Quotes by Sharon Salzberg

Everyone we interact with has the capacity to surprise us in an infinite number of ways. What can first open us up to each of our innate capacities for love is merely to recognize that.

When we identify the thoughts that keep us from seeing others as they truly are we prepare the ground for real love.

Its tough to have an authentic relationship with awe in the age of awesome, a word that has become so overused as to be drained of its meaning.

Setting the intention to practice kindness toward one’s partner or family members or friends does not preclude getting angry or upset.

We exercise kindness in any moment when we recognize our shared humanity—with all the hopes, dreams, joys, disappointments, vulnerability, and suffering that implies.

All of our actions can signify self-love or self-sabotage

We are born ready to love and be loved. It is our birthright.

With a clear intention and a willing spirit, sooner or later we experience the joy and freedom that arises when we recognize our common humanity with others and see that real love excludes no one.

What happens in our hearts is our field of freedom. As long as we carry old wounds and anger in our hearts, we continue to suffer. Forgiveness allows us to move on.

Though it may sound paradoxical, identifying our thoughts, emotions, and habitual patterns of behavior is the key to freedom & transformation.

No matter what we think we should do, I don’t think you can coerce yourself into loving your neighbor—or your boss—when you can’t stand him. But if you try to understand your feelings of dislike with mindfulness and compassion, being sure not to forget self-compassion, you create the possibility for change.

Awareness levels the playing field. We are all humans doing the best we can.

If we stretch ourselves to open our minds, to see our shared humanity with others, we allow ourselves to see the existence of community and generosity in unexpected places.

By practicing meditation we establish love, compassion, sympathetic joy & equanimity as our home.

Once we are honest about our feelings, we can invite ourselves to consider alternative modes of viewing our pain and can see that releasing our grip on anger and resentment can actually be an act of self-compassion.

The mind thinks thoughts that we dont plan. Its not as if we say, At 9:10 Im going to be filled with self-hatred.

When we open our hearts to the breadth of our experiences, we learn to tune into our needs, unique perceptions, thoughts & feelings

You are a person worthy of love. You don’t have to do anything to prove that.

In order to free ourselves from our assumptions about love, we must ask ourselves what long-held, often buried assumptions are and then face them, which takes courage, humility, and kindness.

It takes a special courage to challenge the rigid confines of our accustomed story. It’s not easy to radically alter our views about where happiness comes from but it’s eminently possible.