Quotes About Tranquility

if she hadn't been at peace, then at least she wasn't at war with herself.

The silence that followed was lovely, the silence of flowers blooming.

The more knowledge we have about the realities of lethal illness, the more sensible we can be about choosing the time to stop or the time to fight on, and the less we expect the kind of death most of us will not have. For those who die and those who love them, a realistic expectation is the surest path to tranquillity.

There's nothing better than doing nothing.

The relative rest states—a blank mental screen, a defocused external gaze, physical relaxation, emotional neutrality, physical silence, mental quiet—may begin to pervade your sensory experience as the result of noticing vanishings.

Each day is peppered with a holy glow.

He then said something even more mind-boggling. "As a general principle, any positive state that you experience within the context of silent sitting practice, you must try to attain in the midst of ordinary life.

The myriad of complex meanings is simplified into a tetrad of basic states: mental image without any accompanying mental talk, mental talk without any accompanying mental image, image and talk at the same time, or absence of both image and talk (a moment of total mental tranquility).

From New Year's Eve through the third of January, the streets of Tokyo grew quiet, as if all the people had disappeared.

To die is more important than trying to be alive. When we try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can be calm and die or fade away into emptiness, then naturally we will be all right.

Actually the best way to relieve your mental suffering is to sit in zazen, even in such a confused state of mind and bad posture.

It will take quite a long time before you find your calm, serene mind in your practice.

After the wand stops I see a flower falling. Because of the singing bird I find the mountain calmness.

When you are practicing zazen, do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything.

Our Soto way puts an emphasis on shikan taza , or "just sitting." Actually we do not have any particular name for our practice; when we practice zazen we just practice it, and whether we find joy in our practice or not, we just do it. Even though we are sleepy, and we are tired of practicing zazen, of repeating the same thing day after day; even so, we continue our practice. Whether or not someone encourages our practice, we just do it.

You know how to rest physically. You do not know how to rest mentally.

Joys come from simple and natural things; mist over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy.

Wilderness to the people pf America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium.

Harmony seldom makes a headline.

Sometimes just being still is the best thing you can do for yourself.

Ho pensato che se tu avessi parlato con Arseni, io ti avrei certo ucciso, ecco Ernestina. Ma con una calma grande, l'ho pensato, forse, neanche di questo mondo, devi credermi. Ho pensato al silenzio degli alberi, dell'acqua, e avrei voluto che anche tu fossi tutta silenzio, come loro...

I want the sea to carry my unceasing love to their still bodies,

There's a point when you have to stop fightin' the whole world.

Don't worry, look out the window and enjoy the view.