Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

Amongst all the activities that we do, we rarely give enough time to sit quietly by ourselves. I would like to introduce to you not just to sit alone, but to guide you into your inner Being. What you truly are is not merely what we think we are, not merely what we have been brought up to believe we are. Actually, surprisingly, beautifully, we discover a level of peace and natural well-being-ness, joy, and silence. And right here, in the depth of our Self, you will discover a great calmness. And I want you to know that, this, that we are going to find today, you will see that it is always here. And the most wonderful thing about this is that you are about to discover that which has always been here. It has never left you!

Do what you can, be gentle with yourself about what you can't.

If we could learn to like ourselves, even a little, maybe our cruelties and angers might melt away.

Instead of running from our emotions or being swept away by their initial gusts, we should learn to sit with them, become at peace with their unique flavors, and ultimately discover deep pools of inspiration.

Perhaps only when we've made our peace with our own selves can we really be the kind of friends who listen, advise, but don't judge, or not too harshly.

Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves, is important. The reason it’s important is that, fundamentally, when we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn’t just ourselves that we’re discovering. We’re discovering the universe.

When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.

Be forgiving with your past self.
Be strict with your present self.
Be flexible with your future self.

Wouldn`t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy, and maybe we'd like each other a little bit more.

Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself.

Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.

Put all our pride away, always find a gentle word to say, you know we shouldn’t be full of ourselves when we should be full of humility.