"The Buddha said that we are never separated from enlightenment. Even at the times when we feel most stuck, we are never alienated from the awakened state. The openness and warmth of the bodhichitta is in fact our true nature and condition. Even when our neurosis feels far more basic than our wisdom, even when we’re feeling most confused and hopeless, bodhichitta—like the open sky—is always here, undiminished by the clouds that temporarily cover it."