The only real protection will come from doing a spiritual practice over a prolonged period of time. Because it retrains us to see the world and ourselves in a different way. Krishna Das More Quotes by Krishna Das More Quotes From Krishna Das The heart is like a mirror. When we dust it off, we are able to see ourselves. The dust is all our stuff - guilt, anger - this stuff is reflected back to us. Practice removes the dust from the mirror of our hearts. Krishna Das dust mirrors heart Love is what we are; we don't get it from somebody, we can't give it to anybody, we can't fall in it or fall out of it. Love is our true Being. Krishna Das love giving fall Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment. Krishna Das grace letting-go heart We have to learn to love people even if they are not giving you what you want... and then not take it personally. If you feel hurt, you have to recognize that they are not hurting you because you are you, but because they are them. You have to try not to be so hard on yourself. Krishna Das hurt giving people If we know anything about a path at all, it's only because of the Great ones that have gone before us. Out of their love and kindness, they have left some footprints for us to follow. So, in the same way that they wish for us, we wish that all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be safe, be happy, have good health, and enough to eat. And may we all live at ease of heart with whatever comes to us in life. Krishna Das wish kindness heart Grace surrounds us and holds us like the sky holds everything in it … and as soon as I find a way to let go of my story, I keep seeing over and over again that grace is always here and it includes the forgetting and the remembering. The practice is the opening of the hand to catch the raindrops, which are always falling. If you don't open your hand, you get wet, but you don't get much to drink. Krishna Das letting-go hands fall Don't wait for a Guru. Your life is your Guru. Krishna Das guru life-is waiting You cannot think your way out of a box made of thought. Krishna Das made way thinking Devotion is a way of being, it's not something you do. It's dedication to finding awareness and Love. Chanting is like asanas for the mind and the heart. Krishna Das dedication mind heart Unlimited inner strength can only be awakened when it is in the service of Love....When we align ourselves with that love and act in service of that love, anything is possible. Krishna Das awakened inner-strength unlimited We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we are just as crazy as everyone else! Krishna Das crazy believe thinking Chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it. That’s the point of this whole thing. That’s what cuts through all the ‘stuff’. You get lit up. You don’t have to know what it means. Krishna Das cutting want mean There is love in this world, and it lives within us as who we really are, not who we think we are. Krishna Das this-world world thinking We are so programmed to feel that our emotions are the most important thing in the Universe...We write, produce and act in the story of me. And then we write reviews - and read them and get more depressed. All we can do is let go, and that comes from training. And then we spend less and less time in the darker spaces. Krishna Das space letting-go writing Grace removes obstacles that we don’t even know are there. Grace is what arranges our lives so we are forced to look within. Krishna Das obstacles grace looks Let's just chant and be good people, alright? Krishna Das good-people be-good people Surrender happens by Grace. All we're doing is cleaning up the room so when Surrender walks in, He can sit down. Krishna Das cleaning grace rooms Letting go does not mean pushing away or negating thoughts or feelings that come to us - but instead being with the feeling. We start to feel that we are no longer victims of the stuff that happens to us. There is something we can do about it... if we just take a look at it. Krishna Das letting-go feelings mean I'm reconnecting, I'm deepening, I'm opening, I'm releasing negativity and negative thoughts and all the limitations I carry around with me - again and again and again and again and again and again. And again! And that's the only thing that keeps me alive. Krishna Das negativity alive negative It takes two to tango! I need everybody to sing with me. Krishna Das tango two needs