Our ancestral power is written in the land and carried by the water.

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

 Life is a mystery to be lived rather than a problem to be solved. 

For the dispirited and disheartened...

When in your life did you stop singing?

When in your life did you stop dancing or moving in your body?

When in your life did you stop being enchanted by stories, and particulary your own life story?

When in your life did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence? 

Five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance

There isn’t any safety for citizens of a troubled time. Being able to labor on behalf of a troubled time is a gift. There is no safety and there is none required and you must proceed free of the allegation that you have to know that things are going to work out before you put your pedal in the water...so I will see you on the beach.

Everything that goes mainstream is called normal. The amazing power of normalcy in a democracy is its capacity to absorb everything that challenges it and turn it into part of itself.

If you are lucky you become less stranger to yourself but more strange as a consequence of that.

It is not human to fear death.

The loss of being at home has become part of our identity.

Life is mostly learning how to lose. The longer you live, the more you do without. The more people, the more circumstances, the more health, the more ability…

It’s our limitations that render humanity to us. It’s our limitations that give us the chance to be human.

Grief is not a feeling. Grief is not how you feel, grief is what you do. Grief is a skill. And the twin of grief as a skill of life is the skill of being able to praise or love life. Which means whenever you find one authentically done, the other is very close at hand. Grief and praise of life, side by side.

We can’t anymore say that we live in a free society with freedom of choice and freedom of speech. These ideas are becoming symbolic, not practical and applicable.

 If you don't conform to popular opinions but ask questions and think for yourself...you get cancelled. 

You are a cosmic agent wearing a biodegradable space time suit.

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

Could the difference between tyranny and freedom be as simple as a change in perspective?

Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth-even if they decide to help the less fortunate-while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary, or the inequalities that make it possible.

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I’ve been circling for thousands of years
and I still don’t know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

Dik tutarak gövdemizi
Umutla
Bazan da yıkılarak kendiliğimizden ya da bir kurşunla
Ve bu hızlı akışa yaşayıp ölmek deriz.

Yaşayıp ölmek, deriz, ne denir daha başka
Denir, çok şeyler denir, biliyorum
Geçecektir hayatımıza mutlaka
Çok inandığımız bir şeyin çocukluğu
Sonra gençliği, sonra oturmuşluğu
Sonra hayat hayat gibi olacaktır.

Bakma sen, kuşlar bir uçumluktur ne de olsa
Denizler bir fırtınalık görkemli
Bizse kendimizi insan olarak
Bir tohum gibi dikmişiz sonsuzluğa.

The paradox of education is precisely this; that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

To allow yourself to touch your sorrow is a politically subversive act...A great dying is happening, and we are losing our connection to all that lives. We are part of an unbroken chain of the adventure of life...There is no birth of consciousness without pain.

It is probable that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.

Yola çıkarken çok şeyi bilmezsiniz. Yol aslında bilinmeyen bir denklemdir. Cevabı yürüdükçe bulursunuz. Adımladıkça, koylar geçtikçe, dağları aştıkça. Bazısının cevabını çok erken bulursunuz. Bazılarını yolun sonunda. Herkese sorarsınız çıkmadan önce, nasıl diye. Her kafadan bir ses çıkar. Kolay, güzel, çok zor, bittim, tükendim, harikaydı gibi. Bunların hiçbirini kendinize, yürüyüşünüze adapte edemezsiniz. Bu yol sizin yürürken ve kesinlikle yaşayarak yorumlayacağınız bir yoldur. Yol bilinmeyen bir denklem. Denklemin cevabını bulmak sizin elinizde. Herkes cevabı size verecektir. Sizde bu cevapları aldığınızı zannedeceksiniz. Ancak cevabı verecek olan ruhunuzdur, ayaklarınızdır.