Quotes About Contemplation

Imagine one atom of that speck of dust, with electrons traveling around its nucleus at 180,000 miles per second. It is very exciting. To return to a speck of dust with be quite an exciting adventure!

The most basic precept of all is to be aware of what we do, what we are, each minute . Every other precept will follow from that.

When you climb a beautiful mountain, invite your child within to climb with you. When you contemplate the sunset, invite her to enjoy it with you.

In our sangha, we have a porch we call, Listening to the Rain Veranda. We made it specially for that purpose— so we could sit there and listen to the rain and not need to think about anything. Listening to the rain can help the mind come to stillness.

Whatever the tasks, do them slowly and with ease, in mindfulness.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life. Don't be attached to the future. Don't worry about things you have to do. Don't think about getting up or taking off to do anything. Don't think about "departing.

Whatever the tasks, do them slowly and with ease, in mindfulness. Don't do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention.

A person who looks at the table and can see the universe is a person who can see the way.

The first function of meditation — shamatha — is to stop.

Now I see that if one doesn't know how to die, one can hardly know how to live - because death is a part of life.

Meditation practice is also a kind of food because it nourishes us.

We must look death in the face, recognize and accept it, just as we look at and accept life.

Every time we truly stop and look deeply, the result is a better understanding of the true nature of what is there inside us and around us.

The way out is in.

It is only when we stop that we can encounter life.

You wash your hands, you dress yourself, you perform everyday actions as before; but now you are aware of all your actions, words, and thoughts.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, everything which has any relation to ourselves.

sheet of paper.

we practice the Five Contemplations before eating. The second Contemplation is, "May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive this food.

As the blade of a sword cannot cut itself, so a thought cannot see itself.

A thought is like the flame of a lamp, and it proceeds through causes and conditions.

Most of us have very scheduled lives and very full calendars. But do we have enough lazy days in our calendar? A lazy day is a day for us to be without any scheduled activities. We just let the day unfold naturally, timelessly. On this day we have a chance to reestablish the balance in ourselves. We may do walking meditation on our own or with a friend, or do sitting meditation in the forest. We might like to read a little or write

mindfulness means reclaiming attention