"We can think of ourselves spiritually as being somewhere on a continuum between one and zero. One is the full embodiment of the "I" separate from all things, and zero is emptiness and the unconditioned. Spiritual practice is supposed to move us from one to zero.

This continuum can also be thought of in terms of time, with zero abiding within the timeless and one firmly entrenched within the ideas of past and future."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 215

"Buddhism in its final summation is about abiding in the Now, and buddhist practice encourages and cultivates skillful states of mind to make that entry easier. It is a straightforward process of surrendering that occurs when the mind is calm, serene and equanimous, because those states arise from a lack of mental resistance and bring the person of awareness closer to Now."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 215

"A mature relationship with life no longer looks for perfection within form.

If we become judgemental, we will find fault or praise, action will be set in motion, sides will be taken, wars will be fought, someone excluded and other included. Form is imperfect by definition, and manifestation will follow suit."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 215

"The Buddha says, "However we perceive a fact, the truth is other than this", and this may be his final pronouncement on maturity. He seems to be telling us there is no correct mental orientation to experience, and all perceptions are only relatively true. He is asking us to release all ideas that assert a polarity of views. "Nonidentification with anything has been declared by the Blessed One"."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 214

"Spiritual practice is discerning the difference between the absolute reality and the mind's imposed reality."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 183

"The mind attempts to assume spiritual authority over the heart. The leadership of the "I" makes a compelling case as it measures what it has, figures out what it needs, sets down an agenda, and progresses toward its goal. It knows exactly where it is going, what it still lacks, and how to achieve the desired result, all in quantifiable terms. But if the mind has never been where it is going, how could it possibly have any idea how to get there, or even what "getting there" looks like? The mind has a blueprint for its salvation but all its maps are in abstract form, and over time we give less and less credibility to anything but the wisdom derived from direct experience."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 168

"We" do not have a mind. The mind has created the sense of "you" and "me" from the way it perceives reality. "We" are a part of the mental processing of the mind. The thoughts of the mind and the sense-of-I are not two separate events. We exist only because the mind thinks us into creation.

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 166

"Stop trying to be mindful and relax into the awareness that existed before thought, and not the mindfulness that existed driven by thought."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 164

"The presence of the watcher indicates that awareness is now looking at the mind rather than through the mind.

The fact that awareness can be an objective observer of the mind means it is not a mental process and therefore does not originate from the mind."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 160

"Thought holds an alternative to what is. Thought says, "This doesn't have to be this way, other possibilities would improve this situation." Thinking forms a horizontal view that is constructed from the endless choices conceived by the mind, and we invest in the truth of those possibilities as a way out of Now. But reality does not hold a substitute for Now; there is only what is. In order to surrender, we have to see the choices offered by thought as pure fabrication. When we perceive the unreality of thought, the view and sense-of-self constructed from these thoughts end. Surrender is the collapsing of alternatives into reality."

Stepping out of self-deception - p. 126