Quotes About Simplicity

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.

Mindfulness isn't something we practice only in the meditation hall; we also practice in the kitchen, in the garden, or when we're on the telephone, driving the car, or washing the dishes.

it's nice if everyone sits down together to enjoy three sounds of the bell, nine times of breathing in and out. People practicing breathing with a small bell in this way are able to enjoy much peace and harmony together. That is what I call true civilization. You don't need a lot of modern gadgets in order to be civilized. You need only a small bell, a quiet space, and your mindful in-breath and out-breath.

If we practice stopping while attending to e-mails, surfing the Web, attending meetings or appointments, folding the laundry, washing the dishes, or taking a shower, we are living deeply.

Saint Macarius said, "It is not necessary to use many words. Only stretch out your arms and say, 'Lord, have pity on me as you desire and as you well know how.

The same is true when you drink a cup of tea: if you're concentrated and you focus your attention on the cup of tea, then the cup of tea becomes a great joy.

Debes saber cómo desembarazarte de las cosas que te hacen sufrir. Puedes alcanzar la felicidad soltando…, soltando incluso tus ideas sobre la felicidad. Quizás creas que para ser feliz debes cumplir determinados requisitos, pero, si observas profundamente, descubrirás que son precisamente esas mismas nociones las que te impiden alcanzar la felicidad y acaban haciéndote sufrir.

When you put a piece of bread into your mouth, chew only your bread and not your projects, worries, fears, or anger.

Give up the lesser comforts for the greater happiness.

Living is easier with eyes closed.

What makes me think I could start clean slated? The hardest to learn was the least complicated

I prefer the still joy: The wasp drinking at the edge of my cup; A snake lifting its head; A snail's music.

All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened pines; Odor of basswood on a mountain-slope, A scent beloved of bees; Silence of water above a sunken tree: The pure serene of memory in one man, – A ripple widening from a single stone Winding around the waters of the world.

Was a bird for about an hour," he said. "Tell you something about birds. People go around all the time sayin', 'Am I a man? Am I a woman, a real woman?' Lookin' at what they've done, wonderin' if that's what a man would do. Now, birds: they just birds. The one thing they never do is say, 'Am I a bird?

I said this before and I will have to say it again, when you come right down to it there is not a thing a man needs than a way to fill his belly and let somebody take care of all his thinking, he don't have to if he don't want to.

The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.

The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth.

Being rich is an obstacle to loving. When you are rich, you want to continue to be rich, and so you end up devoting all your time, all your energy, in your daily life to stay rich.

Happiness does not come from consumption of things.

Take my hand. We will walk. We will only walk. We will enjoy our walk without thinking of arriving anywhere.

Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it's wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.

Be Yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just Be.

When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life. Just as when you are drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life. Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole world revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.