Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘It is helpful to understand that there tends to be a contradiction between how we feel, how we want to feel, and our actions. We want to feel loved and loving, but instead we end up feeling isolated and alone. This is because of the gap we create between ourselves and others. I see this phenomenon time and time again working with dying people. The regrets of the sick or elderly are almost never that they weren’t busy or didn’t achieve enough, rather it’s “Did I love well?” or “Did the people I loved know how much I loved them?”

This is why the crux of doing good for others is loving action, which means being who we truly are and reaching across the gap, without hesitation.

Loving action is a place of practice. Loving action has to begin with taking a real look at how we function in our relationships and start acting like our true selves and not as we want others to think of us.’ (from Slow Down. Help Out. Wake Up.)