"Any time we find ourselves relying on the ideas of an absolute, frozen state of right and wrong-or fairness versus unfairness-that we are used to, we can compare the habit to distraction during meditation."

"Compassion grows in us when we know how the energy of love is available all around us."

"Even when we do our very best to treat those close to us with utmost respect and understanding, conflict happens. That's life. That's human nature."

"We can use meditation as a way to experiment with new ways of relating to ourselves, even our uncomfortable thoughts."

"You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

"A particularly difficult line to navigate is the one between fear and love, especially for parents, who want more than anything to protect their children from suffering."

"Letting go is actually a healthy foundation upon which we can open up to real love-to giving, receiving, and experiencing it authentically and organically."

"When we identify the thoughts that keep us from seeing others as they truly are we prepare the ground for real love."

"It's tough to have an authentic relationship with awe in the age of awesome, a word that has become so overused as to be drained of its meaning."

"Paying attention to the ethical implications of our choices has never been more pressing-or more complicated-than it is today."

"Anger often makes us hurt ourselves more than any enemy."

"Letting go of the belief that we're powerless to help relieve our own suffering enhances our ability not only to heal but also to genuinely love and receive the love of others."

"When we direct a lot of hostile energy toward the inner critic, we enter into a losing battle."

"With attachment all that seems to exist is just me & that object I desire."

"How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships."

"The skills available to us through mindfulness make it possible to bring love to our connections with others."

"We find greater lightness & ease in our lives as we increasingly care for ourselves & other beings."

"Self-love is an unfolding process that gains strength over time, not a goal with a fixed end point."

"Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn't go exactly according to plan (a frequent scenario for most of us), the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes."

"Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world. Practicing metta illuminates our inner integrity because it relieves us of the need to deny different aspects of ourselves. We can open to everything with the healing force of love. When we feel love, our mind is expansive and open enough to include the entirety of life in full awareness, both its pleasures and its pains, we feel neither betrayed by pain or overcome by it, and thus we can contact that which is undamaged within us regardless of the situation. Metta sees truly that our integrity is inviolate, no matter what our life situation may be."

"Meditation is a cyclical process that defies analysis, but demands acceptance."

"It's affirming that we can look at any experience from the fullness of our being and get past the shame we carry."

"Learning to treat ourselves lovingly may at first feel like a dangerous experiment."

"Patience doesn't mean making a pact with the devil of denial, ignoring our emotions and aspirations. It means being wholeheartedly engaged in the process that's unfolding, rather than ripping open a budding flower or demanding a caterpillar hurry up and get that chrysalis stage over with."

"The wholesome pursuit of excellence feels quite different from perfectionism."

"Consider how the sky is unharmed by the clouds that pass through it, whether they are light and fluffy-looking or dark and formidable. A mountain is not moved by the winds blowing over it, whether gentle or fierce. The ocean is not destroyed by the waves moving on its surface, whether high or low. In just that way, no matter what we experience, some aspect of ourselves remains unharmed. This is the innate happiness of awareness."

"Fearful of wasting a second, we hoard time as if it were money."

"The difference between a life laced through with frustration and one sustained by happiness depends on whether it is motivated by self-hatred or by real love for oneself."

"Metta sees truly that our integrity is inviolate, no matter what our life situation may be. We do not need to fear anything. We are whole: our deepest happiness is intrinsic to the nature of our minds, and it is not damaged through uncertainty and change."

"Perfection is fragile, interacting with something that seems perfect puts it in peril."

"The paradigm for our relationships is formed from our earliest experiences and is actually hardwired into our neurological and emotional network."

"So often, fear keeps us from being able to say yes to love-perhaps our greatest challenge as human beings."

"We live in a network of inter connectivity."

"One foundation of loving relationships is curiosity, keeping open to the idea that we have much to learn even about those we have been close to for decades."

"We are born ready to love and be loved. It is our birthright."

"To imagine the way we think is the singular causative agent of all we go through is to practice cruelty toward ourselves."

"Meditation is essentially training our attention so that we can be more aware- not only of our own inner workings but also of what's happening around us in the here & now."

"Integration arises from intimacy with our emotions and our bodies, as well as with our thoughts."

"The practice of loving-kindness is about cultivating love as a trans-formative strength."

"Buddha first taught metta meditation as an antidote: as a way of surmounting terrible fear when it arises."

"Healing comes in many ways, and no one formula fits all."

"Mindfulness allows us to shift the angle on our story and to remember that we have the capacity to learn and change in ways that are productive, not self-defeating."

"We learn from conflicts only when we are willing to do so."

"Intellectually, we may appreciate that loving ourselves would give us a firm foundation but for most of us this is a leap of logic, not a leap of the heart."

"Setting the intention to practice kindness toward one's partner or family members or friends does not preclude getting angry or upset."

"Love exists in itself, not relying on owning or being owned."

"Cultivation of positive emotions, including self-love and self-respect, strengthens our inner resources and opens us to a broader range of thoughts and actions."

"The heart is a generous muscle."

"The more we identify and acknowledge moments when we're unable to share in someone else's pleasure and ask ourselves whether another person's happiness truly jeopardizes our own, the more we pave the way for experiencing sympathetic joy."

"The mind thinks thoughts that we don't plan. It's not as if we say, 'At 9:10 I'm going to be filled with self-hatred."