“What I love about this quote is that it’s very much about presence, and the instant, and the equalizing power of the moment.”

There is no first or last in forever. It is Center there all the time.

-Emily Dickinson

“I like this quote because in our Buddhist tradition we have what we call the Bodhisattva. The greatest fear of the Bodhisattva is to find peace for oneself and be separate from the suffering of others. To me it would be a really horrible existence to live in a peaceful world knowing that others are suffering. For myself I always want to be a part of serving, caring, and loving others. Actually I think if you’re separated from the suffering of others you can’t really find true peace, you can’t lead a meaningful life. We need others to wake up. So, I love this idea that the greatest fear is to be separate from others’ suffering.”

If I ever become a saint, I will surely be one of darkness. I will continue to be absent from heaven to light the light of those in darkness on earth.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“As someone who works with transforming our negative and fear-based thoughts, this quote is very inspiring to me. I believe that transformational thinking is the only way that we can change, not only our own personal problems but the problems that we face out in the world today.”

We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that created it.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Theoretical physicist

“I have this quote hanging in my office and I read and reread it every day because I acknowledge life is hard and not picture perfect and beautiful. There are horrible, heavy, terrible things. But there are also beautiful things. The only way to get through it is to be present in it. As a physician, what I understand from that quote is that I can’t pretend everyone’s healthy and smiling all the time. There are tragic things that happen. It’s not pretending you’re going to have a good day today. It’s saying just be present for it, embrace it, be grateful for it, you’re here right now. I tie that to grounding because that’s what grounding does for me. It grounds my body physically. It also grounds me emotionally and spiritually and allows me to be present in this moment. But it doesn’t pretend everything’s wonderful, and easy, and instantly fixed. It’s saying, it can be hard, and it can be beautiful, and it can be heavy, and it can be overwhelming, and can you just be here with me right now? I just love that.”

Here is the world, terrible and beautiful things will happen. Don’t be afraid.

Frederick Buechner, American writer and theologian

“This poem reminds me to be startled, enthralled, amazed, and curious about the planet on which we live and the life forms that have evolved to inhabit this planet.”

There are moments in moist love where heaven is jealous of what we on earth can do.

Hafiz (1315-1390) Persian poet translated by Daniel Ladinsky

“One of my favorite quotes is by Herman Hesse from his book Wandering. It inspires me because one of my passions is helping people connect to nature, to the spiritual teachings of trees. Trees are deep spiritual teachers. When we connect to them and listen to them through our intuition, then we ourselves can grow as people.”

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

Herman Hess (1877-1962) author of Siddhartha and Wandering

This 14^th century mystic, has been called the first woman of English letters and is one of the first women to write in English. She developed a theology not of despair and of self-pity, or pessimism, or of saying God is punishing us for our sins. No, she developed a creation spirituality that is built around goodness. I just love this teaching and especially for our time because Julian was living through the Black Death as we’re living through Coronavirus and climate change. I think she has a tremendous amount to say to our times, keep the goodness in our hearts, keep the goodness in our minds. I think Julian is a courageous genius, leading us that way as she draws on the wisdom of Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckert, and Francis of Assisi who came before her. Julian is reminding us that we can move from being dangerous to being friendly with the rest of creation.

God is everything which is good, as I see it, and the goodness which everything has is God. God’s goodness fills all creatures and all blessed works full and endlessly overflows in them.

Julian of Norwich 14^th century mystic

“This is from a poem called Bread And Wine Part Seven by Friedrich Holderlin, one of the great Romantic poets, translated by Robert Bly. I just go to that for a sheer charge of delight and electricity. And that’s all I have to say about it.”

In the lean years who needs poets? But poets as you say are like the holy disciple of the Wild One [Dionysus], who used to stroll over the fields through the whole divine night.

Friedrich Holderlin, (1770-1843) German poet and Philosopher

“I’m stringing these two brief quotes together because they are, to me, related. Whether it’s taking in these enlightened moments or whether it is drop by drop cultivating the capacity to have enlightened moments, it’s enormously realistic and hopeful to recognize that every day gives us opportunities for enlightened moments. Everything gives us opportunities to heal ourselves and to grow wisdom, peace, happiness, and love, which will then help us have even more enlightened moments. I think that’s an upward spiral that we can all rise on and in so doing be kinder to others, less aggressive toward them, and more able to help them too in their own paths of awakening.”

I do not know if there are enlightened beings but I am sure that there are enlightened moments.

Suzuki Roshi (1904-1971) Sōtō Zen monk and teacher
who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States

Think not lightly of good, saying it will not come to me. Drop by drop is the water pot filled, likewise the wise one gathering it little by little fills oneself with good.

Dhammapada proverb

“This quote inspires me in a very deep way, and continues to grow in my understanding of our connection to life and to the earth. We are deeply interwoven. We were separated long ago from feeling that connection to the earth. This healing is restoring that connection in new and deeper ways. For me taking the time to be quiet, and be still, and notice a tree, notice a flower is not separate from any other work. It’s always has to do with deep healing of all parts of my being.”

I had a vision that the ancestors told us to heal the world. When we heal ourselves, we also heal our ancestors, our grandmothers, our grandfathers and our children, when we heal ourselves, we also heal Mother Earth.

Grandmother Rita Pitka Blumenstein(1933-2021)
was a Yup’ik elder from Alaska,
a renowned traditional healer, and the first person ever certified
as a traditional doctor in the state.
She was also a founding member of the
International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.