Quotes by Tara Brach

“Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experi...”

“In bullfighting there is an interesting parallel to the pause as a place of refuge and renewal. It is believed that in the midst of a fight, a bull can find his own particular area of safety in the...”

“I found myself praying: "May I love and accept myself just as I am.”

“In anguish and desperation, I reached out as I had many times before to the presence I call the Beloved. This unconditionally loving and wakeful awareness had always been a refuge for me.”

“I was manipulating my inner experience rather than being with what was actually happening.”

“Stepping out of the busyness, stopping our endless pursuit of getting somewhere else, is perhaps the most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.”

“Each time you meet an old emotional pattern with presence, your awakening to truth can deepen. Theres less identification with the self in the story and more ability to rest in the awareness that i...”

“You have a unique body and mind, with a particular history and conditioning. No one can offer you a formula for navigating all situations and all states of mind. Only by listening inwardly in a fre...”

“Feelings and stories of unworthiness and shame are perhaps the most binding element in the trance of fear. When we believe something is wrong with us, we are convinced we are in danger. Our shame f...”

“While the bodies of young children are usually relaxed and flexible, if experiences of fear are continuous over the years, chronic tightening happens. Our shoulders may become permanently knotted a...”

“The belief that we are deficient and unworthy makes it difficult to trust that we are truly loved”

“Awakening self-compassion is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.”

“The intimacy that arises in listening and speaking truth is only possible if we can open to the vulnerability of our own hearts. Breathing in, contacting the life that is right here, is our first s...”

“The boundary to what we can accept is the boundary to our freedom.”

“What would it be like if I could accept life--accept this moment--exactly as it is?”

“On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.”

“As I noticed feelings and thoughts appear and disappear, it became increasingly clear that they were just coming and going on their own. . . . There was no sense of a self owning them.”

“When someone says to us, as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests, "Darling, I care about your suffering," a deep healing begins.”

“Observing desire without acting on it enlarges our freedom to choose how we live.”

“But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.”