“Desire. What a complex word.”

“In one sense, enlightenment is realizing that there is no separate self. We might hear a hundred thousand times, ‘There is no separate self.’ But what happens when we take it inside and seriously consider what it could mean? We would find it means that everything I as a separate self holds as true isn’t.”

Adapted from Emptiness Dancing

“Desire conveys to me a sense of something mysterious and primordial – a deep longing in my gut that isn’t easily satisfied. At the same time, my up-bringing has taught me that desire is related to selfishness and somehow leads to sin. My discomfort with the concept of desire is only made more complex from my study of Buddhism which views desire and attachment as the root of suffering. Rather than falling prey to confusion by the use of the word desire, I’ve thought about my own experience in meditation. When I sit in silence, my awareness of things around me fades away and my attention turns toward an inner reality. Resting in this inner reality, I experience a complex set of feelings and sensations. It’s as though something within me grows larger and begins to fill me up. Today, as I become more aware of something filling me from the inside, I turn myself over to it and allow it to become my reality.”

Adapted from World Prayers

“The grief you cry out from draws you toward union. Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master. That whining is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the names of. Give your life to be one of them.”