“After a few years of meditation practice we can even learn how to occasionally ignore ourselves. And what relief that can be!”

“With the practice of meditation we can develop this ability to more fully love ourselves and to more consistently love others.”

“Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's reason to live!We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can learn to be free! we can learn to fly!”

“Patanjali says that we can meditate on anything that our heart desires. The important thing is not what we meditate on, but more that we meditate. And then gradually to meditate more and more on what corresponds to the innermost longing of our heart. The practice of meditation . . . gradually works its magic in stilling the mind. (42)”

“Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.”

“Ignorance means that you have not yet learned a skill, whereas stupidity means that you can never learn it no matter how much practice you get.”