Our Greatest Longing Is To Be Intimate.

Pain Is Not Wrong. Reacting To Pain As Wrong Initiates The Trance Of Unworthiness. The Moment We Believe Something Is Wrong, Our World Shrinks And We Lose Ourselves In The Effort To Combat The Pain.

My First Book, 'radical Acceptance', Grew Out Of The Suffering Of Feeling Personally Deficient And Unworthy. Because Most Of Us Are So Quick To Turn Against Ourselves, The Teachings And Practices Of Radical Acceptance Continue As A Strong Current In 'true Refuge': Nurturing A Forgiving, Understanding Heart Is A Basic Step On The Path.

On This Sacred Path Of Radical Acceptance, Rather Than Striving For Perfection, We Discover How To Love Ourselves Into Wholeness.

If Attachment Then Carries Forward In A Way That's Not Healthy, We Need To Let It Be There Without Making It Wrong And Bring As Compassionate And Honest Attention To It As Possible. Honor That This Is Part Of Being Human, But It's Important To Know When It's Getting In The Way.

The Renowned Seventh-century Zen Master Seng-tsan Taught That True Freedom Is Being "without Anxiety About Imperfection.