Catastrophe is the essence of the spiritual path, a series of breakdowns allowing us to discover the threads that weave all of life into a whole cloth.

Many of us think that compassion drains us, but I promise you it is something that truly enlivens us.

May I see my own limits with compassion, just as I view the limits of others.

Compassion may be defined as the capacity to be attentive to the experience of others, to wish the best for others, and to sense what will truly serve others.

Compassionate action emerges from the sense of openness, connectedness, and discernment you have created.

Don't ever think compassion is weak. Compassion is about strength.

In being with dying, we arrive at a natural crucible of what it means to love and be loved. And we can ask ourselves this: Knowing that death is inevitable, what is most precious today?

We live in a time when science is validating what humans have known throughout the ages: that compassion is not a luxury; it is a necessity for our well-being, resilience, and survival.

We believe that it takes a strong back and a soft front to face the world.

All beings, including each one of us, enemy and friend alike, exist in patterns of mutuality, interconnectedness, co-responsibility and ultimately in unity.

Most of us are shrinking in the face of psycho-social and physical poisons, of the toxins of our world. But compassion, the generation of compassion, actually mobilizes our immunity.

Either you must control your thoughts or the outside forces will control them and be warned that the outside forces are usually negative.

You have not lived a perfect day even though you have earned your money unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

Courage is not always about action. It takes courage to do nothing rather than do something that you do not believe in or understand.

People think that I only write about homosexuality, but that's not true.

You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known as Brotherhood, however much you preach, posture, or agree, unless you live it.

We could change the world tomorrow if all the millions of people around the world acted the way they believe.

I don't like doing [things] as myself...I like to be made into someone else.

The action we take in the next few years will impact the Earth hundreds of millions of years from now.

A wah-wah is important as well. I love it; it makes the guitar scream.

So, we pray well when we remain in this way in the presence of God, with no exertion of the understanding or will. Therefore, you will do well to listen to God in the urge you feel to return to us.