As in music, when we hear the crescendo building, suddenly if the music stops, we begin to hear the silence as part of the music.

We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.

Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.

If you are involved with the intensity of crescendo situations, with the intensity of tragedy, you might begin to see the humor of these situations as well. As in music, when we hear the crescendo building, suddenly if the music stops, we begin to hear the silence as part of the music.

The key to warriorship and the first principle of Shambhala vision is not being afraid of who you are. Ultimately that is the definition of bravery: not being afraid of yourself. In the face of the world’s great problems, we can be heroic and kind at the same time. We must try to think how we can help this world. If we don’t help, nobody will. It is our turn to help the world. (p. 10)

Refusing to Give UpThe essence of human bravery is refusing to give up on anyone or anything. We can never say that we are simply falling to pieces or that anyone else is, and we can never say that about the world either. We can save the world from destruction, to begin with. That is why the Shambhala vision exists. It is a centuries-old idea: by serving the world we can save it.

Action without compassion is like planting a dead tree. It will never grow. But any action that contains compassion is planting a living tree that grows endlessly and never dies. Or even if the tree dies, it always leaves a seed behind, which will grow into another tree. That organic quality of compassion goes on and on and on.

When you commit yourself to the bodhisattva path, the path of helping others, you feel as if you have done it before and you have been doing it all along. It is like living up to your inheritance, or taking over your parents’ business. You feel that there is something quite natural and right about it.

Timely RainIn the jungles of flaming ego,May there be cool iceberg of bodhicitta.On the racetrack of bureaucracy,May there be the walk of the elephant.May the sumptuous castle of arroganceBe destroyed by vajra confidence.In the garden of gentle sanity,May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.