Sublime

It was a continual process of opening and surrender.

What would it be like to greet the demon of desire, to “converse” with it as Milarepa had? I became committed to dropping my resistance so I could get to know this energy that was driving the wanting self.

Both Tibetan Buddhism and cognitive therapy challenge distorted thinking and extreme beliefs, especially those all-or-nothing thoughts that make us feel inadequate or unworthy.

A woman’s issues of soul cannot be treated by carving her into a more acceptable form as defined by an unconscious culture, nor can she be bent into a more intellectually acceptable shape by those who claim to be the sole bearers of consciousness. No, that is what has already caused millions of

who eliminate attachment to a self, and who make use of the subtlest wisdom to transform their consciousness.45

If through our own exploration we come to an understanding that our happiness and sorrow are determined by ourselves, by our own way of reacting to the events of our lives, an extraordinary creative potential is unleashed.

The breath was seen as a force that ran through mind, body, and spirit like a river running through a dry valley giving sustenance to everything in its course.

Compassion follows lawfully as we open to the experience of suffering.

Lama’s approach to the world’s many wisdom ways—with open hands, a listening heart, and a willingness to not have all the answers—strikes me as uniquely feminine.