It's a beautiful lucid dream that has language that I can fiddle with.

Ramana Maharshi and Rumi would agree: the joy of being human is in uncovering the core we already are, the treasure buried in the ruin.

I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous moments of eternity that just happen. We know them.

When you meet a new friend, the world has more light in it, doesn't it? Things become more spontaneous, and more full of laughing and freedom and novelty.

It's such a foolish thing to argue about names, when what we're doing is all one thing.

The religions of the world are luminous in their individuality, and they have valuable social and soulmaking functions. Surely someday we will quit killing each other over their different strategies.

Just being sentient and in a body with the sun coming up is a state of rapture.

Longing becomes more poignant if in the distance you can't tell whether your friend is going away or coming back. The pushing away pulls you in.

Anything you grab hold of on the bank breaks with the river's pressure. When you do things from your soul, the river itself moves through you. Freshness and a deep joy are signs of the current.

There's some sort of exchange that goes on between human beings that is one of the highest things we do.

I had never heard of Rumi until Robert Bly handed me this book and he said, ah, “These poems need to be released from their cages.”

Conscience is thus explained only as the voice of God in the soul.

There is a music in my heart.

Yes, one can repent of moral transgression. The miracle of forgiveness is real, and true repentance is accepted of the Lord.

If you see the teeth of the lion, do not think that the lion is smiling at you.

A good eater must be a good man; for a good eater must have a good digestion, and a good digestion depends upon a good conscience.

My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing.

No family of an American hostage has ever been prosecuted for paying a ransom for the return of their loved ones. The last thing we should ever do is to add to a family's pain.

I love you more than the pool hall, but not as much as football.

Let's be careful when we start comparing American to European tolerance because there isn't necessarily a lot of European tolerance.

Turns out it was mostly a lie. But, at least for a short while, it was a beautiful one.