When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to. We feel we're supposed to be better than we are in some way. But with this practice you take yourself completely as you are. Then ironically, taking in pain - breathing it in for yourself and all others in the same boat as you are - heightens your awareness of exactly where you're stuck.

~Pema Chodron

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/15/2008

We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.

~Pema Chodron

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/14/2008

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

~Pema Chodron

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/13/2008

"In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/12/2008

"If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/11/2008

"Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/10/2008

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/09/2008

"Smile, breathe and go slowly."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/08/2008

"The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/07/2008

"Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/06/2008

"Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/05/2008

"We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/04/2008

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/03/2008

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/02/2008

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 1/01/2008

Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/31/2007

It is nature's law that rivers wind, trees grow wood, and, given the opportunity, women work without iniquity.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/30/2007

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/29/2007

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/28/2007

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/27/2007

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/26/2007

He is able who thinks he is able.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/25/2007

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/24/2007

Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/23/2007

Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace.

~Buddha

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Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

~Buddha

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Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/21/2007

Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/20/2007

Do not speak harshly to any one; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful: blows for blows will touch thee.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/19/2007

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/18/2007

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/17/2007

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/16/2007

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/15/2007

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/14/2007

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/13/2007

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/12/2007

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/11/2007

A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/10/2007

A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.

~Buddha

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/09/2007

When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to.

~Pema Chödrön

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/08/2007

We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves.

~Pema Chödrön

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/07/2007

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

~Pema Chödrön

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/06/2007

As a loving and grateful student of Chögyam Trungpa, the Dorje Dradül of Mukpo, I am delighted that these teachings-which have so profoundly influenced and shaped my life-are now available to benefit others.

~Pema Chödrön

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/05/2007

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/04/2007

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

~Martin Luther

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/3/2007

Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.

~Deepak Chopra

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/2/2007

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

~Arthur Ashe

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Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 12/01/2007

To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand dharmas. To be enlightened by the ten thousand dharmas is to free one's body and mind and those of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

~Dogen-zenji

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