Sharon Salzberg

Taking in another__ criticism, even when it__ offered out of love, requires courage.

In order to free ourselves from our assumptions about love, we must ask ourselves what long-held, often buried assumptions are and then face them, which takes courage, humility, and kindness.

It takes a special courage to challenge the rigid confines of our accustomed story. It__ not easy to radically alter our views about where happiness comes from but it__ eminently possible.

You are a person worthy of love. You don__ have to do anything to prove that.

When we open our hearts to the breadth of our experiences, we learn to tune into our needs, unique perceptions, thoughts & feelings

The mind thinks thoughts that we don't plan. It's not as if we say, 'At 9:10 I'm going to be filled with self-hatred.

Once we are honest about our feelings, we can invite ourselves to consider alternative modes of viewing our pain and can see that releasing our grip on anger and resentment can actually be an act of self-compassion.

By practicing meditation we establish love, compassion, sympathetic joy & equanimity as our home.

Awareness levels the playing field. We are all humans doing the best we can.

If we stretch ourselves to open our minds, to see our shared humanity with others, we allow ourselves to see the existence of community and generosity in unexpected places.

No matter what we think we should do, I don__ think you can coerce yourself into loving your neighbor__r your boss__hen you can__ stand him. But if you try to understand your feelings of dislike with mindfulness and compassion, being sure not to forget self-compassion, you create the possibility for change.

What happens in our hearts is our field of freedom. As long as we carry old wounds and anger in our hearts, we continue to suffer. Forgiveness allows us to move on.

Though it may sound paradoxical, identifying our thoughts, emotions, and habitual patterns of behavior is the key to freedom & transformation.

With a clear intention and a willing spirit, sooner or later we experience the joy and freedom that arises when we recognize our common humanity with others and see that real love excludes no one.

When we identify the thoughts that keep us from seeing others as they truly are we prepare the ground for real love.

Everyone we interact with has the capacity to surprise us in an infinite number of ways. What can first open us up to each of our innate capacities for love is merely to recognize that.

Letting go is actually a healthy foundation upon which we can open up to real love__o giving, receiving, and experiencing it authentically and organically.

No connection is always easy or free of strife, no matter how many minutes a day we meditate. It__ how we relate to conflict, as well as to our differing needs and expectations, that makes our relationships sustainable.