Quotes About Acceptance

If you can recognize and accept your pain without running away from it, you will discover that although pain is there, joy can also be there at the same time. Some say that suffering is only an illusion or that to live wisely we have to "transcend" both suffering and joy. I say the opposite. The way to suffer well and be happy is to stay in touch with what is actually going on; in doing so, you will gain liberating insights into the true nature of suffering and of joy.

We just sit, smile, and breathe, because we know that arguing about the existence of God or nirv??a is a waste of time.

My child, you should practice so that your mind is like the earth. Whether people put on the earth fragrant oils, good-tasting food, excrement, or urine, the earth receives them all without discrimination.

My child, you should practice for your mind to be like water. When people put fragrant oils or milk into the water, it does not rejoice, and when people put excrement, mud, or urine into the water, the water is not angry, because the water has a tremendous capacity of acceptance and transformation. Water can purify everything.

If we do not have peace and joy right now, when will we have peace and joy—tomorrow, or after tomorrow?

When we feel suffering, we have the urge to run away from it and fill ourselves up with junk food, junk entertainment, anything to keep our mind off the pain that is there inside us.

if we are free of the past, free of the future, we can touch the kingdom of God, the Pure Land of the Buddha, with every step.

The five remembrances are: 1.  I am of the nature to grow old. I cannot escape growing old. 2.  I am of the nature to have ill health. I cannot escape having ill health. 3.  I am of the nature to die. I cannot escape death. 4.  All that is dear to me, and everyone I love, are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. 5.  I inherit the results of my acts of body, speech, and mind. My actions are my continuation

Open all the doors. Don't commit yourself to just one idea of happiness. Remove the idea of happiness that you have, and then happiness can come, this afternoon.

My dear friend, you are on safe ground. Everything is okay now. Why do you continue to suffer? Don't go back to the past. It's only a ghost; it's unreal." And whenever we recognize that these are only movies and pictures, not reality, we are free. That is the practice of mindfulness. Reconciling with Our Past Our original fear isn't just from our own birth and childhood; the fear we feel comes from both our own and our ancestors' original fear.

ALTHOUGH I DON'T PROFESS TO BE NORMAL, I AM HUMAN AS ARE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE I WORK WITH, AND SOMETIMES EVEN I FORGET THAT. -Violent Crimes Investigator Flagstaff Arizona

The path that does not run away from but embraces our suffering is the path that will lead us to liberation.

By practicing nonattachment and sharing this wisdom with others, we give the gift of non-fear. Everything is impermanent. This moment passes. That person walks away. Happiness is still possible.

Unconditional acceptance is the first step in opening the door to the miracle of forgiveness.

Life is suffering, but it is also wonderful. Sickness, old age, death, accidents, starvation, unemployment, and natural disasters cannot be avoided in life. But, if our understanding is deep and our mind free, we can accept these things with tranquility, and the suffering will already be greatly lessened.

The Buddha taught that when we call up and get in touch with the truth that we cannot escape old age and death, our fear—and the foolish things we do to try not to feel it—will cease.

No one can know in advance the misfortunes which may happen to us and our loved ones, but if we learn to live in an awakened way, living deeply every moment of our life, treating those who are close to us with gentleness and understanding, then we will have nothing to regret when something happens to us or to them.

We have to find ways to nourish and express our compassion. When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.

With mindful breathing, you can recognize the presence of a painful feeling, just like an older sibling greets a younger sibling. You can say, "Hello, my suffering. I know you are there." In this way, the energy of mindfulness keeps us from being overwhelmed by painful feelings. We can even smile to our suffering and say, "Good morning, my pain, my sorrow, my fear. I see you. I am here. Don't worry.

As long as you continue to compare, you suffer from the fear of coming up short; and, even worse, you keep yourself trapped in a constant, painful delusion of isolation and alienation.

Love is not a kind of prison. True love gives us a lot of space.

Mindfulness is the opposite of this tendency. We must invite these things up into our mind consciousness every day and tell them, "My dear, I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of my fear.

Mindfulness is the energy that can recognize whatever is occurring, including your own negative habit energies coming up.

To build community, it is important to accept the insight of interbeing, of interconnectedness. We must realize that happiness is not an individual matter. Finding happiness through our separate, individual self is impossible.