No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

We need to find the many small joys that life has to offer and help them grow.

Understanding and compassion are not for somebody else to cultivate. They can heal you and increase your happiness.

Perhaps we are working hard at success in one area, but our deepest aspiration is to work in another field or to help people in another way.

The sound of the bell is the voice of the Buddha within.

Mindfulness is recognizing what is there in the present moment. Suffering is there, yes; but what is also there is that you are still alive: “Breathing in, I know I’m alive.” Your eyes still work: “Breathing in, I’m aware of my eyes. Breathing out, I smile to my eyes.”

Instead, hold on to your true purpose and remind yourself, “Listening like this, my sole aim is to help the other person to suffer less. She may be full of wrong perceptions, but I won’t interrupt her. If I jump in with my perspective on things or correct her, it will become a debate, not a practice of deep listening.

I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing, and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment.

Part of the art of suffering well is learning not to magnify our pain by getting carried away in fear, anger, and despair.

Just breathing in mindfully already brings us a surprising amount of freedom.