"Courage is warm. It comes from the heart. So many people today are afraid to communicate with their hearts. They become distant, hard, and cold. That is not the way the mother treats the child. That hard distance is the opposite of courage. It comes from fear.
"Courage can also mean to be responsible. To play your part. Irresponsible people are not courageous. They don't want to bear the consequences of their actions. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other. To be courageous is to take full responsibility for whatever happens. The Buddha was courageous because he took responsibility for the suffering of mankind.
"There is a kind of courage that in Chese is called yong. It has the connotation of going forward, advancing, of diligence and effort. It also means eternity. Yong-meng is used to refer to an animal like a lion or tiger that has a fierce and determined energy.
"At the end of the day, courage is something that is selfless. Personal gain and loss are put aside. When you're devoted, dedicated, and committed, you don't think. You just do.
"Relentless effort is a form of courage. To be unafraid of failure is courageous. It takes courage to venture into the unknown. To be adventurous takes courage. Letting go is a form of courage. Once we let go, we don't know what to hold on to. Relaxing into uncertainty, an uncertain future – that is courage."
