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the only thing that stays with you from the moment you’re born until the moment you die is your breath. All your friends, your family, the country you live in, all of that can change. The one thing that stays with you is your breath.”
It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection. —Bhagavad Gita 3.35
When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing; finding a way to keep them in your life is a challenge worth taking on.
Dalai Lama says, “If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.”
The more we define ourselves in relation to the people around us, the more lost we are.
Real freedom is letting go of things not wanted, the unchecked desires that lead us to unwanted ends.
Dalai Lama said, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Petty, negative thoughts and words are like mosquitos: Even the smallest ones can rob us of our peace.
When we acknowledge that all of our blessings are like a fancy rental car or a beautiful Airbnb, we are free to enjoy them without living in constant fear of losing them. We are all the lucky vacationers enjoying our stay in Hotel Earth.
When we identify our attachment-related fears and instead foster detachment, we can live with a greater sense of freedom and enjoyment.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
The Bhagavad Gita states, “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.”
the best way to overwrite the voices in your head is to start talking to them.
The Sama Veda says, “Pride of wealth destroys wealth, pride of strength destroys strength and in the same manner pride of knowledge destroys knowledge.”
if you are satisfied with who you are, you don’t need to prove your worth to anyone else.
“The salt is the pain of life. It is constant, but if you put it in a small glass, it tastes bitter. If you put it in a lake, you can’t taste it. Expand your senses, expand your world, and the pain will diminish. Don’t be the glass. Become the lake.”
Too often we love people who don’t love us, but we fail to return the love of others who do.
until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex; but eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories, and make peace with them.”
In every relationship you have the opportunity to set the level of joy you expect and the level of pain you’ll accept.
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.”
We took from water to give back to water as a reminder that we didn’t own anything. Charity isn’t giving of yourself. You’re taking something that was already on earth and giving it back to earth. You don’t have to have to give.
