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Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Sometimes our instinct, our negative conditioning, can be overpowering. Later we regret very much what we have done. But that is no reason to give up on yourself—the buddhas, they have not given up on you. Instead, learn from your mistake and move on. Like that.”
This proves that it is not so much the circumstances of our lives that make us happy or unhappy but the way we see them.”
“Most people think that their only option is to change their circumstances. But these are not the true causes of their unhappiness. It has more to do with the way they think about their circumstances.”
“that the best way to achieve happiness for oneself is to give happiness to others.”
was not my circumstances that were causing me distress but my belief about these circumstances. By letting go of the unhappiness-creating belief that I needed another cat, I would convert my jail into a monastery.
Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment deliberately and non-judgmentally.’
“Not dwelling on thoughts of the past or the future, or some kind of fantasy,”
that it’s not so much what you’re doing that makes you happy. It’s whether or not you’re being mindful of what you’re doing.
The important thing is to be in the direct state, attending to the here and now.
money or status or relationships
are not true causes of happiness.”
Two main true causes of happiness: first, the wish to give happiness to others, which Buddhists define as love, and second, the wish to help free others from dissatisfaction or suffering, which we define as compassion.
“We all face this same choice when dealing with problems. We don’t ask for them. We don’t want them. But the way we deal with them is what’s most important. If we are wise, the greatest problems can lead to the greatest insights.”
“The success you currently enjoy arises from your past generosity. And the generosity you are practicing now means that you will enjoy more success in the future.”
“For karma to ripen, you need both—both the causes and the conditions.”
This is how even small acts of generosity, especially when motivated by the best intention, can become causes for much greater wealth in the future.”
‘The thought manifests as the word; the word manifests as the deed; the deed develops into habit; and habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings … As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.’”
We see objects and people as separate and independent from us. We believe them to have characteristics, qualities, that we are attracted to or repelled by.
When we say hurtful things we don’t really mean, we can create deep wounds that can’t be healed. Think of all the rifts between friends and within families, divisions that have led to a complete breakdown in the relationship, all because of a single angry outburst.”
‘Though one man may conquer a thousand men a thousand times in battle, he who conquers himself is the greatest warrior.’”
When we see for ourselves there is a problem, change becomes much easier.”
“In the Dharma, there is no place for guilt. Guilt is useless. It is pointless to feel bad about something in the past that we can’t change. But regret? Yes. This is more useful. Do you both feel sincere regret for what you did?”
“Yes, karma propels us into all kinds of unexpected situations,”
“This is another reason we should behave with love and compassion toward all living beings. We never know in what circumstances we will meet up with them again. Sometimes even in this same lifetime.”
“An instinct that prevents many people from taking actions that they know, deep down inside, would liberate them. Like a bird in a cage whose door has been opened, we are free to go out in search of fulfillment, but fear makes us look for all kinds of reasons not to.”
inner development is something for which we must each take personal responsibility.
“Despising yourself, thinking you are no good, saying ‘I can’t do this.’ This is the mind of weakness. You must work to overcome it.”
“When you talk to people, you must speak to them with big eyes and a strong voice.”
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
if we are not objectively aware of our thoughts moment by moment and instead engage with every one of them, how can we begin to change them?
“You can’t manage what you don’t monitor,”
“The wish to attain enlightenment in order to lead all living beings to that same state,”
“This mind of enlightenment is based on pure, great compassion, which in turn is founded on pure, great love. In each case pure means impartial. Without conditions. And great means benefiting all living beings, not just the small group of those we happen to like at the moment.
‘A holy person is someone who thinks more of others than of themselves.’
Our awareness of a truth needs to deepen to the point at which it actually changes our behavior. We call that a realization.
‘Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.’
