All suffering in this world is a result of someone, somewhere, not living his or her life’s purpose. Through spiritual practice, your life’s purpose is revealed. Through spiritual practice, the courage to live your life’s purpose is developed. Through spiritual practice, suffering is eased—your own suffering and the suffering of the world.

Time is an illusion created by the ego for the sole purpose of denying the unbreakable bond between cause and effect. Mindfulness joins the mind with the present moment, where the illusion of time dissolves without effort, where cause and effect are correctly seen as unbroken, unbreakable, and inseparable.

Duality—dark and light, good and evil, high and low—defines more than just the external world. It is the essence of the body, heart, and mind as well. To be at peace with the duality of the world, we first need to be at peace with the ebb and flow of our own emotional, mental, and physical tides.

At the root of all suffering, whether personal or societal, is the false perception of separation. Yoga, in all it forms, is the practice of healing the mind by joining together that which is perceived to be separate.

Rather than sacrificing logic and critical thought, yoga invites us to more fullyuse our ability to think and reason.Rather than asking us to deny our emotions—the light and the dark—yogateaches us to embrace what we feel.Rather than denying the body’s appetites and impulses, yoga remindsus to trust our instincts more fully.

A prison cell, however tastefully decorated, is still a cage.

Like other animals, humans have the inherent ability to heal and find balance. We don’t need books, or teachers, or fancy diets. The answers we seek are encoded in our cells. While we have this innate ability to heal, purification is usually a prerequisite. That is why we do hatha yoga.

A mud pie is, at the end of the day, attractively packaged mud. A life spent in pursuit of comfort and leisure—of being a slave to your attachments—is, at the end of the day, attractively packaged suffering.

Praying for peace is wonderful; meditations on loving kindness and compassion are sublime; acts of generosity and healing have the power to change the world. But when all three come together in a selfless act of devotion, miracles occur.