If you are loath to take the first step, you will never get anywhere.

Do not argue about what is beautiful or ugly, exalted or base, as most comparisons only lead to strife and seed of hostility among people.

Don’t take shortcuts to gain small profits which don’t lead to great things, but stay true to your guiding intent.

Just as open doors let the steam out of a steam bath, so does the person with lips constantly open lose their inner composure.

I barely understand people who spend years pondering unimportant things. They dedicate their time to fretting about superficialities, but the fact that death will soon rob them of everything, that they disregard. I am sad when I see the human heart which can be oversensitive to certain trifles, but at the same time be completely oblivious to its very own existence.

You might gain a little in life by lying, but after death all will be added up and you will be held to account. Tell me, how will you repay such a debt?

I am sending you on a pilgrimage which will take you to secluded places. Into deep forests. To lakes and rivers. Along the ocean shores and across desert dunes. Into the heart of the jungle and to the summits of the highest cliffs. Into monasteries and their temples. You will depart so that you may face the most basic realities of life. You will walk towards those places alone, because there is room enough on the narrow path only for one.

Change in a person rarely comes down from the heavens. Change is much like the wine plant which sprouts from a seed nestled in fertile soil.