Start Where You Are

them writes me a letter and tells me that things are going badly. Conversely, I feel haunted by distaste when I hear that things ...

hope for me. Oy vey.” However, we can also just see what we do—not only with honesty but also with a sense of humor—and then kee ...

19 Communication from the Heart L et’s continuewith the exploration of com- passionate action. We have a strong tendency to dist ...

There is an extremely pointed slogan that goes along with “All activities should be done with one inten- tion”: “Always meditate ...

cept the awkward sinking feeling that we are entering a situation naked. We don’t know what will happen next or what we’ll do. T ...

life’s challenge, not only might we be able to help find food for people who are hungry and shelter for people who are homeless, ...

the two stubborn ones stand there for the rest of time, refusing to budge. It never occurs to them even after eighty-five years ...

Belly Sneetches went into this machine and came out without stars on their belly; the superior ones were now without stars. The ...

Often tonglen is taught exactly as this slogan de- scribes—as a way of training pervasively and meticu- lously with everyone. Yo ...

out relief or love. There is no need to do the other parts—flashing absolute bodhichitta or working with the black, heavy, and h ...

just to be there with another human being and try to communicate. Sometimes there’s nothing to be said and nothing to be done. T ...

enemy? What would it take to be able to have my enemy hear what I’m trying to say, and what would it take for me to be able to h ...

20 The Big Squeeze I f we wantto communicate and we have a strong aspiration to help others—on the level of social action, on th ...

There’s a discrepancy between your inspiration and the situation as it presents itself, the immediacy of the situation. It’s the ...

I was invited to teach in a situation with the Sawang, Trungpa Rinpoche’s eldest son, in which it wasn’t exactly clear what my s ...

as a winner, as a big deal or an ordinary deal. But if we wish to communicate, if we really wish to open our hearts, sooner or l ...

Today’s slogans are instructions on how to communi- cate from the heart. The emphasis is on how to keep one’s heart open for the ...

Putting his face very close to the hermit’s face, Patrul Rinpoche said, “But a pair of old scoundrels like us, we don’t care any ...

Shakyamuni Buddha. Just before the moment of his enlightenment, all of the external circumstances came to try to sway him in the ...

The next slogan is “Don’t expect applause,” which means “Don’t expect thanks.” This is important. When you open the door and in ...