Quotes From Classes

“The next time you think, ‘If only—‘ or ‘It would be better if—,’ instead of simply following that thought, make space to recall that this dissatisfaction, or dukkha, is the first seal. It’s what everyone you know feels all the time. Let yourself be knocked off balance by the realization that in this way, you are deeply connected to everyone you’ve ever met or ever not met, that on this level, their experience of the world is just like yours. You know them.
When you watch rain fall or feel a conversation end, when a scar fades or the sun moves through the sky, let impermanence (anicca, the second seal) was over you. Don’t resist it; don’t blink. See that bird fly away, see the beauty of it, and know that you will be different tomorrow and that one day you will die. It’s the same for everyone, and it always has been.
The last seal is anatta, nonself. Feel how a sunny day lifts you up, or how an angry word brings you down. Observe that you are different with your kids that with your pet than with your boss, and recognize that nothing you do happens in isolation, that you’re touched by everything and everyone around you. Accept that they shape you, and as you do, allow for the fact that you are in turn shaping them, both in ways that are in your control and in ways you can never know.”