« What can I do to protect myself from life? Absolutely nothing. And yet day after day, I try to build shields and facades that would protect me from the tragedy of existence. The tragic dimension of life is part of life. When you understand it from the bottom of your being, you can dance with this tragic without getting tense. But in the meantime it takes a lot of determination to get closer little by little. Amiel said: "A thousand steps forward ninety nine steps back. That is progress. The alienated desire would be that we progress once and for all, that we heal from all our inner wounds. But this is probably radically impossible. What saves us is knowing that we cannot live with them without necessarily bitterness. And the determination is perhaps on a thick day of fog, when you see nothing two meters away to keep moving. What helps me is the shikantza of Zen. (p.60 and 61) »

« One of the paths to inner freedom is not to be found in self-assertion, as is all too often understood, but just in being there. just be yourself, no more and no less, and be open to the other. »

« To live is to suffer. All right! But if, in addition, we do everything to spoil the existence ... I suffer from a cruel inability to rejoice that prevents me from simply enjoying, here and now. »