"This system makes of us slaves: without dignity, without depth; with a devil in our pocket: this money, this shit, this nothing…"

Trusting and trustworthy. All connexion and all relationship are built on these. To be trusting I must be willing to take a risk, which means being open and vulnerable with a strong feeling for positive outcome. To be trustworthy I must be honest and prepared to listen, with a strong root and a good word.

The poor student, poor in the sense of bad, doesn't really want to study, in fact derides and mocks the teaching at every turn, so why do they persist in coming to class? It is to take energy. They come to class for exactly the wrong reasons: not to be fulfilled through study and change but to be filled by the energy of the teacher and the class – basically to steal. What we good students must not fail to realise is that once we have been studying for a few years – once we have settled into the routine and habit of study – once we have heard all the teacher's stories at least once – we become, if only subtly and subliminally, poor students ourselves. Then it is time for some honest soul searching. And possibly a real change.

The important thing is to be able to relax – to have relaxation as your natural state. The teacher's job is to show you where you are tense. Your job is to release said tension and install relaxation. This, believe me, is the most difficult work you could possibly undertake.

The true warrior fearlessly attacks the world with nothing but spirit. The rest of us fearfully approach the world with everything but spirit.

"hagridden with discourse"

We are all idealists when young – trapped in our minds – convinced of our immortality. Gradually, as we pass through middle-age, our energy dwindles and with it the structures we've erected: in particular the ego, and we begin to venture, albeit half-heartedly, albeit because we can no longer keep it at bay, into the real. Then, as old-age looms, and with it the aches and pains of decrepitude, reality hits us hard – now we no longer have the energy or spirit to engage it.

Not only the energy to complete what needs to be done – duty, but the openness to entertain a whole array of possibilities. This is the difference between energy and spirit.

Imagination is a very poor substitute for spirit.

Intelligence lies in simply knowing what needs to be done, and then getting on with it. It doesn't need to get any more complicated than this. Cleverness is our capacity to avoid doing what needs to be done, either by cheating or by doing something else. This is the calculating, scheming mind.

Empty of self. Full of spirit.

The real work begins when I finally accept that I can't realistically have the best of all worlds: that I have to make a choice and commitment to a singular course – a destiny – otherwise life will dribble away, and I'll be left, at the end, wishing I'd had more courage and less distractions – wishing I'd listened to my teacher. Time and energy are limited, pitifully so, considering the enormity of the task. Which to chose: Internal or External?

"the present in time is constituted by contractions in the mind"

The internal – secrets whispered from the depths – is not really inside things. It is more like the background from which the myriad things appear, or appear to appear. Those of us drawn to the internal are interested in first principles – in the principle from which others spring – in sources and beginnings – in flux and process – ocean, atmosphere, weather – the virtual. The Dao.

Always bending the legs (releasing to gravity), and never standing symmetrically.

"not imitative or structural, but cosmic"