fundamental goals of the Buddhist path: to help people live more openly, wisely, and generously toward themselves and others.
Chapter 3, p. 76
Normally our awareness is overwhelmed by hundreds of different thoughts, feelings, and sensations. ... Instead of focusing on some of them and pushing away others though, just look at them as feathers flying in the wind. The wind is your awareness, your inborn openness and clarity.
Chapter 3, p. 79
Many of us share the tendency to see certain things as more solid and real than may actually be the case.
Chapter 4, p. 81
By even considering the possibility of opening your heart and mind you have become one of these extraordinary individuals who make a positive difference, not only in their own lives but in the lives of others.
Chapter 4, p. 81
The very lightness of the "mere I" leaves a lot of space for essence love and openness to flow.
Chapter 4, p. 92
One of the ways we look for fulfillment or confirmation is in the eyes of other people. We look to other people for confirmation of who we are, who we would like to be, or what we believe about ourselves.
Chapter 4, p. 104
The Buddha urged us to get off our chairs, our couches, and our cushions and get moving: to start living as though our lives meant something, to "awaken" to the knowledge that the ways we think, feel, and act have an effect on the world around us.
Chapter 4, p. 108
The challenge the Buddha proposed was to learn to rest in openness of the "mere I" even while using the various other "I's" to maintain a sense of warmth and openness even when for instance, facing someone who disagrees with you.
Chapter 4, p. 109
We don't need to get rid of the various "I's". We just need to brush away the residue we pick up along the way.
Chapter 4, p. 109
Be kind to yourself as you proceed along this journey. This kindness, in itself, is a means of awakening the spark of love within you and helping others to discover that spark within themselves.
Chapter 4, p. 110
It is not enough to be aware. We also have to be alert. We have to ask ourselves, when we experience discomfort, trouble, or pain, "What's going on here?"
Chapter 5, p. 115
One of the purposes of mindfulness practise is to stabilize consciousness at the sixth level, simply noticing without judgment or interpretation.
Chapter 5, p. 118
"Always remember", he (Adeu Rinpoche) told me, "that the main goal of any practice is to awaken the heart."
Chapter 5, p. 121
The point of the practice of Mindfulness of Body is to simply allow ourselves to become alert to the physical aspect of our being in a very easygoing and gentle way, without judging it or identifying with it.
Chapter 6, p. 123
That's the essence of mindfulness practice. It's about appreciating the fact that we're alive. There's a certain joy that arises from this simple recognition - a sense of possibility and a gut-level connection to other beings.
Chapter 6, p. 128
..mindfulness itself is an adventure..
Chapter 6, p. 129
..the subtle body may be best understood as the place where emotions emerge and abide, asserting an often tangible effect on the physical body.
Chapter 7, p. 133
Ideally the subtle body is in balance...We feel a certain sense of lightness, buoyancy, openness, and warmth... A state of being that could be called "being happy for no reason."
Chapter 7, p. 138/139
This is also how the subtle body learns: through kind, gentle direction and a willingness to let go when it finds ist own balance.
Chapter 8, p. 145
Our "I"dentities may be influenced by patterns in the subtle body, but we are not those patterns.
Chapter 8, p. 145
..my emotions aren't me. But instead of trying to confront them angrily or resentfully, there was a way to gently start a conversation. "Honey, we have to talk."
Chapter 8, p. 146
The key point in working with the subtle body lies in noticing our feelings and learning to welcome them, to accept them, and to relate with them rather than allowing them to take over or trying to control them or push them away.
Chapter 8, p. 153
Ultimately, feelings are only guests. They arise and emerge as a result of various conditions, but they are not permanent residents.
Chapter 8, p. 153
..in absolute terms reality is unimaginably free, unimaginably open.
Chapter 8, p. 153
From time to time we need to come home to the simple fact that ultimately we can't be defined by our circumstances and just allow ourselves to rest in openness.
Chapter 8, p. 153
I realized that it wasn't the amount of work or the deadlines that sapped me of my vitality; it was a habit of exceeding my internal speed limit.
Chapter 9, p. 158
I've found that if I followed my inner speed limit, the people with whom I was working became calmer and more productive.
Chapter 9, p. 159
In essence, Mindfulness of Thought offers us an opportunity to see how our habitual tendencies to believe our thoughts as solid and true shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Chapter 10, p. 172
Whatever passes through your awareness, just notice it. Let it come; let it go. Let it sit there if it sits there. .. Then let go of the process. .. And congratulate yourself. You've just witnessed your mind in action.
Chapter 10, p. 173
..as we're looking at our thoughts, we're also becoming aware of the moments where there are no thoughts. These gaps open out into thought-free moments, experiences of alert awareness and readiness to accept whatever arises or does not arise.
Chapter 10, p. 175
There was something almost magical about the way he (Tulku Urgyen) could communicate without words or gesture the possibility of appreciating without judgment all the things I saw, heard, and felt.
Chapter 11, p. 180
Then he (Tulku Urgyen) said, "Now slowly turn that same awareness to the mind that perceives these things openly. Instead of looking at outer space, look at inner space."
Chapter 11, p. 180
"Look at the clouds, " he (Tulku Urgyen) said. "Are they good or bad?"
Chapter 11, p. 186
"Good, bad, happy, sad - these are relatively true qualities, depending on people's circumstance" he (Tulku Urgyen) said. "But they aren't absolutely, intrinsically true qualities."
Chapter 11, p. 186
The essence of the practice of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness is to look beyond the clouds - beyond the judgments of right or wrong.
Chapter 11, p. 189
Anything can arise within space. Thoughts, feelings, and sensations are like birds flying in the sky, which don't leave any trace of their flight. Let them fly. Let them come and go without a trace. Let yourself become the space that welcomes any experience without judgment. That is who you are, after all.
Chapter 11, p. 192
Smile at your patterns. .."Hello honey. Welcome back, I can't join you right now, though.".. Offer them space to move around as they will, while recognizing that they are not you and you are not them.
Chapter 12, p. 195
Through the application of kindness and gentleness toward ourselves, we're actually beginning to get in touch with the basic warmth of unconditional love.
Chapter 12, p. 198
The final step in the Team Mindfulness process is dropping the inquiry altogether and simply resting in the openness and clarity of space.
Chapter 12, p. 198
Your intention to practice, to reconnect with your inner spark, is, in itself, a monumental step. On some level, you've made a decision to awaken, and that decision will carry you through many challenging times.
Chapter 12, p. 200
The wonderful teachers who guided me through my first steps in mindfulness practice were very careful to say that the most efficient approach when first starting out was to practice for very short periods many times a day.
Chapter 12, p. 200
..until all of us are free, none of us are free.
Chapter 13, p. 202
..the Dharma offers something much grander and more fulfilling than coziness.
Chapter 13, p. 203
..compassion is not just a feeling; its an action.
Chapter 13, p. 208
Bodhicitta, on the other hand, is an effort to remove any kind of suffering withouth anticipating the same sort of self-satisfying return.
Chapter 13, p. 208
That is the essence of bodhicitta, fulfilling your responsibilities to others even when you don't want to.
Chapter 13, p. 209
Many people who give so generously don't identify themselves as Buddhists. They're giving because it's their nature to give.
Chapter 13, p. 212
The essence of discipline means cultivating a wide heart and a broad understanding that allows us to forgive ourselves and others for the mistakes we've made under the influence of "I".
Chapter 13, p. 217
That is the real meaning of discipline: maintaining love, maintaining the hope that every living being will awaken, even in the most difficult of challenging conditions.
Chapter 13, p. 217
..the most important aspect of discipline is humility.
Chapter 13, p. 219
A second aspect of patience involves being willing to endure pain and hardship without losing our sense of motivation.
Chapter 13, p. 220
When we maintain our motivation we often find, to our surprise, that we have more energy than we thought... We begin to experience a subtle and inspiring joy in stepping farther away from our "comfort zones."
Chapter 13, p. 220/221
..concentration is not an effort of focusing on someting but an abiding in a spacious, "centerless center" from which to function.
Chapter 13, p. 226
When you have achieved a state of calmness and readiness, then you are ready to know, ready to understand in a deep way the dance between emptiness and appearance. Once you catch a glimpse of that dance, don't hang on to it. Just let it go, like the first glimpse of essence love.
Chapter 13, p. 228
Then he (Adeu Rinpoche) stepped back and said, "Some things you have to trust."..He didn't say, "You're too intellectual, you ask too many questions." He just said: "Some things are very simple. Just do what you've been taught, and the results will follow."
Chapter 14, p. 234
.. I offer my students the same advice: " Just trust. Just do it."
Chapter 14, p. 234
It's so easy to get hooked on the practices, on the spiritual highs, on a sense of breaking through patterns and making some sort of progress, on the pride of doing things correctly. But eventually we have to let all that go. We need to stop doing and simply be. We need to simply trust the spark within us.
Chapter 14, p. 235
Whatever our experience, if we can allow ourselves to simply be with that experience and appreciate it, that is the true transformation, the true healing, the true opening of our hearts and minds.
Chapter 14, p. 235
Crossing bridges, discovering patterns, reconnecting with essence love and extending that love to others is a journey that I believe with my whole heart we're all able to make.
Chapter 14, p. 236
You dont have to say anything. You don't have to teach anything. You just have to be who you are: a bright flame shining in the darkness of dispair, a shining example of a person able to cross bridges by opening your heart and opening your mind.
Chapter 14, p. 237