Ina

“When the ego is not able to “unravel its structure,” when the capacity for love is shut down because of fear, insecurity, or confusion, then the person becomes isolated by and imprisoned in individuality. Where there is no unburdening and no rhythm of tension and relaxation, there can be no freedom to bond, no surrender of ego boundaries, and no merging of the kind that characterizes all forms of love.”
― Mark Epstein, Thoughts without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective

“When you close your eyes there is the breath, sensations, sounds, thoughts—where is “man” or “woman” except as an idea, a concept?”
― Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation

“We do not want to admit our lack of substance to ourselves and, instead, strive to project an image of completeness, or self-sufficiency. The paradox is that, to the extent that we succumb to this urge, we are estranged from ourselves and are not real. Our narcissism requires that we keep the truth about our selves at bay.”
― Mark Epstein, Thoughts without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective

“From the beginning this “self” does not exist, yet because we’re so firmly attached to the idea of it, we spend much of our lives defending or enlarging or satisfying this imaginary self. Meditation helps us to see its conceptual nature, to see that in reality it does not exist, that it is simply an idea, an extraneous projection onto what’s happening in the moment.”
― Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation