As long as fear is in us, happiness cannot be perfect. - Thích Nhất Hạnh

The fact is that when you make the other suffer, he will try to find relief by making you suffer more. The result is an escalation of suffering on both sides.

here is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus.

Throughout our life we produce energy. We say things and do things, and every thought, every word, and every act carries our signature. What we produce as thoughts, as speech, as action, continues to influence the world, and that is our continuation body. Our actions carry us into the future. We are like stars whose light energy continues to radiate across the cosmos millions of years after they become extinct.