The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk. You have an opportunity to practice deep, compassionate listening. If you can listen to the other person with compassion, your listening is like a salve for her wound. In the practice of compassionate listening, you listen with only one purpose, which is to give th

The truth is, there are insights that can come right away. When you practice mindfulness of breathing, you know right away that you are alive, and that to be alive is a wonder. If you can be aware that you have a living body, and notice when there’s tension in your body, that’s already an important insight. With that insight, you have already begun

To be mindful means to be aware. It’s the energy that knows what is happening in the present moment.

Breathing in, I know suffering is there. Breathing out, I say hello to my suffering.

The second arrow, fired by our own selves, is our reaction, our storyline, and our anxiety.

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

“Good morning, my pain, my sorrow, my fear. I see you. I am here. Don’t worry.”

But because he had a lot of insight, wisdom, and compassion, he knew how to suffer and so he suffered much less.

So in wintertime, when there’s no pollen, instead of complaining about the cold, we can remember how in April or May we couldn’t go out at all. Now our lungs are clear, we can take a brisk walk outside and we can breathe very well. We consciously call up our experience of the past to help ourselves treasure the good things we are having right now.