“I laugh when I think how I once sought paradise as a realm outside of the world of birth and death. It is right in the world of birth and death that the miraculous truth is revealed.
-But this is not the laughter of someone who suddenly acquires a great fortune; neither is it the laughter of one who has won a victory. It is, rather, the laughter of one who; after having painfully searched for something for a long time, finds it one morning in the pocket of his coat.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“A critical attitude
towards oneself
doesn’t mean you have to be hateful.
It can come with
compassion and warmth.
All your polarities are valid —
strength and weakness alike.
There’s no point
in splitting your being
into parts to suppress or cultivate.
When we release allegiance
to either samsara or nirvana,
we begin to relax —
free from dogma,
free from bondage.
Some sense of
ultimate relaxation
begins to occur.”
— Chögyam Trungpa