Bo Lozoff Quotes

The cause of all our personal problems and nearly all the problems of the world can be summed up in a single sentence: Human life is very deep, and our modern dominant lifestyle is not.

Do you want a world with . . . more joy and happiness? Then find your own joy and happiness and contribute to the joy and happiness of others.

You may study with the highest teachers, but you will find no one but yourself teaching you. You may travel the world over, yet find nothing but yourself, reflected the world over. So if you now find yourself in a cell, take heart that of all the teachers in the world, out of all the places in the world, you still have with you the only ultimate ingredient of your journey: yourself.

The gap between our sincere values and our actual behavior is the source of all self-hatred.

Little by little deep inside us, the diamond shines, the eyes open, the dawn rises, we become what we already are.

We’re all stumbling towards the light with varying degrees of grace at any given moment.

Like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight, there’s no need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we already are – as soon as we stop pretending we’re small or unholy.

Life, like any other exciting story, is bound to have painful and scary parts, boring and depressing parts, but it’s a brilliant story, and it’s up to us how it will turn out in the end.

Until we reflect basic kindness in everything we do, our political gestures will be fleeting and fragile. Simple kindness may be the most vital key to the riddle of how human beings can live with each other in peace…and care properly for this planet we all share.

If I am practicing spiritual poverty, which says that I own nothing, then the problems aren’t mine and neither are the energy and compassion pouring through my heart to try to solve them. I am just a link in the process. If I don’t take anything personally, then I can do great work without flagging. The Dalai Lama once said, ‘Try with all your might – to work very, very hard – to make the world a better place, and if all your efforts are to no avail . . . no hard feelings!’

Meditation is simply seeing reality and acknowledging it with bare honesty.

Without loving and caring for others, most of us stand little chance of communing with God/the Divine Wisdom, no matter how many years we may spend in silent prayer.