Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life. That doesn't mean that
beliefs or ideas or thinking is a problem; the stubborn attitude of having
to have things be a particular way, grasping on to our beliefs and
thoughts, all these cause the problems. To put it simply, using your belief
system this way creates a situation in which you choose to be blind instead
of being able to see, to be deaf instead of being able to hear, to be dead
rather than alive, asleep rather than awake.

Only in an open, nonjudgmental space can we acknowledge what we are
feeling. Only in an open space where we're not all caught up in our own
version of reality can we see and hear and feel who others really are,
which allows us to be with them and communicate with them properly.

We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement.
All these trips that we lay on ourselves--the heavy-duty fearing that we're
bad and hoping that we're good, the identities that we so dearly cling to,
the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds--never touch our
basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all
the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really
are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.