No one should die when they're 50.
Meditation is a skilful letting go: gently but with resolution.
The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.
Of course we can always imagine more perfect conditions, how it should be ideally, how everyone should behave. But it is not our task to create an ideal. It's our task to see how it is, and to learn from the world as it is. For the awakening of the heart, conditions are always good enough.
The empty mind - the pure mind - is not a blank, zero-land, where you're not feeling or caring about anything. It's an effulgence of the mind. It's a brightness that is truly sensitive and accepting. It's an ability to accept life as it is. When we accept life as it is, we can respond appropriately to the way we're experiencing it, rather than just reacting out of fear and aversion.
A new day is here. Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is unknown. Now is the knowing.
We look directly into our suffering rather than try to become happy. The happiness that arises from this approach is reliable.
Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling.
Knowledge is power, if you know it about the right person.
It is much safer to reconcile an enemy than to conquer him; victory may deprive him of his poison, but reconciliation of his will.
And I'm no quitter, but I'm tired of fighting.