The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew what you had to do,
and began,
though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice --
though the whole house began to tremble
and you felt the old tugat your ankles.
"Mend my life!"each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,
though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen branches and stones.
But little by little, as you left their voice behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save the only life that you could save.

On Materialism: An Excerpt from The Tao of Leadership by John Heider

The wise leader leads a quiet and meditative life. But most people are busy getting as many possessions as they can.

The quiet path leads towards a more conscious existence. The busy path creates an exaggerated materialism.

Becoming more conscious leads toward God and a sense of the unity of all creation. But excessive consumption is only possible by exploiting someone.

The world’s goods are unevenly distributed. Some have a great deal. Most have very little. We are running out of enough resources to go around. Everyone know that.

Yet those who are already encumbered by possessions get more and more. They even brag about how much they have. Don’t they know what stealing is?

Owning lots of possessions does not come from God. People get it by manipulating other people.

Pema Chodron on Compassion

May the roots of suffering diminish. May warfare, violence, neglect, indifference, and addiction also decrease.
May the wisdom and compassion of all beings increase, now and in the future.
May we clearly see all the barriers we erect between ourselves and others to be as insubstantial as our dreams.
May we appreciate the great perfection of all phenomena.
May we continue to open our hearts and minds, in order to work ceaselessly for the benefit of all beings.
May we go to the places that scare us.
May we lead the life of a warrior. -- Pema Chodron