Within each of us there is a deep well of potential goodness — of radiance and nobility. The problem is that we do not always know how to draw from this well or make it a source of ongoing sustenance and support. You could think about it this way: Perhaps when you feel lonely, its is actually your positive qualities that are lonely. It could be your goodness that has become surrounded by adverse factors, unhealthy habits, and cold attitudes. You can surround your own lonely potential for goodness instead with supportive factors and warm attitudes. You can become a friend to your basic radiance and wholeheartedly, unequivocally nurture your own positive qualities. This can bring a quality of warmth and richness to your time alone. Even if no one else is around you, you can experience connection rather than isolation.

17th Karmapa

from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society

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Further quotes from the book Interconnected:

• The imagination to see the other as free and happy
• An important source of closeness and love
• Knowing more is not a substitute for feeling more
• Self-reliance
• The interdependence between us and the world
• Acting against self-serving impulses
• Webs of interdependence
• Noticing the collective effects of our individual actions
• Our closest and most reliable allies
• Interdependence at work
• Touching the core of our equality
• His Loneliness
• The deeper common ground all living being share
• Collective actions and attitudes
• Delight in positive thoughts
• Gradual change
• Our intimate dependence on the natural environment
• Interdependent individuals
• Opening up to the view of interconnectedness
• A main condition for our selfishness