Rhiannon Bacon’s Reviews > Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet: Harnessing the Power of Mindfulness for a Regenerative World, Personal Growth, and Inner Peace > Status Update

You don't need to be perfect. What's important is that you have a path to follow, a path of love. If we get lost in a forest and we don't have a compass at night, we can look at the North Star in order to get out. Your purpose is to get out of the forest, it's not to arrive at the North Star. So, having a path, a direction to go in, is what we need most. And then we have nothing more to fear.

You want to love yourself but do you have the time to take care of your body and your feelings? If you don't have the time to do that, how can you help someone else? The question is: "Am I making time to take care of myself, to heal, so I can love, so I can serve, so I can help heal society?"

Whether you are an artist, a writer, a journalist, a filmmaker, an activist, or a practitioner, you should generate your own insights. You help the Buddha in you to manifest, and you express yourself in the light of truth. And, even if the majority has not seen the truth that you have, you are courageous enough to continue. The minority who have the truth with them can transform the whole situation.

Many of us are willing to spend six or eight years studying to get a diploma. We believe it's necessary for us to be happy. But very few of us are willing to spend three or six months, or even a year, training ourselves to handle our sadness or our anger, to listen with compassion, and to use loving speech.

It's my conviction that we cannot change the world if we're not able to change our way of thinking. Collective awakening is made of individual awakening. You have to wake yourself up first, and then those around you have a chance. When we ourselves suffer less we can be more helpful and we can help others to change too. Peace, awakening, and enlightenment always begin with you. You are the one you need to count on.