The Many Factors Which Divide Us Are

When We Think Carefully, We See That The Brief Elation We Experience When Appeasing Sensual Impulses May Not Be Very Different From What The Drug Addict Feels When Indulging His Or Her Habit. Temporary Relief Is Soon Followed By A Craving For More. And In Just The Same Way That Taking Drugs In The End Only Causes Trouble, So, Too, Does Much Of What We Undertake To Fulfill Our Immediate Sensory Desires.

Easy Times Are The Enemy, They Put Us To Sleep. Adversity Is Our Friend, It Wakes Us Up

I Consider Myself To Be Just One Among 7 Billion Human Beings. If I Were To Think Of Myself As Different From Others, Or As Something Special, It Would Create A Barrier Between Us. What Makes Us The Same Is That We All Want To Lead Happy Lives And Gather Friends Around Us. And Friendship Is Based On Trust, Honesty And Openness.

To The Extent That Our Experience Of Suffering Reminds Us Of What Everyone Else Also Endures, It Serves As A Powerful Inspiration To Practice Compassion And Avoid Causing Others Pain. And To The Extent That Suffering Awakens Our Empathy And Causes Us To Connect With Others, It Serves As The Basis Of Compassion And Love.

Some People Automatically Associate Morality And Altruism With A Religious Vision Of The World. But I Believe It Is A Mistake To Think That Morality Is An Attribute Only Of Religion. We Can Imagine Two Types Of Spirituality: One Tied To Religion, While The Other Arises Spontaneously In The Human Heart As An Expression Of Love For Our Neighbors And A Desire To Do Them Good.