Collision

“This collision between one’s image of oneself and what one actually is is always very painful and there are two things you can do about it, you can meet the collision head-on and try and become what you really are or you can retreat and try to remain what you thought you were, which is a fantasy, in which you will certainly perish.”James Baldwin

Including

"We are all connected, through the air we breathe, the land we walk on, and the beauty of the earth that supports each one of us from the moment we are born until the moment we die. We are not separate from the earth, and we are not separate from each other. When we forget that, at our core, we all have the same primary yearning to be happy and live peacefully, conflict arises. When we forget that others share this yearning, we move further away from our essential nature and become out of balance with everything around us, including those we love." ~ Isa Gucciardi

Heartmind

"One's heartmind is like the sun: it has natural cognizance and the quality of brilliance. It reveals the tremendous open space that is the wisdom of one's own mind and is the clarity of this open view.  Inside of that is warmth, which is compassion.  Compassion is the essence through which all living beings are sustained.  It creates harmony and provides the energy that makes things alive and warm.  So the light present in one's own awareness is the heart of compassion.  Being open-minded requires no effort 

-just allow I to happen by being present." ~ Dza Kilung Rinpoche

Passage fro Psalms

"So teach us to number our days,
that we may grow wise in heart." 

From the "Joy of Living"

"Compassion is a spontaneous feeling of connection with all living beings. What you feel, I feel; what I feel; you feel. There's no difference between us/ When I began to practice meditation on compassion, however, I found that my sense of isolation began to diminish, while at the same time my personal sense of empowerment began to grow. Where once I saw only problems, I started to see solutions. Where once I viewed my own happiness as more important than the happiness of others, I began to see the well-being of others as the foundation of my own peace of mind."  Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

A Guest House

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. --Rumi-