“What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as ‘play’ is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously.”  Thomas Merton

“When you are at the top you only see shadows and when you’re at the bottom you are blinded by the light; but from the middle everything is pleasing – day and night.” Robert Wesley Miller

“Fear-based beliefs are creatures of the dark. They are sustained outside the light of awareness and they dissipate upon mindful inspection.  … The ultimate purpose of inquiry is that it allows us to pause, rather than ride along on the habitual track of our assumptions about reality.  In the space of a pause, truth can shine through.”  Tara Brach

“Mindfulness supports the moment-to-moment intention to not cause harm, to be kind, and to renounce those thoughts and actions that lead to heedlessness. Without wise intention and wise understanding, mindfulness is aimless, and therefore not the Buddha’s mindfulness.”   Phillip Moffitt

“There is a teaching that says that behind all hardening and tightening and rigidity of the heart, there’s always fear. But if you touch fear, behind fear there is a soft spot.  If you touch that soft spot, you find the vast blue sky.  You find that which is ineffable, ungraspable, and unbiased, that which can support and awaken us at any time.”   Pema Chödrön

“A keen awareness of the impermanence of things can protect us from the pain of self-righteousness, arrogance, ignorance, greed, and ultimately, fear itself.”  Jeff Foster

“We dress up every day as if we were going to a masquerade, clothed in our bravado and our beliefs.  Seeing our own play-acting, we can change.  We can begin to sense what is going on beneath the words, free ourselves of automatic responses, and react authentically.”  don Miguel Ruiz

“Understanding impermanence can give us confidence, peace and joy. Impermanence does not necessarily lead to suffering.  Without impermanence, life could not be. … It is not impermanence that makes us suffer.  What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.” Thich Nhat Hanh